The Silent Clapping of their Hands

Claudio Madia is sixty years old, he was a television presenter in Italy during the 90s of one of the most famous children’s programs of the time: "L'albero Azzurro" (The Blue Tree). In his life he was also a wanderer, ship's boy, graphic designer, wader and acrobat for the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, a writer of seven books for children and founder of the Little Circus School in Milan. He is a man who has never stopped a second. Only the Covid-19 pandemic forced him indoors, at home in Milan. Claudio spent his quarantine inside the Circincà ("the circus at home", in the Milanese dialect), a place that he considers magical and that tells his life as if it were an autobiography. In previous years he had made his home the theater of his earnings, organizing circus shows with other acrobatic friends in order to earn something. When due to the first Italian ministerial decree of March 2020, he was forced to close his business, he was left without an audience except for those he had drawn himself on his walls. Claudio is a true example of resilience, a person who never stopped and who despite the tragic situation that his city was experiencing, he never stopped dreaming.