The Catacombs, plus new dance action

In light of this being Easter Sunday, I thought I would share the previously unblogged information about the Early Christian Catacombs that I learned while visiting them in Rome last month.

The Catacombs are located outside the Roman walls, dug into volcanic clay next to the site of Roman pagan mausoleums. They were condoned by the Roman authorities, and not secret. The tour guide said that the Early Christians did not live there or hide out there for long periods of time (imagine the smell!), as is commonly assumed. The graves themselves were niches dug into the clay, kind of like shelves-- these were for individuals. The family tombs were bigger, with archways for the openings and they contained urns for perfume, incense, and sarcophagi for baby graves (much like the Roman tombs nearby). The Catacombs had holes at the top, open to the ground above for lowering in the new bodies, and workers performed this task. There were also plaques inside, with early Christian symbols: a Greek fish (different from the fish used to symbolize Christianity today), and anchor, the PX symbol, a dove, and an olive tree (absoluely no crosses!). There was a dining room at the entrance to the catacombs, where the early Christians celebrated the death day of their loved ones (monthly and yearly) with a feast, as well as the death days of Sts. Peter and Paul, who were buried in this Catacomb (St. Sebastian Catacomb) briefly before being interned to be buried where they were martyred in Rome. In he Christian dining rooms, there were plaques commemorating the feasts for Sts. Peter and Paul with prayers for the people giving the feast. This feast near the burial place of the dead was similar to the the picnics (in the open air) held by the pagan Romans next to their mausoleums. I also saw the Roman mausoleums-- they were like small A-frame houses, with mosaic floors, urns for the ashes of the dead, and urns for perfumes and incense.

In dance news this week, I found out about a big show in Cologne in May that will showcase all of the dance happening in Cologne (modern, ballet, flamenco, Turkish, etc). I got in at the last minute-- there is a website as well that will have portraits of all of the dance-makers in Cologne. I'll share my portrait when it goes on-line. The woman organizing the show was excited to know about me and my crazy baroque dancing (kind of shocking)--- she once danced in a baroque show herself. Yay! I also have another show in Switzerland in June, and I am working on organizing a small show with new musicians (They put out an announcement looking for Renaisance/baroque dancers in Cologne-- little did they know this announcement was basically just for me! I am so glad I found it.) for Frankfurt in November. Little by little, things are turning up.... All this happened this week-- crazy.