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Saltarello

Dance
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A lively Italian dance of the medieval and Renaissance periods, marked by leaps and springing steps. In poetry, it evokes youth, festivity, courtship, and energetic historical pageantry.

Detailed Definition
The saltarello was an Italian dance known from the medieval and Renaissance periods, its name deriving from the idea of jumping or leaping. Performed with quick, buoyant steps, it belonged to both popular and courtly entertainment. Poets use the term to enliven scenes of Italian festivity, open-air celebration, masked gatherings, or youthful courtship. Its upward motion can symbolise joy, desire, and release, while its historical associations allow a poem to contrast vivid bodily life with ruined cities, lost cultures, passing time, or inevitable mortality.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The young dancers sprang into a saltarello beneath the Italian sun” emphasises its leaping character; A poet may compare flames jumping in a hearth to a saltarello; “Their saltarello mocked the ruins surrounding the square” contrasts bodily vitality with historical decay; The dance can evoke Renaissance festivity, youth, courtship, release, and the brief triumph of life over time.
Additional Notes
The saltarello takes its name from leaping, so it is especially useful for energetic descriptions of youth, flame, birds, festivals, and sudden joy. It belongs to medieval and Renaissance Italian dance culture and may evoke public celebration as well as courtly entertainment. In poetry, its vitality can be contrasted with ruins, age, plague, or mortality. Students should look for springing verbs and quick visual shifts. Related terms include Italian dance, estampie, tarantella, Renaissance festival, leap, kinetic imagery, and historical setting.
Also Known As
Saltarella
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