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Created by members of Fiamma Fumana (a folk/electronic band based in Milan) and Giulia Contri (Director, Mondine di Novi Choir), arrives an empowering program designed re-live the story of the remarkable women from Emilia Romagna region in northern Italy. In the heat of World War II, these women found themselves assigned to weed the rice fields of the Po Valley. Arduous, back-breaking labor that inspired them to sing to kill the boredom, the pain of sore hands and backs and the separation from loved ones. They sang songs of freedom, songs of resistance, lost love, and the fight for their own dignity. When these brave women were not weeding in the fields they supported the resistance movement against the Nazi's, carrying secret messages to the partisans in their bicycle handle bars, or in the curlers of their hair. Some even smuggled weapons under their shopping bags of onions, cabbages, and potatoes, eventually winning a hard-fought victory over fascism and brutality. When freedom finally came, they were left with their music and they continued to sing, eventually sharing the songs with their daughters some of which joined in the informal choir.
In 2005, the story was picked up again by Fiamma Fumana, the very precocious group of young people whose theme of "Folk's Not Dead" is trumpeted from their website. The band learned of the choir's story and sought to find out more, eventually performing together on a handful of occasions in their home region, and onto highlight the 2007 Concert of Colors (Detroit) and Celtic Connections 2008 (Glasgow). A forthcoming live documentary DVD from their performance at the Concert of Colors illustrates the touching relationship forged between the two groups has become as strong as the bond they share in their love of music. (Click below for sneak preview.)
Now at last available for international touring, a rice weeders choir, a piper, an accordionist and a DJ share the stage resulting in a three-generational 'folk/techno' performance that is Di Madre In Figlia (From Mother to Daughter). |
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| 1. Standard performance features Mondine di Novi Choir with Fiamma Fumana. |
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