On Tuesday 14 August, the Year 10 and Year 12 Italian classes participated in a traditional ‘Tarantella’ dance workshop, also known as ‘the dance of the spider’. Rosa Voto, from the Melbourne School of Tarantella, shared the history and significance of this folk dance and taught the boys some basic steps.
According to legend, once bitten by a tarantula, the victim, who was traditionally almost always a woman of lower social status, would fall into a fit of restlessness. The only cure was to engage in the frenzied dancing ritual of the Tarantella. Townspeople would play instruments such as mandolins, guitars, and tambourines in different tempos in search of the correct healing rhythm.
The boys participated enthusiastically and proved to be quite the dancers!
Mrs Rita Bonne
Head of Languages
