Marisa Buffone

Biography of Marisa Buffone

I was born in Toronto, where I make my home, but when I was still a child my family moved back to Southern Italy. It was here that I developed my passion for singing the music of this region of the Mediterranean, first at the University of Salerno and the conservatory of music there, and then through extensive travel and research, exploring the centuries old music traditions from Naples to Calabria – a music deeply rooted in the folkloric expressions ranging from the music of North African peoples, to that of the Turkish presence in Southern Italy, as well as the long Spanish rule. When I was studying at the University of Salerno (Dottore in Lettere, cum laude, in Modern Languages), I pursued my love of music and theatre by studying at the Conservatory of Music of Salerno (voice and piano) and worked on my thesis on the New York based theatre La Mama E.T.C. Following my thesis on Ellen Stewart’s innovative and influential theatre experiments I was invited to join the La Mama troupe and participated in many of its productions both in New York, as well as at their Italian home in Spoleto, in Umbria.

I am currently a high school teacher in Toronto where I enjoy engaging students in dramatic performances, dance and music-related activities throughout the curriculum. This led me to launch my own company in 2001: ArtWorld Theatre was launched with the specific goal of raising money for charities while entertaining through the arts. In 2007 I wrote and produced my musical Tarantella. Full productions of Tarantella: the Musical premiered in Toronto and New York (at La Mama E.T.C).

A cabaret version was produced as part of the launch of Luminato: Toronto's Festival of the Arts and Creativity, in Toronto's Distillery District. Musicians featured in Tarantella Cabaret include Ernie Tollar, Bill McBirnie and Claudio Vena. Tarantella Cabaret will feature vocal music from various traditions in Southern Italy, ranging from the villanelle, popular in the region of Naples when it was the cultural capital of Europe, to the pizzica tarantata: an ancient female healing dance still practiced today and which has given birth to two world music festivals celebrating the music of the Mediterranean - the Notte della Taranta (in and around the southern part of Puglia) and Taranta Power, in the ancient city of Kaulonia, in Calabria. The music heard at these annual festivals reflects centuries of encounters with and influences from adjacent Mediterranean cultures: echoes of Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, Africa, Spain.

For Reservations of Tarantella Cabaret

Call: 416 591-6351
Marisa.buffone@sympatico.ca

www.artworldstudioproductions.com

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