Bailenga

Bailenga was born in Turin in 2021 from the desire to bring the dimension of the popular festival to every place, offering a repertoire that is both danceable and listenable. We create events where people of all ages meet and can join in dancing and having fun in an evening that is always changing, to meet an ever-changing audience.

Our repertoire is entirely composed of pieces of Italian and world popular music, arranged to create dance party events. We range from classical Neapolitan music adapted to Balfolk rhythms (polkas, waltzes, Scottish, chapelloise, etc.), to various musical traditions of Southern Italy (tammurriata campana, pizzica salentina, Sicilian tarantella, Sardinian, arbereshe), to rearrangements of work songs from Northern, Central and Southern Italy, to popular songs of other origins (Albanian, Greek, Kurdish, Haitian).

The term “Bailenga” comes from the union of the Spanish word “baile” (dance) with “balenga”, a dialect term of Piedmontese and Venetian origins that means “bizarre”, “crazy”, displaced”. We like it because we think that music and dance nourish and stimulate the expression of the “craziest” sides of each person, through which freedom of expression, creativity and rebellion against flatness are manifested.