02 JULY 2026 Ciao Italy!

On Wednesday 24 June, Kolbe Catholic College had welcomed Emilio Ela Rosa, alias “Signor Fagiolo”, to perform a show called Ciao Italy.

During Cultural Week, students of both St Catherine of Bologna Campus and St Clare Campus participated in the activities presented by Emilio with enthusiasm and genuine curiosity towards getting to know some of the Italian traditions.

Emilio was able to share the story of his family, who travelled from Italy to Melbourne, in what was the aftermath of a Second World War scenario. He brought with him the original luggage his grandfather travelled with on his journey to the country “Down Under”.

As our guest unfolded the adventures of his “nonno” in Australia, he was also able to show to students some of the most peculiar items that Italian migrants brought with them. These items represented aspects of everyday life in Italy such as the coffee percolator or “moka”, the contraption used to seal the glass bottles of tomato sauce or “sugo”, and the well decorated iron cast mould used to cook Italian “pizzelle”.

Students had the opportunity to familiarise with these items and to gain a better understanding of how Italians were able to not only maintain their own traditions in Australia but also, how they have passed these practices on to the future generations of Australians holding an Italian background.

The incursion concluded with a traditional dance, la Tarantella. Emilio was able to show a few steps of the dance and students were invited to dance on the rhythm of the iconic Tarantella music.

The steps to the dance were accompanied by laughter, happiness and appreciation towards this traditional dance.

A heartfelt thank you goes to Emilio who was impressed with our students who, in his own words, were “wonderful to work with”. 

Katy Destro
Teacher