L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 8 THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022 L'Italo-Americano W e most c o m - m o n l y call it piz- zica, ta- rantella but it's also known as taranta. It is the hypnotic, mesmerizing music of Salento, in Puglia, with va- rieties of its dramatic rhythm – and of the dance style that goes with it – popular also in other areas of our South, es- pecially in Campania. W h i l e I t a l o p h i l e s a n d Italians all over the world are familiar with this music and dancing style, not many may know its fascinating history, which delves deep into mysterious rituals of catharsis and religion. Even fewer people are probably aware that a study on its development and social role, carried out by Ernesto de M a r t i n o i n t h e 1 9 5 0 s , became the foundation of I t a l y ' s m o d e r n c u l t u r a l anthropology. The origins of taranta get lost in time but are rooted in the land of Salento and in the rhythms and habits of its farmers, in their primordial and often mysterious rela- tionship with nature, spiri- t u a l i t y , a n d h e a l i n g . T h e first attestation of the use of music and dancing to cure the bite of venomous spiders is found in medical treatises dating to the 14th century. However, two centuries later medicine embraced a more s c i e n t i f i c a n d o r t h o d o x a p p r o a c h t o t a r a n t i s m which was then viewed as a m e n t a l i l l n e s s c o n n e c t e d with epilepsy and hysteria. Francesco Serao, a 17th-cen- t u r y m e d i c a l d o c t o r , w a s clear about the causes of the i l l n e s s , w h i c h w a s t o b e sought "not in tarantulas, but in the Apulian people." B u t i n t h e m i n d o f t h e farming society of Puglia, t a r a n t i s m a n d i t s c u r e , taranta music and dancing, remained, well into the 20th century, associated with the bite of a poisonous spider, the tarantola, common in the South of Italy. Nothing more, nothing less. Often, tradition says, during har- vest season, people would get bitten by tarantole and would suffer horrible symp- t o m s : p a i n s a l l o v e r t h e b o d y , d e l i r i u m , f e v e r , d e p r e s s i o n . O f t e n , t h e y would fall into a full cata- t o n i c s t a t e . N o m e d i c i n e c o u l d h e l p t a r a n t o l a t i resurface from their limbo: they were lost to their family and friends, just as if they died. The only cure for their state was music: the inces- sant, obsessive sound of the tambourine - as well as vio- lins and guitars - that would accompany, often for weeks at a time, the wild dancing of the tarantolato. Through frenzied movements and the cleansing power of music, t h e s p i d e r ' s v e n o m w a s eventually expelled from the victim's body, who could then return to live a normal life. Taranta was, to the eyes of the people who practiced it and believed in it, a bona f i d e e x o r c i s m , w h e r e m u s i c h a d t h e p o w e r t o cleanse evil, in this case, the tarantola's venom, from the tarantolato's blood, giving them back their humanity and their ability to function within society. This is the legend of how t a r a n t a m u s i c a n d d a n c e were born, or better, this is the explanation our ances- tors gave to the malaise and pain of tarantolati, which w e r e e v e n t u a l l y h e a l e d through music and dancing. But what is the truth behind it all? N o w , i t ' s i m p o r t a n t t o clarify one point: taranto- lati did exist in our profound South and they were cured w i t h t a r a n t a m u s i c a n d dancing. But it's the root of t h e i l l n e s s w e s h o u l d observe more closely and try to explain. This is exactly what Italian anthropologist a n d h i s t o r i a n o f religions Ernesto de Mar- t i n o a n d a g r o u p o f researchers did in the 1950s. D e M a r t i n o a n d h i s t e a m s t u d i e d t h e p h e n o m e n o n "on the field" for almost 10 years, forming the basis of the most complete scientific study of the phenomenon ever produced, a study that, still today, is part of the cur- r i c u l u m o f a l m o s t e v e r y a n t h r o p o l o g y s t u d e n t i n Italy. De Martino came to the conclusion that tarantism, a p h e n o m e n o n h e c i r c u m - scribed to the Salento region of Puglia, had some specific characteristics and that, cru- cially, it was not caused by the bite of a spider at all. The hypothetical bite usual- ly would happen in the sum- mer and women were much more likely to be victims of t a r a n t u l a s t h a n m e n . D e Martino also noticed that, usually, tarantolati belonged to families of lower social extraction and little educa- tion, and that the first bites usually coincided with the beginning of puberty. Soon, it became clear: tarantism wasn't caused by the bite of a spider but was the somati- zation of psychological dis- tress caused in young indi- viduals by the effects of too strict an upbringing on the urges, emotions, and needs o f a d o l e s c e n c e . I t w a s a symbolic ritual, one that was rooted in the psychological needs of a community. To underline the ritual, rather than strictly medical, nature o f t a r a n t i s m w e n e e d t o mention only one thing: it returned every Summer. If the tarantula "bit" you once, you were bitten forever. Of course, I am making it very simple here, but if the anthropological side of the story interests you, do look for de Martino's work, La Terra del Rimorso, which is widely available in English as The Land of Remorse, w i t h a t r a n s l a t i o n b y Dorothy Zinn. With time and a better understanding of the psy- c h o l o g i c a l m e c h a n i s m behind tarantism, taranta b e c a m e w h a t w e k n o w today: a type of music and a type of dance. The dance, known as taranta or pizzica, with its frenzied hypnotic m o v e m e n t s , i m i t a t e s t h e behavior of the old-fash - ioned tarantolati, who were " p o s s e s s e d " b y v e n o m . Musicians, with their tam- bourines, violins, and gui- t a r s , a r e l i k e e x o r c i s t s because they help the people free themselves from fears and stress through music and dance. This is the inti- mate beauty of taranta: it is a music of freedom, a hymn to the incredible energy of life. Young people dancing traditional taranta or pizzica (Photo: Ermess/Dreamstime) Taranta: from exorcisms to cultural icon GIULIA FRANCESCHINI LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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