MODULE 21: Tarantella (Italy)

I.                    Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

a. define the word Tarantella;

b. demonstrate the dance Tarantella; and

c. appreciate the importance of Tarantella dance.

II.                  Overview:

In this lesson, it tells about the dance of Italy called “tarantella.” The students will be able to learn the steps and right way on how tarantella dance will be executed. This music has somehow a fast-slow-fast tempo. The time signature of this dance is 6/8times (sometimes 8/8 or 4/4).

III.                Learning Content:

The term Tarantella groups a number of different Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time (sometimes 18/8 or 4/4), accompanied by tambourines. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance tammuriata in Campania, pizzica in the Salento region.

Tarantella dance has roots in Ancient Greece. It was a ritualistic dance in honor of the god of music and sun, Apollo, and god of wine, Dionysus.

In the region of Taranto in Italy, the bite of a locally common type of wolf spider, named "tarantula" after the region, was popularly believed to be highly poisonous and to lead to a hysterical condition known as tarantism. The stated belief in the 16th and 17th centuries was that victims needed to engage in frenzied dancing to prevent death from tarantism using a very rhythmic and fast music. The particular type of dance and the music played became known as Tarantella. The oldest documents mentioning the relationship between musical exorcism and the tarantula are dated around 1100. John Compton has proposed that ancient Bacchanalian rites that had been suppressed by the Roman Senate in 186 BC went underground, reappearing under the guise of emergency therapy for bite victims.

The tradition persists in the area, and is known as "Neo-Tarantism." Many young artists, groups and famous musicians are continuing to keep the tradition alive. The music is very different—its tempo is faster, for one thing—but it has similar hypnotic effects, especially when people are exposed to the rhythm for a long period of time. The music is used in the therapy of patients with certain forms of depression and hysteria, and its effects on the endocrine system recently became an object of research.