Tutti In Piazza
Illawarra Mercury
Friday June 3, 2005
It's on again next Saturday.
Tutti in Piazza is a celebration of all things Italian when the Illawarra's exuberant and large Italian community brings the Crown St Mall alive with displays and the colour, music, dancing and food of their heritage.Organised for the 11th year by members of the Illawarra Association of Teachers of Italian (IATI), the festival will be officially opened by Lord Mayor Councillor Alex Darling and a representative of the Italian Consulate.The family fun day in the mall is the highlight of Italian Week and was devised to involve people from other cultures in the joy of life expressed by Italians.Organising committee member Pina Macpherson said a great number of visitors to the mall on that day were from other cultures and even from outside the area."I know of one family of non-Italian background who come from Sydney every year, claiming a prime vantage spot from which to see all the action and enjoy the dancing and music - they love it and wouldn't miss it," she said."It's always a great success and the work of the committee and the positive results the event has had on the Illawarra community have been noted by similar Sydney groups."A flag-waving ceremony will not be held this year, but children in the traditional Alfieri costumes from Siena in Tuscany will lead a procession to the amphitheatre heralding the start of the day's entertainment.Children from kindergarten to Yr 11, ex-students, the Italian choir and students from several dance studios will perform during the day.One of the spectacular presentations will be the tarantella, a rapid whirling dance from southern in Italy, once believed to be a remedy for tarantism - a nervous disorder characterised by an uncontrollable impulse to dance.The disorder was prevalent in southern Italy from the 15th to the 17th centuries and was popularly attributed to the bite of the tarantula spider.
© 2005 Illawarra Mercury