TARANTELLA Spider Dance is Alessandra Belloni’s masterwork, celebrating the universal phenomenon of the trance dancer – a dance of love and liberation – still thriving not only in Southern Italy, it’s ancestral roots, but catching fire today across the world.
Spider Dance is a cross-cultural musical journey that takes us from its origins in ancient Greece to its deep roots in Italy. Loosely based on a true story, it starts with the birth of the symbolized “Spider Woman,” which is represented in the show by those young girls who are “afflicted,” by these mesmerizing spells.
Bitten by love or longing for it, and an oppressive society, the women known as Tarantate re-create the frenzied collective ritual dance to free their inner soul. But first they surrender to the ancient 6/8 rhythm– alive in the tambourines, frame drums, love songs and work melodies that contain the healing they seek. The music is the key element needed for the release of this possession.
Both The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times hailed the earliest stage versions of TARANTELLA SPIDER DANCE as “utterly fascinating…a revelation.” Some 6 years in the making, the show presents award-winning Alessandra Belloni at the top of her creative career. It is a masterwork of choreography, innovating 21st century techno music, and infusing the ancient acoustic rituals. The show is designed to involve audiences of all ages, especially the young, in a collective ritual dance of liberation. From the show’s first scene in ancient Greece to the final one in Carnival Brazil, the audience will see why Alessandra Belloni is in constant demand as an international performer and choreographer. The show is hallmarked by the solo and collective drumming and vocal performances she’s now made known to audiences in over twenty-two countries.
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.
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.
Critics say this show has the potential of a show that can become a “cult” as “STUMP”, BLUE MAN and DELLA GUARDA.
