Tarantella & Authenticity

Tarantella & Me

I have always felt disconnected from my heritage. I am from upstate New York, I am white, and a cis woman–that’s all I know for sure. I know my lineage and my ethnic makeup, and I know where my grandparents hail from. I’ve got the where, when, and who down, but not the how or why.

My mother’s mom was Ashkenazi Jewish, but I never got to meet her, and my mother tends to keep information about her to herself.

My mother’s dad was a mix of Irish, Scandinavian, and German, but he never knew his father, and his own mother tended to be like my own when it comes to the past. Unlike my mother’s side of the family, I am more informed of my father’s heritage. My father’s mother immigrated to the United States from Noci, Italy (in the Puglia region) when she was a teen. To this day, she still has a heavy Italian accent. My father’s dad’s parents (my great grandparents) immigrated to the States from Sicily–all of

this makes me half southern Italian.

I rarely see my father’s parents, and when I do, being Italian never comes up. My father never talks about any aspect of being Italian except for the food (though his Italian mom hates cheese), religion (specifically Roman Catholicism which neither of us practice), and his wonderful summer tan (I did not get so lucky on that front…).

I don’t necessarily feel “Italian.” I may look “Italian” and have Italian relatives, but I do not feel authentically “Italian.” There is currently little tangable that connects me to this side of my heritage, and I want to change that.

As a blank canvas, I have a lot to learn about myself, my family, and the people that came before us. I can admit my ignorance when it comes to my Italian and other heritages, and I am willing to grow. To dive into a small part of my culture such as the Italian tarantella is to demonstrate my openness and desire to view myself as more than just a female white New Yorker.

However, the question lingering in my mind asks, “Can I perform tarantella authentically?”

Tarantism & the Legend of the Tarantella

The dance of the tarantella comes from the phenomenon of ‘taratism.’ Tracing back to 15th century Taranto in the Puglia region of Italy, taratism was said to be caused by a wolf spider bite, resulting in convulsions, delusions, and hysteria. Typically women of lower socioeconomic statuses were affected. The victim was called the ‘tarantata,’ and the only cure to save the tarantata from their wound was dance–that’s how tarantella was born.

Tarantella was authentically a healing practice rather than a technical art form at first. The tarantata would often be surrounded by musicians that would play lively music to encourage a dance frenzy. The spider’s victim would dance until they physically could not anymore for hours, or even days, at a time. At the point of ultimate exhaustion, the tarantata was deemed cured.

The hysteria of tarantism spread from Taranto into other sections of Puglia, and even into as south as Sicily. It was said that tarantism became so common that musicians would roam fields in the hopes of making some change to help the affected. The mania eventually died out due to claims of the practice’s invalidity by doctors and scholars, but some portions of the Mediterranean still practice cure through dance today.

Technically, the frantic result of tarantism is the most authentic version of tarantella. Most importantly, the legend and spirit behind tarantella is what makes its later adaptations authentic (or not)–specifically recognition of the spider bite and female pride.

The craze of tarantism died out a couple centuries after its emergence due to condemnation of the tarantella as a cure by doctors. Doctors found that the wolf spider bite was, in fact, not poisonous, and inflicted no more harm than swollenness at the site of the bite. Subsequently, the narrative surrounding tarantella switched from a way to heal to an insane gesture as tarantatas became viewed as manic women. Suddenly, it became taboo to

dance tarantella or even claim its effectiveness. Today, psychologists view the craze as a mass hysteria. Even if tarantism itself may not ave been ‘real,’ the healing impacts through tarantella certainly were. It is hypothesized that women of lower socioeconomic statuses used tarantism as a way to express their pent up emotions. They gained power through the dance and brought together a community along the way. Oftentimes, phenomena such as tarantism are invalidated by rigid ways of thought, yet this practice demonstrates the importance of the performing arts, and its impacts on how we live and survive.

How Legitimate is Tarantism? (and why its legitimacy may be obsolete...)

Tarantella in the Modern Age

Once specifically a solo dance form with no structure or definite technique, tarantella used to solely exist as a practice to remove spider poison. While some remote places in Italy still follow the functional practice of the original tarantella, the dance most famously has evolved into a flirtatious couple’s courtship routine. This is the most common form of tarantella today which differs from its origins in historical and functional authenticity. The popularized form is either performed by a man and a woman or two women. The woman often has dominance over the man, using a tambourine to lure him in, similar in function to how the original ‘cure’ dance had a female focus. In tandem, the pairs perform lively steps that involve a lot of spot changes and kicking to emulate the frenzy of the source material. Tarantella is performed both in singular pairs or with multiple pairs at once. The dress of today’s tarantella involves a skirt, bodice, and a flowy top for women. Sometimes, the women will tie scarves around their necks, waists, and hair. For men, they tend to dress in a flowy shirt and tailored pants with a sash tied around the waist. For both women and men, the colors of red, green, black, and white are incorporated throughout the outfits.

The music of tarantella is an essential piece to the puzzle, both in the present day, and the past. In a lively 6/8 time, the music is catchy and recognizable. The sounds of tarantella lead the dance, assisting the performers in rhythm and tempo. Guitars, tambourines, and accordions are typically used to make the music.

Tarantella can be seen performed mostly at Italian weddings, as well as at cultural festivals. In Italy, tarantella still persists as one of the most popular cultural dances. The dance is often reinterpreted in contemporary fashions to allow the folk dance to evolve with the times.

While tarantella has changed in ways of authenticity, the dance has remained in the hands of Southern Italians which keeps its past alive. The motifs of the cure dance remain in today’s form in its presentation.

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ch A nges .

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“Tarantella”–a ballet perspective

The dance, legend, and music behind tarantella inspired George Balanchine, acclaimed GeorgianAmerican choreographer, to create a ballet similarly titled “Tarantella” in 1964. In a pas de deux style, the ballet takes from the flirtatious motifs of the Italian folk dance to create a soaring piece. The dancers wear outfits inspired by Italian tradition while the female performer uses a tambourine to entice her male counterpart, much like the use of the tambourine in Italy. As the dance progresses, leaps and actions get more vibrant to dynamically parallel the legend of tarantism in how dance’s power releases the poison from the spider bite.

The music for “Tarantella” was composed by Moreau Gottschalk who studied the traditional tarantella sounds and interpreted them for the ballet stage. The tempo of the music is fast to encourage speedy choreography. Dancer

Daniel Ulbricht of the New York City

Ballet describes the ballet as having an

intimate relationship with the ground which enhances the spider themes. Though Balanchine’s “Tarantella” goes to show how dance can affect and inspire outside of its original origins and identity, it also demonstrates how tradition can easily be commodified and arguably appropriated. Many motifs of the authentic Italian tarantella exist in Balanchine’s version, yet credit is not inherently given to the myth of the spider bite or Italian culture. This appropriated westernized approach through ballet lacks authenticity in, most importantly, its presentation as Balanchine’s name is plastered all over its creation rather than the source material; in brief, “Tarantella” disrupts both historical and functional authenticity that present in thetarantella.

Where Do I Go From Here?

I have always found solace in dance. I grew up competitively dancing in multiple styles–jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, etc. Despite my vast encounters with dance, I had never experienced the art as a vehicle for connecting to my culture. I was taught it was the technique and emotions that mattered, not at all the history behind the movements. My bias in the performance focus in dance shined through in the completion of this project as I found myself relearning so much of what I consider what it means to dance. Dance, as I now understand, is something that can connect me, my family, my heritage, strangers, and everyone in between. With the knowledge of tarantella, I feel like I have gained an asset into my lineage. I gratefully feel closer to my grandparents, people who I often have a hard time communicating with. I honestly do not know if they know or value the tarantella, yet I can envision us dancing it together. Such a thing like heritage is odd because it is so obsolete to some, but so crucial for others. Lineage can be a mode of survival–survival of history, people, and ways of life. By diving into a miniscule part of my expansive culture, I cannot say I am completely engulfed in it, and I am not sure if I ever will be just because of how I grew up. I also do not have the complete answer to my question if I would be considered authentic if I decided to dance the tarantella, but that is okay. And, to try to answer that question, probably not. However, I can try to be as respectful as possible through research and recognition of the practice. Just because I am Southern Italian does not automatically warrant me as authentic, at least in my personal opinion. In fact, preserving the authenticity in tarentella through the matter of research is most fullfilling for me. I feel most whole in my knowledge of this small sliver of my heritage, and I know I am authentic in my feelings and passion for dance whether it be the tarantella, contemporary, or somewhere else few and far between.

Works Used

Tarantism & the Legend of Tarantella

Southern Italy’s Tarantella | The ‘Dance of the Spider.’” Italian American Museum of Los Angeles, 2020, https://iamla.org/docs/IAMLA_TarantellaLesson.pdf.

How Legitimate is Tarantism?...

Biagi, Laura. “Dances with spiders: Crisis, celebrity and celebration in Southern Italy.” Review of Dances with Spiders, by Lüdtke, Karen. Italian American Review, Summer 2011, V.1, No.2, p.187-189. https://calandrainstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ IAR_1.2_text-FINAL.pdf#page=65.

Rising, Gerry. “Tarantella.” Buffalo News, 3 Feb. 1997, http://www.acsu.buffalo. edu/~insrisg/nature/nw97/tarantella.html.

“POISONOUS SPIDER BITES.” The Queenslander, 8 Sept. 1923, p. 2. https:// trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22646978#.

Tarantella in the Modern Age

Gatto, Marianna. “How Southern Italy Found Its Groove With the Restless Tarantella.” Italian Sons and Daughters of America, 30 Dec. 2020. https://orderisda. org/culture/music/how-southern-italy-found-its-groove-with-the-restless-tarantella/.

Saint-Louis, Laura. “La Tarantella Italiana.” History and Development of Dance/ Brockport, 7 May 2013. https://dancehistorydevelopment.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/ la-tarantella-italiana/.

“Tarantella”–a ballet perspective

“DANIEL ULBRICHT ON BALANCHINE’S TARANTELLA.” Tarantella | New York City Ballet, 5 Aug. 2018, https://www.nycballet.com/discover/ballet-repertory/tarantella/.