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personal skills and ways , they were called constructors , as they built the melody .
Stages were never used , the music played in the home or the street where the players and constructors could look the dancers in the eye , all together in a circle called a rota , or wheel . Dancers would pay respect to the players and music buy never dancing alone or outside the rota , it was considered a great disrespect to do so .
At the rotas centre stood the Master of Dance , an important man of the community , or home in the case of domestic parties , who called on the people to dance according to a good sense of the rules , avoiding putting together those who were torn apart by discord . They would dance two at a time , called to the centre by the Master who determined the duration of every dance . It was good manners for men to greet players and the lady by a discreet gesture
at the beginning of every dance . Movements were free but prompted by a precise language , man moved by daring step and wide gestures of his hands , moving his fingers like knives if dancing with another man , miming the flight of a dove if accompanying a lady .
Woman kept a more measured attitude , with small steps and hands on hips , keeping her skirt gently , never looking straight at the man , but following his moves out of the corner of her eyes . Like in everyday life men and women couldn ’ t touch one another unless they were married or brother and sister . Dance was an occasion to launch and receive public declarations of love , proclaim hostility and to make peace . Contradicting the Master of Dance , or substituting him without his permission , was an extremely serious offense potentially leading to a knife fight .
Fascism put a stop to this culturally important ritual in an attempt to build a pan-Italic culture through the elimination of local traditions , music and dance that accompanied every moment of public and domestic life . Fascism declared the Master of Dance illegal , saying this figure was an expression of ‘ ndrangheta power . Perhaps right , but by doing so it disrespected an entire population and its sense of community , increasing their indifference to the rules of central state .
Respect is the real , subtle border within popular culture and mafia attitude . This mountain has all along been a rough virgin land , going on forging the character of a complicated people , keeper of a complex and layered culture , way too easy to define archaic , too shallow to define mafia . It ’ s not easy to distinguish between love for family and clan affiliation , between respect and submission , between sense of
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