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DAILY  ITALIAN  INTENSIVE  CLASSES/ Una settimana italiana

Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., coffee & cookies at 10:30 a.m., 15 hrs in total.

Beginner 13-17 Sept – Intermediate 20-24 Sept, 2010. ALSO ON REQUEST.  $ 250 each with 4 or more students. 

Experienced and patient native instructors with relevant academic and cultural training establish a relaxed yet rigorous learning environment suited to the needs of the adult learner.   Beginner class will involve learning Italian grammar and vocabulary, speaking and listening as much as possible, as well as some reading and writing. Our aim is to develop your ability to understand and communicate in Italian, not just to teach you grammar. In Italian with English explanations. In the Intermediate class, through drills, games, songs, written and oral exercises, and role-playing, instructors guide students through the grammar and syntax and help them on their way towards linguistic proficiency. From the first day of instruction, students are immersed in the sounds and structures of the language. Literature, Arts, Culinary History, Music, (and some grammar) will take you to Italy every morning. Only in Italian.

GRAMMAR  WORKSHOP / Grammatica Intensiva (In Italian)

On selected Mondays, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. $ 50 per session

Grammar workshops are taught in Italian and offer two hours of intense grammar study on different subjects. See below for upcoming workshops.

DISCOUNTS for classes: Members: 5% OFF – Members enrolled in the previous period: 10% OFF – To register please use the following form: registration-form-summer-2010

CINEMA  ALL’ITALIANA – Series 2010-2011 – Sixth Edition by Robert Cargni, program Curator

Mamma Mia, che ironia! La Commedia all’italiana

“Italian comedy is a labyrinth in which it is easy to get lost, a kind of flea market that sells everything… So we have to single out various species inside this form. For example, the Italian comedy that came right after neorealism, light neorealism that wanted to counterbalance neorealism…. Then there was the class of comic films in which Toto’ played a very special part, since he did not fit into the deceptive portrait of Italy; just the opposite, given the fact there are more violations of that portrait in his films than in Italian comedy. There was also a slightly more mature kind of Italian comedy,  of which I think Il Sorpasso was one, its aim being not only to pacify and please the audience but also to present themes slightly more aggressive than the public of those days was used to. Italian comedy has slowly died over the years for various reasons. For example, the ever more difficult definition of “the enemy”, who’s face, got increasing hard to put into focus, more evasive…. Some Italian film writers tried to get away from comedy to avoid this invasion… So they tried to copy other types, or resemble foreigners, or become more provincial, finally ending up in realms not ours, such as symbolism, expressionism, and catastrophe.” Ettore Scola.

We were presented with quite a challenge when thinking about this series. We knew that such an expansive topic might be difficult to sum up in only nine films. Then we remembered the above quote by Ettore Scola. The eminent Italian comedy writer and director had such great truth, concision and pith in what he said it was clear that we should follow the trajectory of his thinking. We subsequently attempted to connect each film selected to one of the passages in his quote. What follows is a short history of Italian comedy by many of Italy’s finest comedic writers/directors. The after film discussions will begin with a discussion of what Scola proposed and move onwards from there.

September 16, 2010: La macchina ammazzacattivi – dir. Roberto Rossellini, Italy , 1952, DVD, 80mins, b/w, Italian w/ English subtitles

October 1 2010 – Museum of Art in Philadelphia – After Five Events NOTTE SALENTINA – Folk Southern Italy music and dance performed by KHAOSSIA www.philamuseum.org/artafter5/

October 2 2010 – Norristown – Time and venue: TBA NOTTE SALENTINA – Folk Southern Italy music and dance performed by KHAOSSIA www.myspace.com/khaossia

October 6 2010 – African-American Museum (701 Arch St. Philadelphia PA) RAAGA TRIO in concert http://events.myspace.com/Event/6278393/Raaga-Trio--African-American-Museum

November 2, 2010 - January 16, 2011 – Museum of Art in Philadelphia EXHIBITION ITALIAN ART Michelangelo Pistoletto: From One to Many, 1956–1974 www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/412.html

November 2, 2010 - January 16, 2011 – Museum of Art in Philadelphia EXHIBITION ITALIAN ART Michelangelo Pistoletto: Cittàdellarte www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/414.html

November 2, 2010 A round-table with Michelangelo Pistoletto at the University of Pennsylvania – Center for Italian Studies http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/italians/events/index.html

November 21, 2010 - April 10, 2011 – Museum of Art in Philadelphia EXHIBITION ITALIAN DESIGN Alessi: Ethical and Radical www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/404.html