L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS (60 lbs). And then, we have the cha- racters. Their personality was, and still is, extremely important: they were all heroes, who mirro- red people's necessity to redeem their position of outcasts by identifying with figures of higher values and morals they also felt as their own: friendship, loyalty, courage. A very interesting part of your work is the cunto, the "tale," which is typical of the teatro dei pupi: why is it so important? The cunto is one of the very roots of the Opera dei Pupi and it's not easy to describe. Narration takes place through a very specific type of metrics, which helps the cuntista to make the events of the story almost tangible, "physical." The voice doesn't simply tell a story, it sha- pes it and moulds it, it's as important as the movements of the pupi themselves. It makes the tale alive. Without a doubt, the art of cunto is complex, rooted as it is not only in the knowledge of each and every tale, but also in the personal creative afflatus and inspiration of the narrator. And it's an exclusively oral form of art. Maestro Mimmo Cuticchio learned the art from Peppino Celano, one of the greatest cunti- sti of our times and, today, he uses cunto for both chivalric tales and contemporary ones. The opening of a pupari school as part of your Associazione marked an important moment in its history. What's the value of such an education institution in today's world? The school opened in 1997, about 20 years ago. It was the first school for pupari and cunti- sti in the world. It's a three year, atelier-based course, that aims primarily at transmitting the immense cultural and artistic patrimony of the Opera dei Pupi to those interested in it. It's in Palermo, at the Teatrino e Laboratorio dei Figli d'Arte Cuticchio. Our students, who at the moment are all between 18 to 26, don't only learn the art of making pupi and of the cunto, but also get acquainted with other disciplines like drama, stage setting, costume making, lighting, direction and acting: in short, everything pupari need to do their job well. The school has received the support and collaboration of the Comune di Palermo, and also of important international institu- tions like the International School of Theatre Anthropology (ISTA), the Charleville Meziérès' École Supérieure Nationale des Arts de la Marionnette and several Italian universities. The last few years have wit- nessed a rise in interest, espe- cially among the younger gene- rations, in our ancient tradi- tions, those that gave to Italian culture its variety and beauty: have you been noti- cing signs of this trend also for the Opera dei Pupi? Between the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1980s, things weren't rosy for the Opera dei Pupi. It was conside- red "old stuff," but paradoxically not "old enough" to be intere- sting. For more than one gene- ration, pupi have been nothing more than souvenirs. Today, however, people's attitude has changed also, I believe, thanks to the work Mimmo Cuticchio has been doing with the school. His shows, which he brought all over the world, also helped. His work has been unanimously apprecia- ted by public, critics and acade- mics alike. Without a doubt, this new interest in history and traditions positively helped our work, to the point that, as we already said, the Opera dei Pupi is today part of the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List. Mind, intangible heritage, that is, not the mario- nettes themselves, but all the theatrical techniques (use of the voice, dramatization, mise en scène) you pass on from father to son, from teacher to student. Finally, tell us something about the Macchina dei Sogni… The Macchina dei Sogni is our festival. Its first edition took place in 1984, to celebrate the 50 years of activity of Giacomo Cuticchio, Mimmo's father. Since then, we've been organi- zing it every year, with shows, exhibitions and events all con- nected to the world of the Opera dei Pupi. The Festival lasts for a month and wants to bring attention to the world of pupi as a whole: to the cunto, to history, to craftsmanship. For the first 10 years, the festival took place in Palermo, then we moved around Sicily a bit, first to Sortino (Siracusa), then to Terrasini (Palermo) and, for a few editions now, we've been in Polizzi Generosa (Palermo). Every year, La Macchina del Tempo hosts artists from all over the world who Mimmo, our Maestro, met during his trips. Pupi marionettes have specific characteristics based on the character they represent (Copyright: Città di Parma)

• Cover