Tarantella Spider Dance – Created by Alessandra Belloni in New York City in 2007. www.alessandrabelloni.com www.youtube.com/alessandrabelloni www.reverbanation.com/alessandrabelloni http://youtu.be/5-2VPrBUqdw sound track of the show - A mystical and sensual musical , about the history of the dance TARANTELLA, a wild erotic trance dance , the myth of the tarantula and the birth of Spider Woman, celebrating the wild ecstatic rites of Dyonisus.TARANTELLA SPIDER DANCE – TARANTELLA SPIDER DANCE –. Featuring the techno tarantella trance dance beat.Adapting classic forms to a modern context, the piece is aims to involve audiences of all ages in a collective ritual dance of liberation from the spider web of entrapment in today's society. It aims for an ecstatic release known as the Pizzica, or Spider Dance, whose origins are cross-cultural. Its music derives from ancient Greece, southern Italy during the Crusades, the Renaissance and modern times, blending modern and ancient healing trance dances, powerful ritual drumming and chants in honor of the Black Madonna, erotic sensual love songs and women's work chants. Most specifically, the performance harkens back to the historic Dance of the Tarantula, a healing trance dance for women from the Greek rites of the "Baccantes." Women involved in these rites, called Tarantate, danced the "Pizzica Tarantata" ("the bite of the spider tarantula," also called "the bite of love"). A bite of love supposedly drove them to dance in a wild frenzy in order to free themselves of repressed sexual desires. The dominant music was percussion, with large tambourines playing non-stop to a 12/8 beat, with loud accents. By spinning and stomping their feet, participants symbolically expelled the "poison" of the mythical bite of the tarantula from their bodies. A double row of jingles on the instruments accentuated the madness as dancers, traditionally clad in white with red scarves and ribbons, moved on their backs like spiders. All participants customarily experienced a trance-like state induced by the combination of music and dancing.Instrumentation: in "Tarantella: Spider Dance" combines the traditional and the modern. Traditional percussion will include tambourines, frame drums, dumbeck, riqq and castanets. Modern instrumentation will include drum set, electric violin, techno beats and electronic music. The musical ensemble includes Alessandra Belloni (lead vocals, southern Italian percussion and ritual dance), musical director is Joe Deninzon (electric and acoustic violin). Wilson Montuori, classical and acoustic guitar, John La Barbera (arranger/composer) (classical acoustic guitar, chitarra battente, oud), and Neapolitan Singer Giuseppe De Falco. Guest artists : Gianni De Gennaro, from Puglia, Italy, vocals accordion, viella, percussion, flute, drummers include- Sergio Bellotti - Teacher at Berkelee in Boston Gordon Gottlieb –Percussionist from New York Philarmonic, Julliard , Jon Pareles of the New York Times wrote: "Invocations and work songs, exorcisms and lullabies shared the program of RHTHM IS THE CURE in the Chapel of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.... Driven by tambourine patterns so fast that the drummer’s hands became blurs. Ms. Belloni sang in an exultant voice. The songs blazed with an age-old momentum" . Dan Hackman – Los Angeles Time: Alessandra Belloni and Tarantata Dance of the Ancient Spider is a revelation, utterly fascinating..” Drum Magazine: Italian-born virtuoso Alessandra Belloni is established as a unique phenomenon, not just a percussionist, she is an actress, lecturer, entertainer, a healer, above all archetype…. Ric Mattinly- Modern Drummer: With her left hand she uses a variety of techniques to produce a wide range of timbers, incorporating thumb strokes, finger strokes, and slaps. The Village Voice: Alessandra Belloni is a force of Nature Alessandra Belloni is the Artistic Director, Founder and Lead Performer of “I Giullari di Piazza.” Artist in Residence at the Cathedral of St John the Divine . Author of the book/DVD RHYTHM IS THE CURE –Mel Bay Publications A REMO Signature Series Artist with her own line of signature series Italian tambourines, made by the largest percussion industry in the world, which is also her sponsor . Both she and her work have been featured in a National Geographic documentary, also on PBS and CNN. Her CD “Tarantata: The Dance of Ancient Spider” won Best World Percussion CD of the Year, also named one of the top CDs of 2002. “Tarantelle & Canti D’amore” was runner-up for Best Percussion CD of the Year, and she has been voted one of the best percussionists in the world by DRUM and MODERN DRUMMER MAGAZINE. Each of her eight CDs has been widely reviewed to international acclaim, featured at concerts and festivals throughout Brazil, where she first performed in 1998 under the invitation of Gilberto Gil and Nana Vasconcellos, at the Percussion festival PERC PAN, in Salvador Bahia with whom she performed, as well with Hermeto Pascal, Mestre Ambrosio, Siba, Magda Pucci and the group Mawaca. As a soloist she also tours in Europe , Australia, Canada and the United States. She has performed in concerts from London’s Royal Festival Hall to Tel Aviv’s Cultural Center. Currently Artist-in-Resident in New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Alessandra Belloni is a central figure in the Percussion and World Music Festivals. Joe Deninzon, musical director, has been hailed by critics as “The Jimi Hendrix of the Violin”, because of his innovative style on the electric seven-string violin and his compositions combining jazz and rock with Gypsy influences. A musician who transcends many genres, he has recorded and performed with artists including Sheryl Crow, Everclear, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, Smokey Robinson, Les Paul, and most recently at Madison Square Garden with Bruce Springsteen. He has also performed Richard Einhorn’s “Red Angels” as a solo electric violinist with the New York City Ballet. His band, Stratospheerius (www.stratospheerius.com), has released four CD's and was named "Best Jam Band" in the Musician’s Atlas Independent Music Awards. He is a ten-time BMI composer’s grant recipient and a winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. His original music has been used on CMT, MTV VH1, Comedy Central, National Geographic, the Travel Channel and the History Channel among others. http://www.joedeninzon.com/