I GIULLARI DI PIAZZA

Internationally renowned Singer, Dancer, Percussionist  ALESSANDRA BELLONI & I GIULLARI DI PIAZZA Italian Folk Music & Dance Company

Artist in residence at the Cathedral of  St.  John the Divine Invite you to CELEBRATE  THE ANCIENT NIGHT OF THE TARANTULA and the Feast of the TARANTATI, Feast of St Paul in Apulia with  " TARANTATA – SPIDER DANCE "   Featuring  TARANTELLA TRANCE DANCES, HEALNG CHANTS FOR THE BLACK MADONNA ending with BRAZILIAN RHYTHMS

Traditionally celebrated for centuries in a Church in a collective Euphoria to heal from depression & sadness caused by unrequited love & abuse  

 Featuring excerpts of the musical Tarantella Spider Dance

 about the myth of the spider &  ecstatic rites of Dionysus

 

ALESSANDRA BELLONI –lead vocals, ritual dance, tambourines, frame drums,

JOE DENINZON - electric and acoustic violin WILSON MONTUORI – electric & acoustic guitar, SUSAN EBERENZ – flute, piccolo, recorders -

PETER ABAZIA - drum set, percussion- 

GIUSEPPE DE FALCO- Neapolitan singer

Dancers:  PETER DE GERONIMO in the role of Dionysus, FRANCESCA SILVANO in the role of the tarantata,   GRETA CAMPO,

AMARA – in the role or Aracne Stilt dancer  MARK MINDEK

 

 Alessandra Belloni "Spider Sex documentary” on National Geographic http://youtu.be/vp8dE3jJnq0

 

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The "Spider Dance" or Tarantella, is a quite erotic trance dance ritual from Southern Italy, which has been used to cure the mythical bite of the tarantula. This new 'Spider Dance' production infuses the ancient melodies and instrumentation of the authentic tarantella with modern electronic dance beats. It features aerial, fire and stilt dancers, acrobats and a techno Tarantella trance dance. As with all of Belloni's presentations, the show is meticulously researched, with costumes and instrumentation as authentic as possible. The music ranges from traditional 6/8 southern Italian to 12/8 heavy-accented modern sounds, and includes tarantellas, sensual love songs, and women's work chants.

 

Reenacting the ancient celebration  of the TARANTATI TRANCE RITUAL on June 29th,for the Feast of St Paul that took place in a church for  many centuries!

• Spider Dance" - abuse, repressed sexuality, powerlessness, and the feeling of being "caught in a web that binds them" - causes many women, known as "tarantate" to suffer "tarantismo" - a lethal mixture of depression, loneliness, and oppression. Their cure is to dance the "pizzica tarantata"- The Spider Dance!

We witness the healing journey of a "tarantata" as she is taken by Dionysus to the shaman (Alessandra Belloni), who cures her with the tarantella trance dance. Her amazing journey includes

** a powerful procession of the Black Madonna in Southern Italy

** a healing ceremony of the pizzica tarantata, the wild erotic trance dance, attended by townspeople in the piazza.