THE DARBOKA MONOLOGUES

Written, conceived and performed by Giorgio Rizzo

Consulting: Paola Mandel

Lighting design: Emma Scialfa

A 2012 MotoMimetico Production

It is a spoken/instrumental monologue half serious, half humorous. In it, a frenzied percussionist admits his comic obsession and, beginning with the rhythm of the heart, he builds his own personal journey towards rhythm, listening, irony and rhythm anthropology.  Together with his beloved Darboka, he embarks on a journey, traveling on a river of words, of primordial and ancestral sounds. He describes the world as viewed by those who, like him, have made of sound their "mania". 

The 'Darboka' is the middle eastern musical instrument par excellence. It musically connects the Arab world extending from Romania, to Yugoslavia passing from Greece, Turkey and beyond. Its technique was inspired, in a way, by the Indian tabla - hence the name Egyptian Tabla - and by the Iranian Zarb, although we can also still detect some Afro rhythm. 

The trunk of the darboka was originally made of earthenware; these days, however, the professional versions of it, used for concerts, are made of aluminum, copper and brass with synthetic leather to ensure an optimal pitch and sound coherence. 

PERFORMANCES

March 7-8, 2012        at the "Rossoscena Musica" festival a the Teatro di Lari - Pisa

March 9, 2012           Spazio Nu - Pontedera

March 23, 2012         Teatro Piscator - Catania

April 14, 2012            Teatro el Canovaccio - Catania

July 11, 2012             at the "La Notte di Giufà" - festival in Noto

September 4, 2012    Anfiteatro “ Falcone – Borsellino ” Parco Comunale di Zafferana

March 23, 2013         Piccolo Teatro - Catania

6 Agoust 2013  “Palermo in Danza” Festival – villa Pantelleria - Palermo

3 October 2013 -  “Percorsi D’autunno” Festival - Castello Ursino - Catania

11-12 December 2013 -  “nuovipercorsi” Festival - Teatro Brancati - Catania