Zurich Ace – For years, he traveled the world carrying his show everywhere, “Body sound”, From a 2011 documentary of the same name devoted to Italian gestures in comparison to those of other peoples. Luca FollowBorn in 1979, from Caltanissetta, he is an author and director of film, theater and TV shows, professional trainer, stage artist, Italian gesture ambassador abroad, and expert in nonverbal communication. He has held courses and seminars from England to the United States to Australia, and from Germany to Norway, to South America and the East. Not only in the theatrical field, but also in academic contexts in prestigious universities and institutional bodies, working with Italian embassies and cultural institutes in various countries and officially representing Italy during Italian Language Week in the World. Among the prominent international collaborations we can remember is with the BBC, the historic British broadcaster, and with Europol, the European Police Office. These are the skills and experience acquired over time, in different and cross-cutting areas, through which two new projects are being formed, one editorial and the other television, as Luca Volo explains to Corriere dell’Italianità. Christina Pinko On the Corriere del Italianeta, Published in Zurich by Corriere degli Italiani per l’italianità.
Let’s start with “Il corpo è docente”, the new book that Erikson published, in May. It was written with Daniela Lukangley, Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Padua and an expert in educational psychology. Why is this folder? For whom is this?
“In a moment like the present, it becomes extremely important to be aware of the importance of human relationships, correct emotional literacy, and effective education in effective listening. The book was specifically created to give educators, trainers, and educators a series of information, targeted suggestions, and practical ideas to overcome, or Restore, the ability to observe, to re-educate oneself to listen, strengthen and improve the way we use our voice and enter our bodies into a more sympathetic and deeper relationship with others. Professor Lucangeli, I each have our own background – artistic, theatrical, academic – we talk about the importance of nonverbal communication in Teaching, a field that he, like many others, found in the past year, struggles with the possibilities, but also the limits of distance learning that is conducted on digital platforms. ”
Skype, Zoom, chat, email and other virtual systems are themselves “cool” and tend to eliminate the interaction, engagement and active participation of an audience who, in the case of students, risks being not very alert in existence, even remotely. What are the mistakes that should be avoided for a teacher, like anyone who gives an online meeting?
“One of the most common is the initiation of a long, monotonous, and unbroken speech. Speak without realizing that others are no longer following, without interacting with the audience. Instead, I think at a stage like this you need to think a lot about a dynamic, interactive, and smooth speech where it is often involved. People Help the speaker feel the pulse of the situation. It’s not easy, of course. At the same time, web cameras allow us to see the listener’s faces and recognize some signs to understand if we are doing something wrong and correcting the shot. Let’s take this into account. The point is. Do we want our voice to be heard, or do we just want to speak? “
What methods must be used to reach the first goal?
One, as we mentioned earlier, is interaction, that is, having a conversation in which others are constantly participating. At the same time, it is imperative that we carefully observe how others are listening to us. Do they have a ‘heavy head’ that seems to be about to fall and rest on their hands? Slouching in the chair? They are signs of boredom. Or we notice if there is a letter “L” sometimes drawn with the fingers on the face, the thumb on the chin and the forefinger on the cheek: for body language experts it is a gesture that expresses opposition. Always the same and “flat”, but we must inculcate sympathy, compassion and rhythm in the speech, especially if we are not by nature very gestural and verbal. “
After a year of pandemic, fearful, tired, physically “stuck”, distant and isolated, we must regain possession of “the power of gestures,” as the title of his new and first TV entertainment show. Five episodes she conducted, filmed and written with Italian author and director Duccio Forzano, starting May 6 on TVLOFT. What do we expect?
“In an interesting and informative passage, between lightness and in-depth analysis, I will tell us how important non-verbal communication is for all human beings and I will ironically analyze the differences between Italian and other country gestures. In particular, I will focus on some national and international politicians, and their facial expressions, “Their gestures, attitudes, and behaviors… a few names? Silvio Berlusconi, Mario Draghi, Giuseppe Conte, Angela Merkel, to name a few.”
He lived abroad a lot. What is your idea of ​​Italian in the world?
“I believe that an immigrant takes the best and the worst of his country with him wherever he goes, regardless of personal characteristics and personal morals. We Italians are flexible, and skilled in problem-solving, but we are also smart, and very intelligent in certain aspects, and are less accustomed to respecting the rules than other peoples. Creative and unusual on some fronts, lazy and complete, as the Anglo-Saxons say, on other fronts. In any case we are extremists. We are white or black, I do not see shades of gray. Either they love us or hate us. “
For some time, 360 ° support and propagation of our culture. In 2019, he made a commercial advertisement for the Italian language in cooperation with the Consulate General of Italy in London.
Yes, again in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy in London, earlier, in 2016, I filmed the documentary ‘The Flow’ – distributed on the Netflix platform – which tells of the contemporary immigration of Italians to the English capital. Even before that, it was a national success. The first international is “From Sulfur to Coal,” written, directed and produced in 2008, dedicated to the Italian-Belgian Charter of 1946 and the consequent Italian immigration to the coal mines in Belgium. “
In her play “The Voice of the Body”, which she brought internationally, she made her mother go up on stage with her. How did the foreigners greet you?
“I was born and raised in Calabria, adopted Sicily, my mother faithfully represents the Italian“ mother of the south. ”I am, of course, the stereotype of the Italian“ mammon ”! Her name is Angela Gabriel, and for me she is like … an angel! He is my teacher of emotional intelligence, he is The one who taught me more than anyone else how to read emotions and how to convey them. My other guardian angel is my sister Liana, present in all my projects. In the family that we have made and we are still strengthening among us. As you will see on the TV program, at the end of some shows in Vietnam and Malaysia, lined up. People hug my mom, to thank her for what she made them feel by bringing herself on stage. The gesture, which is the gesture of hugging, spontaneous physical contact, which today more than ever, after a year of pandemic, is missing from everyone. It’s what creates, With a smile, a true connection between human beings. (Easy)