Due to the current California requirements of "social distancing" and closure of Cabrillo College, the Dante Alighieri Society is now holding online events.

We look forward to being with!

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MORE PAST EVENTS...

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August 29, 2019 

Join us for a pizza party at Tramonti to celebrate Ferragosto! 

We will sing, dance, talk & have singalong of the old Italian classics with Rhythm Rangellers, Paul & Emily. $30 Dante members, $35 non-members. 

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July 31, 2018
Ristorante Casa Nostra: Special summer evening of wine, Italian food, and music
at the beautiful locale. $15 for Dante members - $20 for non-members 
Includes a glass of wine and an appetizer buffet with seating in the lovely outdoor taverna. 
(Additional wine available for purchase.) 

 

 

March 22, 29, and April 5 from 5-7pm, 2018 

Dante Members! Come Practice with Team Dante: Brand new bocce courts in the Friendship Garden at Harvey West Park. Please bring a liquid refreshment and a snack to share! If you don't know how to play and have always wanted to learn, we'll teach you!  

 

 

February 25, 2018
Giotto's Frescoes of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua and the Development of Western Identity lecture by Dr. Allen Langdale 
Giotto's frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua are among the most important works of art in the world. They occupy a crucial place by embodying the rejection of the "Greek" or "Byzantine Style" of painting for a more naturalistic and humanistic depiction of human beings, their interaction and psychology. Poised at the moment of the formation of a distinctly Western identity, the frescoes, and the chapel that they decorate, indicate a decisive moment in the development of the West's moral universe.  

 

 

February 11, 2018 
The Hippodrome of Maxentius on the Via Appia: Chariot Racing and Culture in the Late Roman Empire lecture by Dr. Allen Langdale 
The vestiges of amphitheaters used for gladiatorial games of ancient Rome can be found in many places, including Rome's Colosseum. Yet gladiatorial contests were not the most popular form of entertainment. More popular were chariot races, which continued after the Empire was Christianized and gladiatorial combats ceased. Using the well-preserved hippodrome of Maxentius as a starting point, this lecture embarks upon a journey through the Roman Empire to explore how hippodromes and chariot racing played crucial roles in Roman art, culture, and society.  

 

 
November 5, 2017  

Delitti e Castighi, a Journey of Crimes and Justice in Florence Between the 13th & 18th C 
A lecture by Massimo Conti 
The Dante Alighieri Society along with the Cabrillo College Italian Department are delighted to invite you to spend a special evening on Sunday November 5th with Florentine criminal attorney, Massimo Conti. Conti is the author of Delitti e Castighi, a Journey of Crimes and Justice in Florence Between the 13th and 18th centuries. In his book, Mr. Conti takes us on a new journey through the city of Florence, in which the history of the criminal justice system is illuminated in the art and monuments of the times. Through the examination of specific works of art we will see how history is embedded in them. It promises to be an evening where we will better understand the relationship between art and history, an evening you should not miss! The lecture will be in Italian with English translation. 

Please join us for a pre-lecture reception at the Sesnon House on the Cabrillo Campus: 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos from 6-7. Meet the author, hear remarks from SC Vice-Mayor David Terazzas, and mingle with members and guests of Dante and the Cabrillo Italian Department. Sparkling wine and appetizers will be served, and the event is free. 

 

 

October 22, 2017 

The Amazing Sofonisba 
Lecture by Dr. Robert Davis 
Perhaps the most talented Renaissance painter you never heard of, Sofonisba Anguissola was famous during her long life as a portraitist, genre artist, and still-life master. To journey through her work is to encounter sixteenth-century Italian art from an entirely new point-of-view. Dr. Robert Davis taught Italian and Mediterranean history at the Ohio State University. He has published eight books and numerous articles on Venice, Rome, pirates, bandits, and popular culture in Medieval and Renaissance Italy. 

 

 

February 12, 2017 

Alberobello and Matera: Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in South Italy 
Lecture by Dr. Allan Langdale 
The historic towns of Matera and Alberobello are among the most compelling places in south Italy. Both towns exhibit a striking vernacular architecture, have ancient heritages, and offer visitors unique and extraordinary civic environments. Each has also been recognized by UNESCO as having numerous culturally valuable monuments - the whole of the towns' historic centers have been designated World Heritage Sites. For those of you who know only the north of Italy, this lecture will be a compelling introduction to the wonders of the Mezzogiorno, the south of Italy. Allan Langdale teaches Italian Renaissance art as an adjunct faculty at UCSC and works as a lecturer in archaeology and art history for Smithsonian Journeys, Lindblad/National Geographic, and Zegrahm Expeditions. He has published numerous articles on the art and architecture of the island of Cyprus and made an award-winning documentary film on the medieval Cypriot city of Famagusta. At the lecture Allan will also sign copies of his new travel book, Palermo: Travels in the City of Happiness .

 

 

October 16, 2016 

Up-to-date and Fashionable in the Italian Renaissance 
Illustrated Lecture by Dr. Robert Davis, with question and answer period afterwards. 
Italians have been European leaders in fashion design and in being fashionable for the last 600 years. We'll take a look at how Renaissance Italians dressed themselves, what they thought about it, and what it meant for the social world they lived and moved in - all of it generously illustrated by the remarkably life-like paintings by Italian artists of the time, works that leave no stitch to the imagination! Dr. Robert Davis taught Italian and Mediterranean history for many years at the Ohio State University. He has published eight books and numerous articles on Venice, Rome, pirates, bandits, and popular culture in Medieval and Renaissance Italy. 

 

 

March 6, 2016 
Pompeii and Herculaneum 
Multi Media Lecture by Dr. Allan Langdale, with question and answer period afterwards. 
Allan Langdale earned his Ph.D. from University of California at Santa Barbara where he teaches in the Film and Media department. Currently he is teaching at the University of California at Santa Cruz in the History of Art and Visual Culture department with an emphasis in Early Modern Italian art and art and architecture of Cyprus. He is a filmmaker and has written books and numerous articles. 

 

 
February 21, 2016 
The Mosaics of Ravenna, Italy: Glories of Byzantium 
Multi Media Lecture by Dr. Allan Langdale, with question and answer period afterwards. 
This lecture will give a history of Ravenna, an account of iconoclasm, and analyses of several of the mosaic works of Ravenna, many of them UNESCO World Heritage sites. 

 

 

May 17th, 2015 
From Tectonics to "Terroirs": Wine and Geology in Italy and California 
Lecture by Ivano Aiello, with question and answer period afterwards. 

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Italy and California are among the top four world producers of wine for both quantity and commercial value. The domestic grapevine Vitis vinifera was brought to Italy by the Greeks and the Phoenicians and then spread to central and northern Europe by the Romans. California and Italy share environmental factors that are key for wine production including soils, topography, and climate ("terroir" is the French term that embodies all of the influences on grapes grown in a particular region). These similarities reflect common underlying geological traits derived from the interplay between tectonics, the spatial arrangement of surface rocks and their erosion which ultimately control the distribution of sites suitable for grape growing. This lecture will explore the relationship between geology, climate, and viticulture in Italy and California.  

Ivano Aiello is the Geological Oceanography Professor at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. He is a marine geologist and sedimentologist and has conducted extensive geological field work in both Italy and California.  
 

 

January 25, 2015 

The Norman Art & Architecture of Palermo 

Multi Media Lecture by Dr. Allan Langdale, with question and answer period afterwards. 
Lecture will focus on the 12th century Norman-era art and architecture of Palermo, including the Palermo cathedral, the Bridge of the Admiral, the Palatine Chapel, and the Martorana church.  
 

 
February 22, 2015 

Norman Art & Architecture of Cefalu and Monreale 

Multi Media Lecture by Dr. Allan Langdale, with question and answer period afterwards. 
Lecture will focus on the cathedral of Cefalu, the cathedral and monastery of Monreale, including the mosaics of both, the sculpted capitals of Monreale's monastery, and the cathedral's architecture.  

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Allan Langdale earned his Ph.D. from University of California at Santa Barbara where he teaches in the Film and Media department. Currently he is teaching at the University of California at Santa Cruz in the History of Art and Visual Culture department with an emphasis in Early Modern Italian art and art and architecture of Cyprus. He is a filmmaker and has written books and numerous articles. 

 

 

January 26, 2014 

What Dante saw at the Arsenal of Venice (Non per foco ma per divin' arte) 
Illustrated Lecture by Dr. Robert Davis, with question and answer period afterwards. 
When Dante Alighieri visited Venice, sometime around 1305, he toured the city's shipyards, known as the Arsenale. What he saw provided him with striking images he used to introduce Canto XXI of the Inferno. Did he also realize that he was witnessing the dawn of a shipbuilding revolution that would, by century's end, turn Venice into Europe's dominant naval power?  

Robert Davis is Professor of Renaissance History at Ohio State University. He has published eight books and numerous articles on Venice, Italy, and the Mediterranean. 

 

 

February 25, 2014 

Michael's on Main Themed Wine Pairing 
Theme: Southern Italy "This region provides us with one of our favorite themes because it includes amazingly tasty dishes using the foods of the southern regions of Italy: tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. Pizza Margarita was created in Naples!" - Michael 

 

 

March 2, 2014 

Documentary film: The Stones of Famagusta: Story of a Forgotten City 

By Dr. Allan Langdale, who introduce his film and lead a question and answer period afterwards. 
A Documentary film on the Medieval City of Famagusta, Cyprus, and its Historic Connection to the City of Venice.   

 

 

October 4, 2014  

Wharf for the Santa Cruz Wharf Centennial Celebration 

Dante Alighieri Santa Cruz is sponsoring the construction of a bocce court on the Santa Cruz. Join Dante volunteers in playing bocce, and visit our Dante pavilion to meet and chat with some of our Board Members. 

 

 

December 13, 2013 

Film: The Great Beauty "La Grande Bellezza" Directed by Paolo Sorrentino, Winner! Best Picture 2013 European Film Awards at the Del Mar Theatre. 

 

 

October - December 8, 2013 
Dante's Altar at the Mi Casa Es Tu Casa exhibition at Pajaro Valley Arts Council and Gallery, 
37 Sudden Street, Watsonville, CA 

 

 

 

February 16, 2013 

Verdi's Rigoletto, join us in watching the HD broadcast of the live production of the New York Metropolitan Opera's performance.  
John Dizikes, Professor Emeritus from UCSC and author of "Opera in America: A Cultural History (for which he won the 1993 National Book Critics Circle Award,) will meet with Dante people prior to the opera to give us an introduction to Verdi and is work.  

 

 
September 27, 2012 

Special Olive Oil Tasting 
Please join us for a private small group olive oil tasting. 

 

 

ATTENTION RENAISSANCE ART LOVERS! 
In 2011 Dante will be continuing our informal group for those interested in watching an excellent DVD lectures series entitled "Great Artists of the Italian Renaissance". Professor William Kloss of the Smithsonian Institution is our guide for this informative and evocative exploration of Renaissance art and artists. 

 

 

August 30, 2011 

Annual Dante Bocce Ball Pot Luck 
Join the Dante Board, other Dante members, and interested Italophiles for a pleasant afternoon playing Bocce, eating, drinking, and socializing. Bring an Italian dish to share and beverage if you would like. Picnic area near the Bocce courts at Delaveaga Park, Santa Cruz. 

 

 
May 2009:  

The Dante Alighieri Society of Santa Cruz donated $325.00 to the Italy Quake Project of Operation Blessing International. This gift "will bring relief to these earthquake victims and help restore hope through projects such as a new community center, library, and more."  

 

 

May 2, 2009 

La Cucina Festa Primavera!  

Culinary Center of Santa Cruz, 504-A Front Street, Santa Cruz 
Join chef and award-winning cookbook author Carolyn Dille (formerly a chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley) for an Italian cooking class in the lovely Culinary Center kitchen in downtown Santa Cruz. Enjoy a fun evening learning hands-on how to prepare a celebration of old world recipes the Italian way. Food, wine and recipes provided, as well as Carolyn's guidance. 

 

 

March 5, 2009  

Franco Zeffirelli's film version of Verdi's Otello (1986)  
With an introduction to the opera by John Dizikes, author of Opera in America, winner of the 1993 National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism.  
The Vets Hall, 846 Front St., Santa Cruz 

 

 

November 13, 2009 

Greek Culture in Southern Italy "Cultura Greca nel meridione" 
Lecture by Dr. Bruno Pisano, of Naples, Italy. Neapolitan architect and guide to historical sites. 

This talk will be given in Italian, with brief English translation. 
Cabrillo College 

 

 

October 12, 2009 

Pot Luck Farm Picnic at THOMAS FARMS 
with Slow Food Santa Cruz, Slow Food Monterey Bay and the Santa Cruz Dante Alighieri Society. Celebrate the wonderful diversity of Italian cuisine! Meet Jerry and Jean Thomas on the site of their organic farm. Chat with members of Slow Food and Dante Santa Cruz while dining on delicious homemade foods and enjoying live Italian music. 

 

 
September 20, 2009 

Annual Dante Bocce Ball Pot Luck 
Join the Dante Board, other Dante members, and interested Italophiles for a pleasant afternoon playing Bocce, eating, drinking, and socializing. Bring an Italian dish to share and beverage if you would like. Picnic area near the Bocce courts at Delaveaga Park, Santa Cruz. 

 

November 8, 2009 
Pompeii's Special Importance and its Context with the Roman Empire of its Time 
by Mr. Bruno Pisano 
Cabrillo College lecture hall 454. 
Mr. Bruno Pisano has his degree in architecture from the University of Naples and has been a certified guide to Pompeii and other antiquities in and around Naples for twenty years. His presentation will be a video/lecture using a DVD that will show the ruins; then overlays of a reproduction that will show how it would have looked when new. 

 

 
August 8 - September 30, 2007 
Reflections of Italy: From Mountains to the Sea: A visual celebration of Italy and its far-reaching influence on our community and our lives. 
PVAC Gallery, 37 Sudden Street, Watsonville, CA www.pvarts.org 
Satellite exhibit, Bargetto Winery, 3535 N. Main St, Soquel, CA www.bargetto.com 

 

 

September 4 - September 30, 2007 
Satellite exhibit, Lulu Carpenters at the Octagon (formerly the Octagon Museum) 
118 Cooper Street, Santa Cruz, CA 
www.santacruzmah.org 

 

 

July 8, 2007 

ITALIAN PICNIC AND BOCCE BALL!! 
Skypark, in Scotts Valley 
Dante Society will provide drinks and barbequed Italian sausages as well as table settings. Please bring an Italian dish to share such as antipasti, salads, side dishes or desserts. 

 

 
October 15, 2006 

Pot Luck farm dinner at THOMAS FARMS 
Celebrate the wonderful diversity of Italian cuisine! Meet Jerry and Jean Thomas on the site of their organic farm. Chat with members of Slow Food and Dante Santa Cruz while dining on delicious home-made foods and enjoying live Italian music. Bring a regional Italian dish to share prepared with local, seasonal ingredients and the wine or beverage of your choice. 

 

 

February 1, 2006 

COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE: A Lecture and Slide Show  

by Theater Scholar Judy Slattum, MFA 
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St.  
Commedia dell'Arte was Europe's most popular theatrical form for over 300 years. It inspired William Shakespeare, and created the basis for almost all of Moliere's comedic characters. Today Arrlechino, Pulcinella, and Pantalone survive in art throughout Europe and the United States. 
Through slides, stories, and a display of masks, scholar Judy Slattum will discuss the origins of this ribald and lively popular theater form, conceived and nurtured in the native towns and villages of Italy during the 13th century. Please join us for this informative and fun event.  

 

 

November 16, 2005 

FOR THE LOVE OF LEONARDO 
Vets Hall, 846 Front St.  
No other artist in history has elicited from viewers the depths of affection expressed for the works and person as Leonardo da Vinci. In a lecture using slide illustrations taken from rare books and archival documents, Professor Soussloff, UCSC Professor of Art and Visual Culture, will explore the roots of this attitude towards Leonardo in the early Italian literature on his life and its meaning for our own understanding of artistic creation. 
 
Catherine M. Soussloff, Professor of History of Art & Visual Culture, has taught at UC Santa Cruz since 1987, where she held the first Patricia and Rowland Rebele Chair in Art History. A specialist in both Early Modern Italian and Modern European art history, Professor Soussloff is the author of THE SUBJECT IN ART (Duke U, 2006), THE ABSOLUTE ARTIST (U of Minnesota, 1997), and the editor of JEWISH IDENTITY IN MODERN ART HISTORY (U OF CALIFORNIA, 1999). Her recent essay "The Trouble With Painting" published in JOURNAL OF VISUAL CULTURE (August 2005) explores the legacy of Leonardo da Vinci in early art books and modern theory.  

 

October 19, 2005 
MUSIC AND WONDER AT A MEDICI WEDDING: Featuring Live Lute Music 
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St.  

Nina Treadwell, Assistant Professor of Music at UCSC, specializing in Italian music of the Renaissance and early Baroque periods, will focus on the performances of the extravagant musical interludes for the play La pellegrina, composed and originally performed at a pageant to celebrate the Medici wedding of Duke Ferdinando I and Christine of Lorraine at the Florentine court. Her talk will incorporate excerpts from the CD that will accompany her forthcoming book on La pellegrina as well as live demonstration on various lute-family instruments that were an integral part of the performances. 
 
Nina Treadwell is Assistant Professor of Music at the University of California, Santa Cruz. As a musicologist, she specializes in Italian music of the Renaissance and early Baroque periods, and her research and publications are informed by her experience as a performer on plucked-string instruments of these periods. Her publications have dealt with questions of performance practice in regard to the chitarra spagnola or baroque guitar, but more recently she has explored the social and political implications of women's musical performance on the sixteenth-century Italian stage, with performance practice issues bearing on questions of musical meaning. Her publications appear in journals such as Cambridge Opera Journal, Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture, Lute Society Journal, and Musicology Australia, and the collection edited by T. Borgerding Gender, Sexuality, and Early Music. She is currently completing a book manuscript entitled Music, Wonder, and the Mystery of State: Medicean Theater and the Interludes for La pellegrina for the Indiana University Press series Musical Meaning and Interpretation. In this work she elucidates the in-performance efficacy of the interludes, demonstrating how the combined affect of visual and aural media served both the aesthetic and political aims of the genre and that of the new Medici Grand Duke, Ferdinando I.  

 

 

May 18, 2005 

LECTURA DANTIS Inferno 10: Heresy and Fratricide Among the Fiery Tombs 
Reading and interpretation of Dante's Inferno X 
by Professor Margaret Brose, Department of Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz  
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St.  

In Inferno X Dante and Virgil come to the zone which separates the sins of the flesh, of weakness, from lower Hell ( the sins of Violence and Fraud). The division is marked by the circle of the Heretics, those who deny the immortality of the soul, and are enclosed forever in burning tombs. This canto is characterized by the intense interpersonal drama between Dante and two of the heretics, one of which is the father of his best friend (Guido Cavalcanti). In one of the most famous cruxes of the entire Divine Comedy, Dante appears to suggest that his best friend Guido will be damned to Hell for heresy. 
 
The tradition of a public reading and interpretation of a single canto or section from Dante's Divine Comedy is a long and hallowed one. Giovanni Boccaccio, the author of the Decameron, was hired in 1374 [the year of his death] by the Commune of Florence to give the first public Lectura Dantis. That tradition has continued for almost 700 years, sponsored by the many Dante Societies all over the world. The Santa Cruz Society Dante Alighieri is proud to sponsor the third annual Lectura Dantis this year in Santa Cruz. 

 

 
April. 6, 2005 

BEYOND CALORIES: FOOD AND DRINK IN OPERA 
A lecture by John Dizikes 
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St.  

Drinking and eating are central features of one aspect of opera that is familiar - high spirited festivity. However, such carnal delights are usually subordinate to other states of mind and other objectives. They are a means to achieve these, not an end in themselves as we shall hear in the music of Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti, and Mozart. Please join us for high spirited festivities as John Dizikes, esteemed UCSC Prof. of History for 35 years and author of Opera in America, explores the role of food and drink in opera. 

 

 

February 12, 2005 

A CARNEVALE FEAST!  With Chef Carolyn Dille 
Dante Santa Cruz is happy to have this opportunity to get acquainted with some of the local members of Slow Food, a worldwide organization, begun and based in Italy, that is dedicated to the preservation of food traditions and traditional foods. We'll feature the foods of Venice and the Veneto, made by Dante and Slow Foods members, as well as regional wines. 
Please contact Carolyn Dille to contribute a dish from your Venetian favorites. Carolyn will also provide delicious Venetian recipes from her cooking classes if you'd like to try Veneto specialties such as Venetian Fish Soup, Shrimp Venetian-style, Calamari with Polenta, Savoy Cabbage Friuli-style, Risotto alla Veneziana, Venetian Meringues, Cornmeal Cookies with Pine nuts, Hot Chocolate, Goldoni-style, and others. 
Masks and costumes are welcome, and the best will be rewarded with prizes. If you can't be in Venice for Carnevale this year, don't miss the Carnevale food and festivities right here! 

 

 

December 8, 2004 

CARNEVALE IN ITALY 
Multimedia lecture by Judy Slattum 
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St.  

Carnevale in Sardinia, as well as the brilliantly designed floats of Viareggio, the medieval carnevale of Verona, and the glittering carnevale of Venice will be explored in this lecture/slide show. 
Few people in the world have embraced Carnevale as fervently at the Italians. Caricature is the embodiment of Carnevale, when society is turned on its head and the faults and idiosyncrasies of entire classes are exaggerated for comic effect--not merely gratuitous revelries for tourists and locals but helping society regulate itself by releasing pressures built up throughout the year--caricature mocks the high as well as the low. There is little doubt that Carnevale traveled to Italy after its birth in Greece. Remnants of that dark, moody form of the celebration of seasons is still celebrated today on the island of Sardinia, where the Mamuthones perform in shaggy goat skins, weighted down by copper goat bells.  
Judy Slattum, MFA, is the director of her own travel company and has been organizing and leading trips to Carnevale in Italy for the past 10 years. She is currently working on a book about the roots of Carnevale in Greece and Italy. 

 

 

November 3, 2004 

PETRARCH IN LOVE 
Lecture by Dr. Margaret Brose, Petrarch Scholar, UC Santa Cruz 
With special guests, "The Petrarch Players" who will perform musical settings of Petrarch's poetry, including Renaissance, Baroque, and Contemporary styles 
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St 

2004 marks the 700th anniversary of the birth of the great Italian poet Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), also known as the first Humanist. Petrarch's Canzoniere, or Songbook,contains 366 poems written to his beloved Laura, and is the most imitated collection of poetry in the Western world. The tradition of modern Romantic love poetry begins with Petrarch, as do the notions of love-sickness, unrequited love, the erotic fetish. Love songs are structured on a a series of paradoxes: love is uplifting and degrading; love brings pleasure and pain; the beloved brings both salvation and death. We owe these notions of Romantic love to Petrarch. 
In her lecture on Petrarch, Prof. Margaret Brose, director of Italian Studies at UC Santa Cruz and Petrarch Scholar, will introduce the life and works of Petrarch, analyzing a few of his sonnets to Laura, and exploring his ambivalence about love and salvation. Birthday cake will be served!  

 

 

May 26, 2004 

LECTURA DANTIS: Lost in Limbo 
A reading & interpretation of Cantos 3 and 4 of Dante's Inferno 
by Professor Margaret Brose, Department of Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz  
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St 

The tradition of a public reading and interpretation of one or two cantos from Dante's Divine Comedy is a long and hallowed one. Giovanni Boccaccio, the author of the Decameron, was hired in 1374 (the year of his death) by the Comune of Florence to give the first public Lectura Dantis. That tradition has continued for almost 700 years, sponsored by the many Dante Societies all over the world. The Santa Cruz Society Dante Alighieri is proud to be initiating its series of Lecturae Dantis this year in Santa Cruz. 
The second of these lectures, "Inferno 3 and 4: Lost in Limbo," will be presented by Prof. Margaret Brose, Department of Literature, UCSC. Those planning to attend may want to read in advance the 3rd and 4th cantos of the Inferno (in the bilingual edition of Robert Durling and Ronald Martinez, Oxford University Press). The text of Inferno 3 and 4 in Italian and English will be made available through the Dante Society at the lecture.  

 

 

May 16, 2004 
ITALIAN CHESS FESTIVAL: "LA FESTA DEGLI SCACCHI" AND A SIMULTANEOUS CHESS EXHIBITION 
Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium 
The Dante Society, in conjunction with Academic Chess and Vine Hill School, will present an Italian Chess Festival based on a famous chess game played in the 15th century in the Italian village of Marostica. It is said that the local Duke had two daughters, the eldest being courted by two suitors who were about to duel for her hand. The Duke insisted they not duel, but instead play a game of chess, with the victor winning the hand of the older daughter, while the loser had to be content with the younger one. And so it was. Every other year, Marostica celebrates this historical event with a living chess game in their Medieval plaza, using local residents dressed in Medieval costumes. Please join the Dante Society and the Duke and Duchess as they present a living chess game with students from Academic Chess, in full costume, as the chess pieces. Medieval and Renaissance entertainment will abound. Feel free to dress in the spirit of the occasion!  
As a culmination to the event, Liina Vark, a master-strength player originally from Tallinn, Estonia, will give a simultaneous exhibition, where she will play challengers from the audience, 20 at a time.  
Admission for the event is $10.00 for general, $5.00 for students 12 and over, children under 12, free. All proceeds from this event will benefit Vine Hill School and the Dante Society.  

 

 

April 14, 2004 

Italy by Bicycle 
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St.  

Our speakers will first provide a history of bicycle racing in Italy and then shift gears with a multimedia presentation of touring Italy on bike. Personal anecdotes and pictures will bring alive the Italian countryside and this excellent means of travel! In honor of this event Brunetti Bicycles and Vesuvio Imports will provide a 10% discount for all Dante Alighieri members on their cycling products.  

 

 

March 10, 2004 

19th Century Italian Opera: Oppressed People in the Homeland 
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St 

John Dizikes, esteemed UCSC Prof. of History for 35 years and author of Opera in America, will be our guide through a pre-eminent theme in Italian history - the aspiration of the Italians to create a nation. This theme is deeply reflected in 19th century Italian opera. Excerpts from operas by Rossini, Bellini and Verdi will be presented to illuminate this struggle. The lively lecture and discussion are not to be missed!  

 

 

January 14, 2004 

LECTURA DANTIS; Inferno I: The Dark and Savage Way  
A reading and interpretation of Canto I of Dante's Inferno  
by Professor Margaret Brose, Department of Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz 
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St. 

The tradition of a public reading and interpretation of a single canto from Dante's Divine Comedy is a long and hallowed one. Giovanni Boccaccio, the author of the Decameron, was hired in 1374 [the year of his death] by the Comune of Florence to give the first public Lectura Dantis. That tradition has continued for almost 700 years, sponsored by the many Dante Societies all over the world. The Santa Cruz Society Dante Alighieri is proud to be initiating its series of Lecturae Dantis this year in Santa Cruz. 
 
Dr. Margaret Brose is currently Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature, and Director of the Italian Studies Program at UCSC. She previously taught at the University of Colorado and Yale University. She received her MA and Ph.D degrees from the Department of Romance Languages at Harvard University. She has been the recipient of numerous grants and teaching awards, among which a Fulbright Fellowship to Rome, an ACLS grant (American Council of Learned Societies), and two NEH fellowships (National Endowment for the Humanities). She has twice received a Visiting Scholar Award to the American Academy of Rome. In 1996-1998 Prof. Brose served as Director of the University of California Education Abroad Programs in Italy (Venice, Padova, Bologna, Milano, and Siena). Prof. Brose has written widely on all periods of Italian literature, from Dante to Primo Levi, and in 2000 she was awarded the Modern Language Association Marraro-Scaglione Italian Literary Prize for her book, Leopardi Sublime: la poetica della temporalita (1998). In June 2003 Prof. Brose was awarded the UCSC Committee on Teaching "Excellence in Teaching" Award. 

 

 
December 10, 2003 

Michelangelo's Life as a Sculptor  
A Slide Show and Lecture Given by Dr. Allan Langdale of the Department of Art History and Visual Culture, UCSC 
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St. 

Dr. Langdale will present slides to accompany the works he discusses; these, for example, include a relief done while Michelangelo was 15 years old, along with other statues that he worked on during his life and into his 80s: the Pieta, the Bacchus (pictured), the David, and the figures for the Tomb of Julius II, including the 'slave' statues and the statue of Moses. In addition, the talk will address such issues such as Michelangel's view of himself as a sculptor rather than a painter, the sometimes difficult relationships he had with his patrons, and his homosexuality.  

 

 

October 29, 2003 

Top Ten Reasons Why We Still Read Dante Today 
Lecture by Stephen Woodhams, Faculty, Language Arts, Cabrillo College 
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St. 

In this assessment of the enduring popularity of Dante and his Divine Comedy almost 700 years after its composition, Woodhams will draw on his experience teaching Dante's Inferno as well as his experience living and travelling in Italy. He will consider Dante's influence on generations of writers and artists, and try to account for what makes Dante's work such a powerful, resonant creation to this day. Why are we still spellbound by this medieval figure?  

 

 
May 14, 2003 

Viaggio in Italia: An Architectural Tour of Italy 
Multimedia lecture by Dr. Allan Langdale, UCSC 
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St. 

Whether you are planning a trip to Italy or just want to travel from an armchair this one-hour slide show and talk will take you to some of the lesser-known, but still spectacular towns and cities of Italy. We shall see the ancient Greek temples which still survive in Sicily, along with the Roman mosaics of Piazza Armerina and the Roman theater at Taormina, overlooking the smoldering Mt. Etna. The impressive remains of the monumental tombs of the Etruscans at Cerveteri will also be included. We shall visit Pienza - an ideal town rebuilt by Pope Pius the II in the mid-fifteenth century - and Urbino, where the enlightened despot Federigo da Montefeltro ruled over a sophisticated Renaissance court and built one of the most beautiful palaces of the period.  

 

 

May 10, 2003 

Lecture/Tasting I: Overview of Italian Wines.  

$40.00 for society members; $50.00 general 
Join Claudio Melega, a native of Bologna, descendant of a wine-making family, and connoisseur of fine Italian wines, for an evening of bountiful information and a slide show. Enjoy plenty of tasting, light snacks and a delicious Italian dessert in a beautiful Santa Cruz private residence. An incomparable experience! 

 

 

 
April 30, 2003 

Machiavelli in a Skirt: Letters from the Renaissance Court of Isabella D'Este 
Lecture by Professor Deanna Shemek, University of California, Santa Cruz 
Veteran's Hall, 846 Front St.  
Cosponsored by the LILA WALLACE-READERS DIGEST LECTURE PROGRAM 
Isabella d'Este (1474-1539) was acclaimed by several of her contemporaries as the "First Lady of the World". As the Marchesa of Mantua, she commissioned works from the likes of Da Vinci, Raphael and Titian. She, herself, was an accomplished poet, musician and dancer. Also effective in politics and Renaissance diplomacy, contemporary writers showered her with praises. Drawing from Isabella d'Este's over twelve thousand letters of correspondence, Professor Deanna Shemek, an expert on women of the Italian Renaissance, will present a profile of this remarkable women, revealing why Isabella d'Este is known as MACHIAVELLI IN A SKIRT!!  

 

 

February 26, 2003 

Mala Notte: Experiences of Italians in Santa Cruz during World War II 
Veteran's Hall, Downtown Santa Cruz 
Local award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and historian Geoffrey Dunn will talk about the experiences & treatment of Italians & Italian-Americans in Santa Cruz during World War II.  

 

February 23, 2003 

Viva Vivaldi! 
Rio Theater, Santa Cruz 
Co-sponsored by Community Music School of Santa Cruz. and the Santa Cruz Cultural Council 
Viva Vivaldi: The Four Seasons of His Life, is an exciting musical drama depicting the life of composer Antonio Vivaldi. The whole family will enjoy learning the surprising details of his life in 18th century Venice, dramatized by talented children and accompanied by the finest young musicians from Santa Cruz and Monterey counties performing many of his greatest works. Our hostess and narrator is Linda Arnold, joined by the York Chamber Players, the Cabrillo Children's Chorus, and students of the many fine teachers of the Community Music School and the Music Teachers Association of California. Italian treats and a Venetian village can be explored at intermission. 

 

 

December 4, 2002 

Dante in Love 
Vet's Hall, 846 Front St. 

I Dolci Italiani! (Italian desserts available) 
A multi-media lecture about the life and times of the great Italian poet, Dante Alighieri. Presented by Dr. Margaret Brose, Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature and Director of the Italian Studies Program at University of California, Santa Cruz. 

 

 

October 30, 2002 

Folk Songs From Tuscany 
Vet's Hall 846 Front St. 
An evening with Alessandro Scavetta, Florentine Tenor and Guitarist. 
A well known "Cantestorie" who specializes in Tuscan folksongs, Scavetta is making his first appearance in the United States! 

 

 

October 9, 2002 

Lecture on the Sistine Chapel 
Vet's Hall 846 Front St. 
Join us for an illustrated lecture by Dr. Allan Langdale, Professor of Art History, UC Santa Cruz. We'll hear about Michelangelo's paintings in the Sistene chapel, one of the marvels of Rome. Tiramisu follows!