Folk dance workshop: the Neapolitan “ Tarantella”

1. Folk dance workshop: the Neapolitan “Tarantella” I.S.I.S “G. Filangieri” Class 3 B Project Comenius

2. The term Tarantella is usually referred to a number of different southern Italian folk dances characterized by a fast rhythm and melodic music

3. TARANTULA Originsof the term “Tarantella”

4. It is often identified with the most known traditional Italian music. The word Tarantella derives from the old Greek colony of Taranto in southern Italy where a poisonous spider was so prevalent to take the name of Tarantula. Its venom caused a hysterical condition known as Tarantism that could be cured only dancing a very rhythmic and fast music.

5. A historical image of the folk dance

6. The Neapolitan Tarantella which originated as a courtship dance, is performed by a couple or couples and is short in duration, graceful and elegant. It is accompanied by rhythms, melodies, gestures and songs which create a particularly joyful and fast music. It is always played with the typical Neapolitan tambourines and castanets and often with a mandolin, a guitar or a violin.

7. Probable infuences of the Spanish “Fandango” ProbableinfluencesofanoldMoresquedance

8. Some experts say that it dates back to the fifteenth-century fusion between The Spanish Fandango dance and an old Moresque dance ( ballo di sfessartia). This interpretation makes us believe that the most beautiful things of a particular region or country can be often the product of different cultures and peoples.

9. The Kingdom of the two Sicilies

10. In the nineteenth century the Tarantella spread so much in all “The Kingdom of the two Sicilies” to become one of its symbols and even the most famous italian dance abroad.

11. In the following years some composers inspired to the rhythms and melodies of the Tarantella to create a more cultural version. The Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini wrote the most famous version of Tarantella for piano performed by an orchestra.

12. Naples and NeoTarantism

13. The tradition is still very present in our region and in southern Italy, and many young artists are continuing keeping the tradition alive changing the words of the traditional songs. Now it is known as NeoTarantism and has got one of its best representatives in the Neapolitan song singer-writer Eugenio Bennato.