Presentation forWelcome Days of Comenius multilateral partnership 2012-14 "European Fableways to Human Values" 2C Liceo Scientifico "Megara" di Augusta a cura della prof.ssa Cusumano.

1. COMENIUS MEETING
AUGUSTA FEBRUARY 18th 2014
ITALY

2. CLASSE II C
LICEO SCIENTIFICO
Workshop in Italian traditional
Arts & Crafts
“Sicilian Marionette”

3. Opera dei Pupi
• traditional form of Sicilian entertainment
• a core symbol of Sicilian folk-art
• integral to the Island's cultural identity
Video Sicilian Opera
dei Pupi

4. Unesco has designated Sicilian Puppet theatre
as part of humanity’s “”oral and intangible heritage”
and has devised a plan to save it from exinction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ql7DxcWILE

5. Origins
the Opera dei Pupi emerged in Sicily at the beginning of the
nineteenth century but its roots stretch back to at least the
15th century.
Puppets and marionettes were a popular form of
entertainment throughout Medieval Europe for all classes
people.

6. It is probable that the earliest performances
involved local history and folklore and
enjoyed great success among the island’s
working classes.

7. Themes
• various periods of Sicilian history;
• works of literature;
• folklore and comed;.
• the Norman knights against the Saracens;
• the lyric poetry of the Troubadours;
• the epic tales of chivalry known as the
Chansons de Geste (the songs of deeds).

8. The Opera dei Pupi also covers subjects from
classical Greece and Rome such as Homer's Iliad
and Odyssey.
Religious and Biblical performances can include
tales from the Old Testament, including the tale
of the Exodus.

9. Features
• Dialogue improvised, even if the plot remains the
same;
• Swordfights, jousts and battles with monsters or
sorceresses;
• When a hero slashes with his sword, limbs can fall
from the villain. In some performances the wounds
actually bleed, the blood being made from beet juice;
• Much of Sicily's history has been violent and over the
centuries it has imprinted itself in this most traditional
form of entertainment.

13. The villains

14. In Sicily these theatres
• are family-run businesses;
• employ traditional methods;
• use wooden marionettes on strings and metal
wires.

15. The three main Sicilian
puppet schools
• different size and shape of the puppets;
• different operating techniques;
• different variety of colorful stage backdrops.
• PALERMO
• CATANIA
• SIRACUSA
Video

16. Workshop
How to make a puppet
• Cardboard or posterboard,
• Pencil, marker, paint sharp scissors,
• Wire brads, hole puncher,
• 2 chopsticks or pencils,
• tape,
• needle,
• fishing line,
• school glue,

17. Structure and body

18. 1. Draw your design
• Lay the cardboard or poster board on a flat
surface;
• Sketch out individual body parts for the
marionette;
• The puppet will need two separate arms, two
separate legs and a torso section with the head
attached.

19. 2. Cut out the pieces
Decorate the sketched puppet with markes,
crayons or paint and cut out the pieces.
3. Lay out your puppet
• Assemble the puppet face-up on a flat surface;
• Lay the torso piece down ;
• arrange the arms and legs on the marionette so
that a section of each overlaps with the torso
piece.

20. 4. Create the joints
• Use a hole punch at each joint location, one hole
on each piece where they will be joined;
• Push a brass brad trough each joint in the
puppet;
• punch holes in the paper if it is too thick to be
pierced by the brad alone.

21. 5. Create the handle
• Lay down two chopsticks or pencils to form a
cross;
• Tape the stick togethere where they intersect.

22. 6. Attach the strings
• Thread a needle with fishing line;
• Piercing a hole trough the cardboard just above
the knees and the wrists;
• knot the line and draw the fishing line through.
• Knot and cut the line after making each
attachment.

23. 7. Connect the strings
• Knot the fishing line extending from the
puppet’s shoulders to the center of the cross;
• Knot each of the four strings connected fo the
puppet’s limbs to an individual arm of the cross;
• Dot school glue on each knot to keep it from
untying.

25. Comenius « European Fableway to
Human Values”
THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION
WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT
•Class 2C Liceo Scientifico
•Aurora Di Grande – Sarah Di Grande – Giorgia
Giangrande
•Mattia Petracca – Fabio Visentini – Davide
Falcotti