Tarantella Workshop

Tarantella Workshop

Hosted by Alessandra Belloni

Cohosted by Juliet Gentile

Ridgewood

November 19th

2-5pm

$65 in advance

$75 at the door

Participants will learn the unique style of tambourine playing and the ancient healing trance dance of the tarantella, used to cure the mythical bite of the tarantula. The workshop focuses on releasing blockages of energies, breaking the imaginary "spider web" of the subconscious.

Students shall begin each session with drumming followed by an hour and half of dance. Students will learn the variations of the basic 6/8 rhythm of the Tarantella that originated as music and dance therapy to cure the mythical bite of the tarantula. 

Alessandra will also teach chants and songs of devotion to the Black Madonna and to the Sun (Jesce Sole).

TARANTELLA RHYTHMS - Pizzica & San Rocco- Group drumming from Rhythm Is The Cure Workshop, Tuscany Italy 2013http://youtu.be/6QT_E-iJyC0 

During these series of workshops, the participants will learn:

TAMBOURINE TECHNIQUE:

* The basic technique of holding the drum, with emphasis on arm movement, wrist and elbow technique, and a basic accented fast 6/8 rhythm used for different style tarantellas, which involve different variations of hand technique including finger trills on the tambourine skin. 

THE RITUAL DANCES:

*Dance and Rhythm of San Rocco- a healing trance 6/8 rhythm from Calabria done in honor of SAN Rocco to send away fear of death by the plague from the Medieval Times. 

*Pizzica Tarantata- a very fast 6/8 rhythm from Puglia, with different accents, which originated as music therapy to cure the mythical bite of the tarantula. This wild rhythm, played mainly by women on medium size tambourines with a double row of jingles and the dance were performed as a musical exorcism to cure a mental disease called tarantismo, which afflicted mainly women (tarantate), who fell into a hypnotic state of mind, and in a trance they frantically danced for days during the Summer Solstice. Originally these were the ancient Greek rites for the God Dionysus as Puglia was part of Greece and was called Magna Grecia.

The purpose of this workshop is to introduce general audiences to a very rich tambourine and folk dance culture with an active current performance practice in Southern Italy and also to bring women back in touch with their lost drumming tradition.

EMAIL; alessandrabelloni@gmail.com or blackmadonnacenter@gmail.com 

Dragata’s Testimonial from Rhythm Is The Cure Workshop, Tuscany Italy 2013

Danielle's Testimonial from Rhythm Is The Cure Workshop, Tuscany Italy 2013

$65 in advance for 3 hours 

$75 at the door

You can pay by paypal: paypal@blackmadonnacenter,

Venmo Alessandra Belloni or Zelle Abelloni@aol.com