After work, he would meet up with his Koskrötn friends. To the sound of the reta, the Valle dei Mòcheni accordion, they would practise their best steps in the stables or fields. The ones that would make girls fall in love.
He knew that the way to Anna's heart was through dance.
He had to wait until Carnival to approach her. And dance together. His hands were sweating as he tried to remember the steps he had rehearsed over and over again for weeks. He was dazed by the scent of her long brown hair and her heart beating so close to his.
Then the time came for them to separate. The party was over. And so was the Carnival.***
But they saw each other again. Once, twice, many times.
Memories.
Like the time they vowed eternal love to each other on top of Dosso di Costalta. Above the village. A place where lovers would go to watch the Valle dei Mòcheni turn red and orange at sunset.
Memories. Because time passes quickly.
Old Roberto carefully removes his kronz from the shelf. He caresses the feather that adorns its side. After improvising a dance step, he sits down in front of the dimly lit fireplace. He closes his eyes, remembering the sound of the reta, lulling him in the darkness of the night.
* The Stéla ritual, which was once widespread throughout the Alps, is now the most important community gathering of the year in the villages of Fierozzo and Palù. On New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and Epiphany, a choir of men and Koskrötn carrying a large star sings traditional carols at all the houses and places of worship in the village, announcing the birth of the Lord and the arrival of the Three Kings. (Permanent exhibition panel, Istituto Culturale Mòcheno / Bersntoler Kulturinstitut, Palù del Fersina)
** The kronz is the traditional headdress worn by the Koskrötn. It is made using small Christmas balls, dried flowers, gold foil and copper wire. Three small coloured trees are prepared and tied together with a golden thread that symbolises the year of conscription. These three trees are then sewn onto the left side of a plain black cloth hat, to which the tail feathers of the black grouse are also attached. This headdress was once made by a few experienced families. Today, only a few people are still able to make it. (From Identità musicale della Valle dei Mòcheni [Musical Identity of the Valle dei Mòcheni], Renato Morelli, 1996.)
*** In the period from Epiphany to Shrove Tuesday, the Koskrötn were the protagonists of various travelling dance events at different maso farmsteads. These were important social events for young people in the Valle dei Mòcheni.
CREDIT PHOTO: Archivio BKI, foto Alessio Coser e Archivio Flavio Faganello, foto di Flavio Faganello
