Become an artisan

If you are looking for something unusual and unique, I will introduce you the Apulian crafts! 

TRADITIONAL SALENTO DANCES PIZZICA and TARANTELLA

Puglia has its own unique rhythms - tarantella and pizzica (a kind of tarantella). These rhythms are heard at weddings, in squares in the summer, in Apulian masserias and at festivals. But the pizza comes from sunny Salento, where every year on August 26 the largest dance and music festival “La notte della Taranta” takes place gathering over 100.000 spectators!

Pizzica is a very ancient dance, because in the past people thought that women who were brought by a spider (tarantula), had hysterical and similar to convulsions movements. The close relatives of the “tarantolata” woman carried her in some squares or in churches, and at the rhythm of pizzica she began to dance was brought to cure the effect of the spider’s poison.

Pizzica pizzica is a lively pair dance. The tradition says that one of many varieties of pizzica is a courtship dance, when a woman, moving her body and dancing to the rhythm of tambourines, coquets with her partner and allows a man to court her.

Just watch one video of such a dance and fall in love and we will organize pizzica lessons for you!

PAPIER-MACHE OR CARTAPESTA FROM LECCE

Let’s remain in low Salento for another moment. In Lecce - the city of Southern Baroque. 

The ancient city of gold color is famous for its many crafts, including papier-mâché.

Papier-mâché is a paper pulp from which you can create a story, a fairy-tale, realize your creativity using simple elements. Papier-mâché masters create whole stories and scenes from life, collecting paper by gluing it with a glue from starch or cornmeal.

Would you like to create a nativity scene at home with your whole family for the next Christmas? Children will be delighted! So I invite you to our wonderful Stephanie. Stefania is a true Salentian woman and a master of her craft. She is working with papier-mâché for about 30 years and her bottega is an entire world! She will teach you to create minifigures just in couple of hours and you will bring your handmade souvenir from Puglia.

ITALIAN TAILORS

There is no need to explain “Made in Italy” as the whole world knows the mark of high quality. So why miss such an opportunity being in Puglia! Some cities of the region are specialized in light industry and, in particular, in tailoring men's suits “su misura”.

Therefore, if members of your family prefer to have shirts with embroidered initials, to experiment with the type of collar, cuffs or types of fabrics, we will meet you, accompany you and coordinate the subsequent work together with professional Italian tailors to realize your perfect tailor-made suite and all the complementary objects.