L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano S ummer has come in San Francisco and this year's Solstice also matched an important celebration, the 2019 World Music Day. For many, this day was just another occasion for being outside and playing music in their neighborhoods or in public spaces and parks. San Franciscans enjoyed music and performances throughout the week and, for the Italian American community, the calendar marked two sensational events: on Tuesday, Club Fugazi in North Beach hosted Rosario Giuliani Quartet. The pro- ject represented a tribute to Italian cinema and its tradition of excel- lence, playing unforgettable movie soundtracks, from 8 e mezzo to Once Upon A Time in America and Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, by com- posers Nino Rota and Ennio Mor- ricone. Two days later, the Can- zoniere Grecanico Salentino took the music and the dance of Puglia on stage, with an unforgettable per- formance at the SF Jazz. Salento, the finis terrae, "the heel of the Italian boot", has been in the spotlight for quite some time now: from beautiful beaches and striking landscapes to preeminent food traditions, the area is one of the most visited in Italy. The sound of the Pizzica is part of any visitor's experience as it brings together the cultural phenomenon of tarantismo and the passion for music and SERENA PERFETTO so-called contadini (peasants). The change happened when people started learning more about its his- tory and its meaningful connection with the past. Pizzica is a folk dance that be- longs to the streets. What hap- pens when you take it on stage? Our final goal is to have people dance, so the way we perform on stage is the same as if we were playing on the street. Having view- ers engaged throughout the perfor- mance is crucial to us. We want to become ambassadors of this music and to give a message about the importance of community when music is shared. Seeing people smiling and being fully engaged in the dance makes us very happy. Being on stage is the result of de- cisions made when getting ready for the performance. Your outfit, the instruments, the spot of each of us on stage, the lights, the order of the lyrics, these are all things we need to think of in order to turn the performance into something special. What we can't help but keep intact is surely the passion. My parents always tell the story of me dancing or moving in the stroller or the floor while they were performing. I still feel and have the same freedom, I don't feel the pres- sure of being on stage as long as I can be my true self. How do you keep the spon- taneity of both dance and music born outside of the stage? Spontaneity comes from play- ing songs that can last forever, as they just go with the flow. Just to give an example, we usually pick certain lyrics to play in the middle of the performance. Sometimes the same lyrics last for a while, even up to twelve minutes in certain cases. As a professional band, we cannot rely on improvisation though, we work on some given structures and, within those struc- tures, each of us can find his/her own freedom of playing longer or dancing differently, therefore changing what we had decided be- fore. The language and the lyrics of the Pizzica are hard to under- stand. Yet, this does not seem to affect people's interest. This happens all the time with music. When we listen to English songs, as Italians, we sometimes do not understand the lyrics, yet we still love listening to them. That's even more true for Pizzica: the rhythm, the energy, the mes- sage allow to go beyond the un- derstanding of the lyrics them- selves. That's, in general, the power of music: it's a language that goes beyond cultural boundaries and brings us together as a com- munity. dance. The so-called morso della taranta (the bite of a unique spider called, indeed, taranta) is told to be so intense to the point of putting people - the so called tarantati - into a status of ferment and rest- lessness. This condition could only be overcome by the power of danc- ing. Tarantismo is still considered a ritual of possession and cannot happen unless there is a strong be- lief in the power of the taranta bite: not only does it hurt, but it also generates an illness that can be cured through dance. The music plays a crucial role, as it puts every- thing back to order when the taran- tati react to the sound of the tam- burello and come back to life. Crowned Best Group at the 2018 Songlines Music Awards, the Canzoniere's story goes back to 1975 when writer Rina Durante conceived the idea of a band to rep- resent the soul of Salento and the Taranta. The band was therefore founded by her cousin Daniele Du- rante, who kept the tradition alive himself before passing on to his son Mauro, in the early 2000s. To- day, the Canzoniere counts on Mauro Durante's voice, in addition to him playing frame drums and violin; Alessia Tondo (voice); Giulio Bianco (Italian bagpipes, harmonica, recorders); Massimil- iano Morabito (diatonic accordion); Emanuele Licci (voice, guitar, bouzouki); Giancarlo Paglialunga (voice, tamburrieddhu), Silvia Per- rone (dancer). Mauro has embraced the tradi- tion of both his family and land at the age of 14. We had a conversa- tion with him after the performance of the Canzoniere at the SF Jazz, recalling the path of the Pizzica to today's popularity. Mauro, let's start talking about your passion for music. I was born in a family where music is one of the most important things. Both my mom and dad were part of the Canzoniere Gre- canico from its beginning to 2007. Music was part of my life as a kid and this really facilitated my deci- sion to make of music my full time job. What's your memory about falling in love with music and Pizzica? I don't have a clear recollection of when that happened, however my best memory is the one of being a kid captured by his dad's hands while he was playing guitar. Those moments could last days, I was never tired of seeing him playing and listening to those sounds. In 1998, I was 14 and started playing with the band: I gave up vacations, summer activities with my friends, in order to become a musician. I don't have a memory of me mak- ing an actual decision: playing mu- sic was already part of my daily life, I loved it, and I wanted to keep doing it, more and more. How would you define this fa- ther-son relationship? He was surely my maestro, but he has also become the first one I had long conversations with about my projects. Our relationship is based on sharing everything we do and exchanging opinions. I feel lucky for having him in my life playing both roles. Yet, I consider myself blessed for having the op- portunity of experimenting music at home before making the final decision of going into this profes- sional path. The beauty of the Pizzica comes from the connection with land and its ability of overcoming it. It's beautiful to think that Pizzica is now well known every- where. Pizzica is part of the taran- tella traditions but has been con- sidered similar to other kinds of folk music, like Mazurka and walzer to mention a few, for many years. In recent decades or so, there has been a sort of reappropriation and reinvention of Pizzica that has been beneficial to the movement itself. Pizzica is today a symbol of our land's identity within a global- ized world. Music and dance are the most fascinating, winning ele- ments of the process: they make it special, in the use of many instru- ments and in the power of dancing. The two comes together, one can- not exist without the other, and this is true, especially for Pizzica. The interest towards Pizzica has changed over the last years. Why do think it happened? I grew up while the interest to- wards the tradition was already on the rise. However, my parents re- member a moment in time in which there was a refusal of Pizzica tra- ditions as they belonged to the past and mainly to the lower class, the The Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino was launched in 1976 in Puglia - Ph credits M. Morabito, G. Bianco, A. Kozulin, F. Aiello SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY Dancing with the Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino while exploring Pizzica and its roots

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