Dancing to Diva
March 13, 2023
Writer: Deepa Ramesh
Editor: Ava Tomlin
In life, there is no purer companion than the human voice. Even through days spent under the watchful glimpse of ghost-gray skies, our voices never abandon us. Yet to demonstrate such a tender and healthy love for your instrument, to use your beautiful gift to share the story of your soul, is a rare virtue that leaves a fingerprint on the world.
It was an absurdly early Saturday morning. The back of my throat burned from having added an accidental heap of salt into my cup of tea, and prior to that, I spent 15 minutes searching for my earrings only to come to the beef-witted realization that they were on my ears the entire time.
But thankfully, the lovely thing about living a featherbrained existence with no sense of direction is that you remain blissfully unaware of whether your uneven footsteps are leading you astray from an intended destination or if you will soon stumble upon a firework so boundlessly bright that it enkindles every candle in your heart.
In short, my clumsy, discombobulated self was about to be greeted by the surprise of a lifetime.
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I was in the middle of preparing for a Physics Exam, and my heavily drawn-out groans permeated the air. A steady stream of unfamiliar concepts occupied my mind, my shoulders hunched over the table, and my fingers sifted erratically through disheveled hair when suddenly, Youtube decided to bring the day’s monotony to a crashing halt.
As I scrolled between videos on Quantum Mechanics and Electrical Currents, I clicked on a completely different one by accident. On the screen, surrounded by the black-and-white silhouettes of an adoring audience, was a young Italian woman with never-forget-me eyes. She stood in the spotlight, her smile touching the corners of her cheeks and her body moving in tandem with the expressive melody produced by her own voice. Lyrics spilled from her lips at the speed of light, alternating between ocean-deep and sugarcane-sweet, and at the moments where one expected a person’s breath to falter, I instead witnessed how every high note, every ‘Brava,’ was belted with absolute perfection.
For those spell-binding eighty-six seconds, I was transported to the year 1965, simultaneously startled and stunned by a woman who spoke her mind through song. Who on Earth was she? And how could I have never heard her voice until now?
Swallowed by an insatiable sense of curiosity, I feverishly typed the title of her song, “Brava,” into Google. I was even more astounded when I found the translated lyrics (Aletta, 2021).
“Good, good! I'm so very good! Good!
I'm very good, I'm good, I'm so good,
I can do almost anything with my voice, I'm a nightingale, yeah!
Well, maybe some notes are not exactly right, but still I'm sure nobody can sing like this”
Most people have the tendency to doubt or diminish their talents in public, but this dazzling woman wholly embraced her musical gifts. In an ornate theater, well-lit by cameras and the expectant gazes of a rapt audience, her lyrics echoed, loud and proud, her mastery of singing.
That display of utmost confidence is so rare and refreshing to see. Not to mention that in the 1960s, especially as a woman, it must have taken incredible guts to unapologetically own who you are as she did.
“Brava” was more than just a vocal showcase; it was a chance to discover magic in the purest of ways, through an artist whose incredible technical skill and unbending authenticity encouraged pure self-confidence.
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Storming into the limelight as a teenager in the late 1950s, Mina Mazzini became a mainstay of Italian airwaves in the 1960s and 1970s, releasing hit-after-hit in multiple languages (including Italian, Spanish, and English) alongside cementing her position as the country’s best-selling female artist (Yeung; Aiuti, 2020).
From the brassy-uptempo beats of “Città Vuota” to the slow, soothing melodies of hope in “Una casa in cima al mondo,” Mina’s discography and vocal range transcends across multiple genres, illustrating her chameleonic vocal versatility.
However, the one constant note in the Diva’s storied career has always been her authenticity in the face of adversity.
Despite facing an onslaught of criticism from Italian State Television and the Catholic Church for ‘risqué’ behavior and suffering from the tragic deaths of lovers and family members, Mina proudly sported colorful shades of mascara, short, well-fitting dresses, dyed strawberry-blonde hair, and shaved eyebrows. She also turned heads with her unapologetic willingness to convey stories about heartbreak and pleasure in her music (The Editor: Italy On This Day, 2018).
Her album covers are avant-garde in themselves, depicting the Diva in forms ranging from a peeling orange, a tape recorder, a track-and-field athlete, and even an elephant herder.
Yet perhaps Mina’s most empowering act of resistance was during the height of her glory in 1978 when she made the decision to leave the public arena on her own terms (Yeung). Since stepping away from center stage and closing the curtains, Mina hasn’t given a single concert or interview (“Bio English - Mina Mazzini”). However, the myth and mystery about the maestro has never faded — and neither has her music. To this day, at 82 years old, Mina Mazzini still records and releases music — and her honeyed timbre hasn’t aged a bit.
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As writers, we spend so much time trying to craft a perfect conclusion to the stories we wish to share. But for a woman who has transcended the barriers of her art, all she needs is a song, her song: “Vorrei che fosse amore.”
To hear a melody that can echo across oceans and carry the keys to the deepest doors of our hearts is a truly rare gift — it is a warm elixir for the soul.
Through Mina’s discography, we as audience members have been able to witness a woman’s journey through her music — how a young girl with a dream grew up into a seasoned veteran comfortable in her own skin who radiates maturity, comfort, and wisdom.
But even after all these decades, even after enduring the trials and tribulations of this rocky world — there is still infectious joy brimming in her songs.
Mina will forever remain unforgettable because she is the sun, shining her light across the horizon with her resonant voice while the rest of the world orbits around her.
If there is one lesson we can learn from her longevity, it’s to be unabashedly ourselves and to embrace the path life illuminates for us while never falling into the trap of compromising our uniqueness to please others.
It is why in 2023, I still find myself tapping my toes, swinging my arms, and dancing to a Diva.
Brava Mina, Brava.
Works Cited
Articles:
Aiuti, S. (2020, April 1). Mina turns eighty, but her voice doesn't look it. italiani.it. Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://www.italiani.it/en/Mina-turns-eighty-but-her-voice-doesnt-look-it/?cn-reloaded=1
Aletta, Alessio [Paraponzi]. (2021, September 30). Brava (English translation). Lyrics Translate. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://lyricstranslate.com/en/brava-good.html-0
Bio English - Mina Mazzini. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://www.minamazzini.it/it/bio_english/
The Editor: Italy On This Day. (2018, March 25). Mina - pop star. Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://www.italyonthisday.com/2018/03/mina-Italian-1960s-pop-best-selling-star.html
Understanding Italy. (2022, November 11). Mina. Welcome to Understanding Italy. Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://www.understandingitaly.com/mina.html
Yeung, N. Z. (n.d.). Mina Biography, Songs, & Albums. AllMusic. Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mina-mn0000492521/biography
Images:
https://www.discogs.com/release/2731340-Mina-Sorelle-Lumière/image/SW1hZ2U6MzM5MDAwNjI=
https://www.discogs.com/release/1747388-Mina-Mina-Per-Wind/image/SW1hZ2U6Nzg3NDM1MQ==
https://www.discogs.com/release/2813437-Mina-Leggera/image/SW1hZ2U6NTAzMDE2OQ==
Videos:
Mina Mazzini Official. (2013, August 28). Mina - Brava (1965) regia Valerio Zurlini [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDN-RWdR-vk
Mina Mazzini Official. (2018, June 19). Cittá Vuota (Remastered) [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF75DFdwpqk
Mina Mazzini Official. (2018, July 4). Una casa in cima al mondo [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sxj3G23clM
Mina Mazzini Official. (2013, September 4). Mina - Vorrei che fosse amore (1969) regia Enrico Sannia [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXZkHh-myeQ
Mina Mazzini Official. (2022, November 18). MINA - With A Little Help From My Friends (Video Ufficiale) [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIjn6vCdL3s
Author included this photo in her essay
