Sister Maria leads the music class every week. The group has about twelve girls with varying abilities, though most speak fairly fluently.
Stefano and I arrive as the hour begins. We find a nun no longer young, but with a face so serene it radiates infectious vitality and joy. The students sit in a semicircle, working through a vocalization exercise—not flawless, but improving steadily as the teacher gestures and repeats.
Next come crescendo and decrescendo exercises, guided by precise, sweeping hand movements that seem almost exaggerated.
Then the musical scale. We watch an inventive gestural exercise: every girl and Sister Maria sing each note while illustrating it with a specific hand position.
It is alive with energy. The sister moves, demonstrates, sings with full force, and her enthusiasm carries the whole group along.
Rhythm exercises come next. Each student receives an instrument—often handmade by the sister herself from whatever can make noise: Coca-Cola cans, yogurt cups stacked and glued together, filled with hazelnuts or pebbles.
The performance is excellent, the mountain music well-timed. Two girls who seemed withdrawn earlier are encouraged personally, and they integrate beautifully into the group activity. Their faces light up. They are smiling.
The instruments are put away, and now they sing with a small electric organ that Sister Maria plays while conducting with her other hand.
Finally, they dance to a recorded song. The sister swirls her long skirt and sweeps the slower dancers along with broad movements. Stefano and I find ourselves in the middle of the circle, spontaneously taken by the hand. The dancing is quite free; the priority is joy. There is a simple basic step the girls already know, and then the group moves through specific figures—routines ready to be performed at various celebrations throughout the year.
When the music hour ends, we ask Sister Maria how she achieves these results.
"Nothing special," she says. "But it requires:
- repetition—lots of it, but without boring anyone
- variety. I never hold one activity too long. The music hour always has five or six different activities. Change matters.
- concrete gestures and movement. Mine and theirs.
- finding the right music. I record from radio and television, and I often adapt—extend, shorten, repeat, slow down. I choose from songbooks what fits my group best. I found the book Music and Re-education, published by Armando in 1977, very useful."
(edited by Nicole Schulthes and Stefano Guarino)