Traditional Maschger dance in Prato

On Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday and Shrove Tuesday, the Maschger, led by a Bajaz, perform. Good-humoured, masked and exuberant couples move from inn to inn, where they dance and play pranks according to fixed rituals.

The mask group consists of eight couples: Mr. and Mrs., Farmer and Farmer’s Wife, Steyrerin, Tuxner and Tuxnerin, Zillertalerin, Mohr and Mohrin, Tschigeiner and Tschigeinerin as well as Zoch and Pfott.

As soon as the Maschger enter an inn, the Bajaz opens the dance round with his pointed hat. Behind him, the eight couples are waiting in rows of two for their performance. The last couple are "Zoch and Pfott", the two roughest characters. They are dressed in rags and are supposed to demonstrate fertility.

No one knows the exact origin of this custom and its deeper meaning. It is probably a kind of wedding procession or a dance of death. We don’t know exactly.