DANIEL MAUCERI

My name is Daniel and I am a puppeteer. For over 40 years my familyhas been involved in keeping alive the tradition of the Opera dei Pupi in Syracuse. I grew up breathing in the smell of wood, getting my hands dirty with paint and punctuating my afternoons after school with the sound of my grandfather Alfredo Vaccaro’s tools. I certainly inherited my passion and creativity from him, while I learned manual skills from my father, Umberto Mauceri. This combination of experiences has stimulated me to live by creating as a way of life.
I knew the story of the Paladins of France well before my peers at school, because at home the scripts were recited out loud before I learned to read. The teachings of my grandfather and father live on in my hands, which over the years my experience and dedication have perfected into a perfect blend of tradition and innovation, past and contemporary taste. Every day in my workshop new puppets are born, others are restored and then come to life in the shows that the family association puts on. Many others are housed in private homes or museums around the world, from Australia to Germany, France, the United States and Japan to the shadow and puppet museum in Chengdu, China.