L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano T he Italian-American com- munity took a step back in the past by welcoming the Compagnia Sbandieratori di Lucca - Contrada di Sant'Anna to the Bay Area. The group, who visited the bay late in May, per- formed the traditional medieval flag waving during the Festa della Repubblica at the Yacht Club. The show took also place at the Westfield Mall Downtown SF, at the Italian Cultural Institute, at the Saint Peter's and Paul School, at La Scuola, at Franciscan Restaurant, and final- ly, on June 2nd, at the San Francisco City Hall. As pointed by Consul General, Lorenzo Ortona, "this year's San Francisco National Day was dedicated to the territo- ry of Lucca. As many know, along with Genoa, Lucca (and its province) was a starting point for the Italians who first arrived here in the 19th century. We celebrat- ed the 45th anniversary of the Lucchesi Nel Mondo Association in the Bay Area, with one of the most numerous lucchese communities. It was a huge pleasure for me to bring Lucca to San Francisco and make everybody learn about this special part of Italy." The idea of bringing the Compagnia to San Francisco came up during a con- versation with Rino Bertini, President of the California Italian Chamber of Commerce. Mr Bertini is very familiar with the Compagnia Sbandieratori di Sant'Anna in Piaggia: "I had the opportunity to watch them for many years, because we come from the same area," he said. "First of all, I built some con- tacts with Oriano Landucci, the President of Fondazione Banca Del Monte di Lucca, and with Mr Giuseppe Bartelloni, Segretario Generale della Fondazione. That's when we agreed that we could host an event with the Sbandieratori in the Bay Area. Even though La Compagnia is made of thirty people, I knew that not all of them could make it to California. Yet, we had a great group of young enthusiastic people." The story of the Sbandieratori di Lucca began in 1994, when the Compagnia Arco Storico Lucchese was founded to raise awareness about the importance of blood donation among young people. The group was named after the most densely populated district in Lucca and was initial- ly focused on the archery prac- tice. Later on, not only the flag waving practice became the most relevant, but it also ended up being the only interest of the group. Since 1999, the Sbandieratori have been regular- ly enrolled in the Lega Italiana Sbandieratori (LIS), winning many awards. In 2000, the Compagnia Arco Storico Lucchese eventually changed the name again, becoming the Gruppo Storico Sbandieratori e Musici Contrada Sant'Anna in Piaggia, as known now. The Fondazione Banca Del Monte di Lucca and the Compagnia share the date of birth, as they were both founded in 1400: "Bringing sbandieratori, tamburini, and trombettieri, whose roots are very deep in the past, to a place where everybody looks at innovative stuff sounded odd at the beginning," Mr Bertini continued. "Nevertheless, it turned to be a great idea. Once we've set the budget, we organized a four- days event, in order to also pro- mote Lucca tourism, food, and wine. It has been a celebration of teamwork, as proved by all the efforts made by Domenico Tani, Dante Serafini from the Franciscan Restaurant, and the staff of the Holiday Inn Civic Center." Valentina Imbeni, Head of La Scuola, and her students were delighted and amazed by the Sbandieratori show at their school. "The Sbandieratori spent time with each class before the SERENA PERFETTO Back to Lucca roots: the Compagnia Sbandieratori - Contrada di Sant'Anna in Piaggia - Visits San Francisco performance and they explained the history behind it", Mrs Imbeni said. "An international mindedness as well as an appre- ciation of the Italian culture are important values of La Scuola, so our gratitude goes out to the Italian Consulate of San Francisco for giving us the opportunity to host them", she concluded. For the young sbandieratori, the experience in the Bay Area will be unforgettable: "Our trip to San Francisco represented a positive moment from a human stand-point as well as a group experience", they said. "Performing while using the Italian and the American flags in the city of San Francisco, for the Italian community and expats from Lucca, has been one of the greatest emotions of the whole trip." The sbandieratori also had the honor to walk side by side to Consul Ortona and his family for the ceremony of the Italian Republic. "We will go back with the memory of all the people and the kids we have met. Having our performance at the schools filled us with joy. We will always remember kids' enthusi- asm and curiosity when we talked about our love for this practise." The success was so big that more events are on the way: for those who missed it, the sbandieratori will come back with new performances in two years, for the Columbus Day Parade. The Sbandieratori opened the June 2nd celebrations at the Yatch Club in San Francisco (Ph: Flavia Loreto) The Sbandieratori's perfomance outside the Yatch Club in San Francisco. (Ph: Flavia Loreto) SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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