Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-05-06
Waltz OF THE GIGL1
THE sTRAEeEsT, mADDEsT DANCE IN
. THE WORLD.

Host Fantastic and Dangerous Fen
| turc of the Remarkable Festival of
the Lilies Tint Is Celebrated In the
Old Italian City OF NoIa.
Among all remarkable features that
know there Is none more remarkable
than the June festival of the lilies at
Nolu, TINT ancient but sleepy city lying
twenty miles out from Naples in the
! lovely Cnmpngna Felice.
| Nola's great hero and patron saint is
st. Paulnus, poet and bishop OF the
| fifth century. He is credited with hav-
| Ing invented church bells and was al.
| together 50 remarkable person that
he was carried of into captivity by tile
| Moors. His cnptors, however, were so
impressed by the snnctity and sweet
hess of the bishop TINT they suffered
him to escape, and when he returned
home the whole population turned out
TO meet him. carrying i'll their hands
the great tall white lilies so familiar
| to this day to visitors in this lovely
| part of Italy.
AS years passed away the anniver
sary Of Bishop Faulinus' return was
celebrated witliNmore aud more ccremo
ny until at length the trade guilds be-
! gan to erect elaborate ornamental tow
ers which they carried In procession as
| symbols of the lilies with which the
| Joyous populace welcomed their bishop
| on his return. The date of the festival
| today is June %, and so remarkable Is
| 1t that II attracts visitors from all over
Italy.
On the eve of the great day, when
the gigli or ornamental towers, seven
| stories in height, with multitudnous
cornices and papicr mnchc decorations.
stnnd ready all Nola is illuminnt ted, and
thousands of colored lanterns are hung
on ropes across the streets.
| One notices that the base of the pyram.
idnl Gigli consists of IL massive frame.
| work of beams. On the lowest story
Is accommodation for an orchestra. and
| every tier and detail OF the towering
tlowerlikc gigli that rises glittering
above the highest housctops is worked
out with MS much pains ms though it
wcres intended for some great cathe-
dral. which Should endure, not for a
| day. but for n thousand years
Every Whitsunday Nola wakes up
to great excitement. A vnrlcolored
Italian crowd largely mixed with
foreigners. nours through the narrow
| streets to the market place. For few
lire they secure seats on balcony, at
| window. OH fiat roof or even on
some crnmbling and dangerous projec-
ton of the hoary old cathedral Tho
| streets at the four corners of the mar.
ket square are kept clcnr for. the pas.
sage OF the giant gigl.
Suddenly the confused sound of many
bands Is heard and one by one. fash
Ing. glitterlng and swaying cruzily. like
the mast of ship In n gale. the great
pyramids advance into the square. their
lofty spires nodding to the rhythmic
| feet of their bearers. who are always
| porters from the great arsenal at
Naples These men are famous all
over the Campagna Felice for their
great strength. Before engh moving
| tower n man walks backward. guiding
the bearers by beating time with hand
and foot. Other men run beside them
ready to lay hold of a beam and place
their own shoulder beneath 1t should
the strength Of n comrade fail.
The moment all the eight gigli nave
entered the market place an extraor-
binary spectacle is bcheld. for the
lofty towers begin fantastic and ap.
parcntly most dangerous dance. dan.
gerous, so far rs one can see, alike for
porters and populace. Round and
round each tower dances. Collisions
seem Inevitable, but arc always skill
| fully avoided in the maZes of n kind OF
waltz, surely the strangest dance in the
world. with forty struggling men be-
meath each of the eight ggli and the
whole army of dancers guided by the
shrlll whistle of the captain
After few minutes of this dance the
massed bands strike mp wild taran.
tella. Immediately tlle bearers dance
more rccklessly than ever, and the
huge crowd rushes hther and thither
to escape humiliation from the fall of
the gi'ent juggernnuts And imminent
enough does this seem. Tie towers,
many Of them from 10 to 100 feet high,
bend this way and TINT dt terribly
alarming angle. But presently the
crowd realizes that, after all. there may
be no real danger, and they, too, begin
to dance and sing.
a sight indeed Is 1t to see this grent
populace dancing furiously and the
eight colossal towers dancing also in
their midst. Just when the porters
grow so fatlgued that their burden be.
comes very real danger the board OF
judges send the police over to inter.
fere. Gradually the Waiting pyramids
art brought to standstin and ranged
in row before the town hali-Willlan,