Italian Flag Wavers
The Italian flag wavers group "Sbandieratori dei Borghi e Sestieri Fiorentini" can provide a group of up to thirty performers in costume that can be broken down into smaller groups, depending on the request, to make a minimum base performance group of 5 people (a musician and four flag bearers). The base performance group solution is a guaranteed performance success and remains true to the historical and folkloristic flag waving Florentine tradition.
From the base availability upwards, the Group is able to tailor numerous combinations of performers in a show: From 5, 6, 8 or 12 figures in a performance group, and so on, to arrive at a performance body including the whole Group body. The Group has excellent choreography and typical accompaniment on wind instruments that recall motifs from the historic Medieval and Renaissance ages in Tuscany.
The Italian flag wavers "Sbandieratori dei Borghi e Sestieri Fiorentini" Group brings back a part of military life of the Middle and Humanist Ages and shows the fruits of an ancient discipline of flag waving from Florence and an austere martial art: the group includes flag bearers, drummers and trumpeters as well as the captains who bear the seal.
The presence of the flag amongst the communal troops was a sign of civic pride and was a tactical move that served as a point of reference in combat. The exchange and movement of the flags indicated a moment of danger, when it was necessary to prevent the enemy from gaining ground. If the flag bearer, even though young and strong, was overcome, the flag had to be saved. Of these tactics today remain only esthetic and performance aspects and these are the qualities that give a festive atmosphere to an event, an atmosphere of youthful vigor that has martial qualities that are not harsh, but elegant, noble and strong, sturdy and vibrant.
The exhibition of flag waving from Florence concludes with the reenactment of the Victory celebrations that consist of crossing the flag trajectories in precise flag throwing and colored gesture in time to drums and trumpets. For the Italian flag wavers "Sbandieratori dei Borghi e Sestieri Fiorentini", the reenactment of the past is a way to get to know oneself in the present through reconfirmation of certain values: dedication, civic responsibility, athletic activity, discipline, desire and decisiveness in the maintaining of goals, sacrifice, both individual and group work, and, above all, faith in life and the spirit of concord.
