Hundreds of actors, singers and dancers, a vast stage, fireworks, strong emotions ... no, it's not the Arena in Verona, it's 'La
Storia Bandita'. 'La Storia Bandita', which translates as both 'The History of Outlaws' and 'Outlawed History', is a spectacular son et lumi.re show.
The show is performed in the largest history theme park in Italy, La Grancia, which is located in Brindisi di
Montagna, Basilicata, a little-known yet
fascinating region.
'La Storia Bandita' is outsized in every way. Set on a stage 25 kilometers long, covering an entire valley floor in an amphitheater seating 3,000,
the show utilizes over 400 actors, 35 dancers, 500 costumes, 18 horses, and 12 dances. 'La Storia Bandita' also features a water screen, gigantographs
projected upon a mountainside, and a real life castle which burns to the ground twice a week.
The show has hundreds of special effects by Victor Rambaldi, son of the creator of E.T., Carlo Rambaldi. Though the effects are taken straight out
of Hollywood, there is nothing Disneyesque about the story. 'La Storia Bandita' is a fictionalized account of the tragic history of Carmine Crocco,
leader of an uprising of dispossessed peasants against the depredations of the new Kingdom of Italy, and self-styled 'General' of a rag-tag army of
rebels.
All you have to do is look around you. Towering craggy mountains, deep mysterious valleys, ... this is bandit country. The Dolomites of Basilicata
are gorgeous badlands. An eminently suitable backdrop for the tragic and romantic story of the 'briganti', the bandits who roamed wild through the
landscape of southern Italy during the second half of the 19th century, subsequent to the unification of the country. They were the expression of the
people who had been forgotten in the conquest by the northern Piedmontese - the desperately poor peasants of the south.
The show, which begins at sundown, features original music by such luminaries as Lucio Dalla, Antoniello Venditti, Luciano di Giandomenico and
others.
The original dances are choreographed by Carmelina Iannielli, who has carried out a great deal of field research. Literally. In order to create
a kind of dance she calls 'anthropological', she went out into the fields with the peasants to observe their movements and to study the myths and
rituals that govern their lives. The dancers in 'La Storia Bandita' are trained in aikido and tai chi. There are 12 dances in all, including the
pizzicariella, a local form of the Pugliese dance pizzica, and the older tarantella.
The show is a true extravaganza, the only one of its kind in Italy, termed a 'cinespettacolo'.
'La Storia Bandita' is only one of the many attractions of 'La Grancia'. Set in the eerily beautiful Lucanian Dolomites, the history theme park
is a destination for everyone. Street artists on stilts and mimes provide entertainment as visitors wend their way from concerts to puppet theater.
'The Fantastic Forest' has animated trees and wooden toys for the delight of the youngest visitors. The 'Brigands' Camp' is a faithful
reproduction, including some of the 400 sumptuous costumes created by Gerardo Viaggiano for the 'cinespetttacolo'.
Horse enthusiasts can ride along the 'Posta dei Cavalieri', a bridle path winding through the valleys of the Dolomites.
The 'Raptor's Path' allows visitors to follow along the paths of the fascinating raptors in the falconry show, a favorite of young and old.
The falconry show is the main attraction of the park and takes place at 6 p.m. in the Amphitheater of the Eagles. Master falconer Massimo
Lanat., three-time international champion and holder of the International Gold medal, fell in love at the age of 11 with a wounded falcon and has been
faithful ever since. As a teenager and young man, he traveled throughout Europe, apprenticing himself to master falconers in Germany, Austria, Spain and
Hungary, and at the age of 23 found himself in the capital of falconry, Belarus. He kept himself by making the leather hoods used to cover their heads.
The show features 29 raptors, including a falcon clocked at a flight speed of 400 kilometers per hour, golden eagles, horned owls, vultures,
hawks and even a rare American bald eagle, a recent acquisition from the Czech Republic. Negotiations for a mate are underway. Massimo Lanat. heads a
team of 5 falconers, including the youngest falconer in Europe, Michele Acerenza, 18. Mr. Acerenca proved his dedication to the art of falconry by
walking the three miles down the mountain from his house to the park three times a week, rain or shine, from the age of 15.
Concerts often feature famous performers of traditional music such as Ambrogio Sparagna, a musical ethnologist and performer. Local traditional
music is as hypnotic and fascinating as bluegrass, springing from the same type of roots. Sparagna
traces the roots of the
tarantella to the 15th century. It is dense and improvised like jazz, the expression of an underground rebellion.
In 2004 the 'Parco Storico La Grancia' plans on organizing musical workshops featuring traditional music.
While listening to the music, you can stroll around 'Il Borgo', a recreation of an outlaw village, with the inhabitants in historical costumes,
authentic down to the finest detail.
This being Italy, food and wine are not neglected. The 'La Grancia' history park has a number of restaurants. You can look in vain for pasta and
hamburgers, though. The food served is strictly only what would have been served 150 years ago, delicious and genuine. Spelt soup, meat smoked in
underground pits - so the carabinieri combing the countryside would not notice the smoke - local sheep cheeses, sausages, boiled corn on the cob. The
heady local wine is available, either by the glass or from a 'iascariedd', a small spouted barrel to be poured directly down the throat.
As with most things in Italy, every single sense is delighted in a visit to the 'La Grancia' history theme park.
Ticket Prices (2003):
The 'La Grancia' park : euro 2
The Park and the Falconry Show: euro 8
The Park, Falconry Show, and 'Cinespettacolo': euro 20
Cinespettacolo: euro 12
Saturdays and Sundays from the first weekend in August through the third weekend in September.
This article was written by Elizabeth Jennings, a writer and translator, who has lived in the south of Italy. | | |
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