Folk Group Agilla e Trasimeno

The italian folk group "Agilla e Trasimeno" was formed in 1957, in order to revive some forms of rural and popular culture in Umbria, with particular regard to the zone of the lake Trasimeno. The group is composed by some young people, all from Castiglione del Lago, moved by a passion for the traditions of their land. The simple costume is that of the people of the lake between the XIXth century and the XXth century: the women wear a large headsquare on their shoulders and a very large apron; the men wear a waist-coat, a scarf round the waist, and trousers tied at their calves.

The legend

The name of the group comes from the ancient legend, of Etruscan origin, of prince Trasimeno, a son of the god Tirreno, who stopped near a lake, during an excursion in the lands of the centre of Italy. The prince met the nymph Agilla who lived in an island of the lake. The Prince Trasimeno fell madly in love with Agilla, so much that he died for her. Since then the lake took the name of Trasimeno ... and in the evenings of August, when a light wind caresses the trees and the waters of the lake, a sad, melancholy lament is heard, and people say this is the cry of Agilla, searching for prince Trasimeno.

The show

The musics, the dances and the songs are the expression and the commentary of the most significant moments of rural life, very connected with the natural cycles, and with the seasons: the grape and wheat harvest, the threshing…
The musics are played with the following instruments accordion, tambourine, guitar, clarinet, barrel-organ, double bass. The most important and traditional dances are “Sor Cesare”, “Punta e Tacco”, “Trescone”, “Lo Schiaffo”, “La Manfrina” and “Chiamo”.