Once, though, it was her first love.
“Eeet wassa deezaster,” said Elisa, who goes only by her first name and speaks with a warm and lyrical Italian accent. “But I always dance in my room. I have a little stereo in a small room full of mirrors and that's where I'm dancing at 30-years-old, still, to this day.”
The irony is, the song she titled “Dancing,” from her new CD by the same name, is responsible for a North American tour that brings her and her band to the Belly Up Tavern on Monday.
Last year, choreographer Mia Michaels randomly picked the song from a library of music to accompany a dance performed by “So You Think You Can Dance” finalists Lacey Schwimmer and Kameron Bink.
Raven-haired Schwimmer, barefoot and in a black slip dress, partnered with the mohawked and muscular Bink to execute an eye-popping routine that emphasized “Dancing” the way the right picture frame calls attention to a beautiful painting.
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Elisa, with Ari Hest
When: Monday, 8 p.m.
Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach
Tickets: $12 to $14
Phone: (858) 481-8140
Online: bellyup.com
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Energetic leaping and graceful lifts emphasized the building emotion in Elisa's voice, and when the ballad turned haunting and poignant, the couple swayed in a sensual embrace. The audience screamed its approval and the song soared to the Top 20 on iTunes. A video clip of the show has been viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube.
The song “Dancing,” Elisa says, was written seven years ago, and its lyrics are autobiographical.
So I put my arms around you around you / And I know that I'll be leaving soon / My eyes are on you / They're on you / And you see that I can't stop shaking / No, I won't step back but I'll look down to hide from your eyes
“I never really explain it in Italy. I didn't want to make a wave of something so intimate,” Elisa said. “It was definitely, how you say, unexpected out of the blue. I was really happy that represented a way for people to get to know my music. Sometimes it takes more than one thing to make you notice something.”
In Italy, Elisa has been noticed for years.
The MTV Europe Music Award-winner has performed alongside Andrea Bocelli and wowed audiences with Sting, James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti at the 2002 charity concert Pavarotti & Friends.
She said that American artists, from Aretha Franklin to the Smashing Pumpkins, influence her style, and comparisons have been made to Alanis Morissette and Corinne Bailey Rae.
But Elisa has her own distinctive sound, with an expansive range and a mastery of dynamics that makes her voice especially well-suited to soulful ballads.
She is traveling by bus with four band members, who have toured and recorded with her for years.
“They asked me if I wanted to have other musicians from here because it is all a money issue,” said the singer, who was born in Monfalcone, a town in Northern Italy. “I pulled money out of my pocket and brought my own musicians. I love them and it would be strange to change, we are all from the same area. We grew up 20 kilometers from each other.”
The North America tour has Elisa performing in smaller venues than her shows in Europe, and she is seeing our country up close and personal at a pivotal time in history.
“As a European, what I feel is that American artists have given a lot to the world,” she said wistfully. “But people now are beyond tired of crisis and wars. Maybe now there is a change to get back all your amazing qualities that are in this country and really rise again.”
Marcia Manna covers arts and entertainment in North County for the Union-Tribune.
