L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 4 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Continued from page 1 reaching back across decades, centuries and even millennia. European languages from Span- ish to Portuguese, Romanian to English, for example, all owe a large debt of gratitude to the ancient Romans. Vulgar Latin forms the basis for several lan- guages spoken by a sizeable proportion of the world's popu- lation, not least of course Ital- ians inhabiting the beautiful Mediterranean peninsula and beyond. Within some circles there is even a view that Sicilian, rather t h a n b e i n g s i m p l y a n o t h e r dialect of Italian, was actually the first to have developed from ancient Latin. And certainly there are persuasive similarities that seem to suggest that words in use today evolved from Latin through Sicilian to the Tuscan that would go on to become the national language. But whilst the language of this spectacular island obviously springs from ancient Roman roots, it also draws considerably upon the tongues of the many people who came as occupiers a n d c o n q u e r o r s , n a m e l y t h e Carthaginians, Arabs, French, Spanish and, most notably, the ancient Greeks. E v i d e n c e o f t h e H e l l e n i c Republic's presence percolates throughout the island. From the s u b l i m e D o r i c t e m p l e f i l l e d landscape of southern Sicily, to the ancient theatre in Taormina on the eastern coast. Add in the language of poets and an alpha- bet that persisted through to the Middle Ages and it' s easy to see how the Greek love of lan- guage and theatre evolved into the islanders' unique storytelling tradition of cuntu. The word cuntu is, simply enough, defined as an account, statement or novella. For locals its true cultural meaning, how- ever, goes much deeper, conjur- ing up thoughts of fables, fairy tales and fantastic anecdotes of chivalrous adventure. Some- times puppets are used – they're a significant part of Sicilian folklore – but for the most part c u n t u i s t h e a g e l e s s , a l m o s t extinct art of spoken word street storytelling. Long before the age of cine- ma, television and social media, S i c i l i a n c u n t i s t i m a d e t h e i r livelihoods breathing life into epic tales for the amusement of their audiences. But unlike clas- sic theatre that demands a plat- form, stage or playhouse to host its sagas, cuntu and cuntisti need little more than a street corner, park or town square to accom- modate their stories. The staging needs no painted scenery, no costumes, no smoke or mirrors and no props, because cuntu sto- rytellers conjure everything in the minds of the audience with the pure and humble power of the spoken word. B e f o r e t h e y c o u l d w e a v e their words, worlds and warriors into epic tales Sicilian cuntisti w o u l d s t u d y t h e a r t f o r m a s apprentices. Skills were passed down from father to son, spe- cialist to student, often over the course of a youngster's child- hood or early teens, before they m a d e t h e i r d e b u t a s a d u l t s . Pupils didn't just need to learn the stories however, they needed to learn the art of delivery to c o n v e y e v e r y e m o t i o n f r o m envy to desire, from betrayal to lust. They needed to learn the parts and the characters, the twists and turns they were to take and the nuances necessary to breathe life into each one, opening a window into another world. Cuntisti, crucially, also need- ed to learn to "feel" the breath of their characters, as well as that of their audience. They told tales whilst others listened with baited breath. They used pauses and inhalations to inspire gasps and gulps, as they put flesh and bone to their characters. And they employed spoken words to develop a rhythm, driving the pace to simultaneously create a personal and collective vision. It's storytelling at its best. And what stories they told. Classic cuntu accounts often drew on tales of saints, soldiers and bandits, especially the sto- ries of the Paladins of France. S o m e t i m e s k n o w n a s t h e 1 2 peers, the paladins were war- riors of Charlemagne's Dark Age court representing Christian valor against Saracen hoards. And although their exploits were the largely fictional creations of imaginative 8 th century writers, they drew together elements of several theatrical and literary traditions to create chivalrous heroes and romantic leads that still play out in modern culture today. Cuntisti would tell of Orlan- do, Charlemagne's nephew and chief hero amongst the paladins. Or recount the exploits of Oliv- e r , O r l a n d o ' s r i v a l . T h e y breathed life into Ganelon, the traitor who would later appear in Dante Alighieri's Inferno. And each of the twelve men inspired stories of gallant skirmishes and victorious romance that still res- onate today. For the ordinary populace, the arrival of the cuntisti on the streets of their town was a spe- cial event. Cuntu kept legends alive, inspiring generation after generation with suspense, battle and redemption. And they were as important to Sicilian culture a s S h a k e s p e a r e w a s t o t h e British and Dante was to Floren- tines. Today, modern cuntu adapta- tions are reworking ancient sto- ries weaving contemporary liv- i n g m a t e r i a l i n t o G r e e k a n d Saracen legends to revive this almost extinct art form. Story- tellers such as Alessio Di Modi- ca, Enzo Mancuso and Mimmo Cuticchio have reinvigorated this noble art through the impro- visation of daily tales. And now, this ancient yet modern talent is reaching a new audience via the virtual streets and piazze of YouTube and social media. So as the days shorten, the nights draw in and thoughts turn to TV box sets or binge watch- ing the latest Netflix series, r e m e m b e r t h e r e i s a n o t h e r choice. The cuntisti of Sicily now stand on every street corner of the world via the wonder of the internet, and they have a long tradition of story-telling that will fascinate and entertain just as it has for centuries. The story starts as it always has, with the words that every child rec- ognizes: c'era una volta….once upon a time. Cuntu: Sicily's storytelling tradition Long before the age of cinema and television, cuntisti breathed life into epic tales for the amusement of the audience

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