International and local musicians and dancers will recreate the atmosphere of celebrations as in a small town of Calabria. Tarantella is a style of music and a set of dances that originated in the South of Italy, dating back to the Middle Ages. Traces of a similar song can even be found in Magna Graecia.
Legend states that during the 15th and 16th centuries, in the middle period of the Renaissance in southern Italy, Tarantella was used as a solo dance to cure disease provoked by the bite of the Tarantula spider. Women were usually the ones affected by the dangerous spider, possibly because of their work in the tobacco fields.
It is believed that once bitten, the venom caused one to fall into a trance, only curable through a frenzy of dance and music. The non-stop, fast-paced dancing would help the victim sweat out the poison. Over time, the Tarantella has become a trance-inducing healing ritualistic dance, a courtship dance, and a celebratory dance signalling some of the most important rites of passage for a community and its members.
Today, Tarantella dance and traditions offer an opportunity to come together and celebrate diversity within the Italian community, creating a supportive and welcoming environment in which everyone can express themselves safely and creatively.
