The Fun of Playing with Fire

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Sunday, June 19, 2011, 05:20 by David Schembri The fun of playing with fire

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Sep 2nd 2011, 07:00 Juggler gets fingers burnt

Highlights from the night of light Working as a fire juggler and running a... Youths on The Zone this week Antonio Carnemolla performing his act in Valletta on Friday. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi Dingli’s circus Born in captivity, circus animals 'are...

The wiry frame of a man with scraggy hair whistles in the street as he juggles three flaming torches. The accordion music in the background is on the soundtrack to French film Amelie, but the scene is Valletta, not Paris. Popular Stories Antonio Carnemolla, 30, is a Sicilian-Maltese street artist who wants to be that surreal character 1. Stolen safe found empty at l-Ahrax,... one finds only in films. 2. Widow of man who caused fireworks... 3. Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici hospitalised “You know the chimney sweep from Mary Poppins? People love that character, but they realise he doesn’t exist. I, on the other hand, exist,” the juggler says. 4. Doctor reprimanded for internet shopping 5. Natural father's request for son to get... “My aim is to play out dreams to the Maltese and to tourists. My show is not just for children, 6. More people using the buses - Mizzi it’s also for adults, a chance for them to return for a minute to their childhood,” Mr Carnemolla says. 7. Migrants say they were injured in raid 8. Update 2: Judge impeachment motion... Now based in Padua, he started juggling at 17, and after completing school a year later decided 9. Drug arrests in Gozo he could make a living from it, touring Italy for the past 12 years. Mr Carnemolla, whose mother is Maltese, has decided to perform in Malta for the summer, saying he derives inspiration from the island. In Discussion “I noted there weren’t shows like I do, so I thought I’d go to Republic Street to do something, 1. Lord Judge to give Mabel Strickland... not just for tourism, but for children, because being a small island it’s not like one sees jugglers 2. Residential home for patients with... and circus actsevery day.” 3. Drug arrests in Gozo The dearth of buskers in general in Malta has turned him into a hit with businesses, with some 4. Harsh treatment of migrants 'most... expecting him to perform outside their venue for free – which he shuns. 5. Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici hospitalised 6. PL delegation in Rome for European... “People have to understand this is an art, that there is practice and skill involved,” he says. 7. PN files two complaints with PBS He admits he does not practise much, and makes up new tricks as he goes along. In Italy, he 8. Natural father's request for son to get... does different shows where he performs in a square and people gather round for a half-hour 9. Immigration, Mediterranean policies are... show, and he does shows inside theatres too. As improbable as it may sound, he makes enough money from his mobile circus to support his work on a lifelong dream – that of directing a feature-length film. He spends the rest of his time Public Lecture: Human Rights writing and chasing funding. “I’ve already done seven short films, including one for RAI. My aim is to direct a feature-length film, but there are many film directors in Italy and it’s very hard to get funding,” Mr Carnemolla says.

The juggler’s ties with today’s Malta have historical overtones. Public Lecture: Human Rights “When I was one, Richard Muscat from the Nationalist Party came to Marina diRagusa, where I’m from, to start broadcasting.

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com “He couldn’t find anyone to help him, and then someone told him that my mother, Irene Galea, was Maltese. My father, who was into radio, helped him build an antenna to broadcast into Malta. ” “While in Sicily, Eddie Fenech Adami, Guido de Marco and Louis Galea all used to visitMr Muscat. I have a picture of Dr Fenech Adami and myself when I was just one – I plan to go find him and show it to him,” he says. As he juggled his torches in Republic Street, a small crowd gathers in awe as he performs in black three-quarter trousers and braces next to an old-style trunk. As he goes on with his routine, an old man mutters in Maltese: “Come on, give us something else”. “Hang on, I’m still warming up,” comes the reply.

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