Tarantism Revisited

Venomous spiders, hypnotic states and dance as a ritual: behind the regional legends of tarantism in Italy may lie deeper themes of female oppression and ecological imbalance. 

There is a folk tale in the South of Italy about a spider that bites women during the harvest, sending them into a half-conscious state of trance – which can only be broken through relentless, rhythmic dancing to frenzied music. Italian anthropologists have studied the phenomenon, questioning whether it reflects the condition of women in an oppressive society, and if the dance, known as tarantella, served as a form of liberation. The images of the dancing manias intertwine with archival testimonies, creating a symbolic act of cure and rebellion against all the poisons that intoxicate us. 

TALK We will dive deeper into these poisons, the tarantella and the filming process with director Anja Dreschke, in a Q+A featuring our own programmer Simone Coghi.