The Tarantella Festival Returns this Spring to Celebrate the Web of Ancient Southern Italian Dance, Music and Culture
The Segmento Tarantella Fes0val launches this Wednesday the 8th of November with a Media Call at CO.AS.IT kicking off a three-week celebration. The Tarantella is an ancient dance dating back to the 15th century and the festival will set the stage for this celebration. The festival will feature dance and music with performances, workshops, storytelling, and multimedia exhibitions presented across Melbourne and regional towns.
The history of Tarantella dates to ancient times in southern Italy. The solo Tarantella dance was used to cure disease provoked by the bite of the Tarantula spider! It was thought that by sending the victim into a fever-driven trance the dancer would sweat the poison from their body. Today Tarantella dance and traditions offer an opportunity to come together and celebrate diversity within the Italian community. This is a festival for anyone and everyone and perfect for families to share beautiful traditions with their loved ones.
The festival will present events in Geelong and Club Italia on November 12th and Shepparton Showgrounds on November 19th broadening its audience reach. Most events are free and run all day and the festival is perfect for all ages and family friendly. Workshops are organised in local primary schools, Italian Clubs and Associa0ons. Additionally, events are presented in elderly care centres and the festival organisers aim to share knowledge, values, and identity across generations.
The festival’s line-up includes performances by artists such as Davis Muccari, Gabriele Macri, Antonio and Maddalena Grosso, hailing from Italy. Local talent includes Melbourne’s very own Rus0ca Project and the talented Santa Taranta from Bellingen in NSW. Multimedia exhibitions and presentations will showcase traditional southern Italian musical instruments, which are used to accompany the enchanting singing and dancing. A series of workshops, hosted by Italian Clubs and Associations, will feature dancing sessions, music, singing and Tamburello (musical instrument) workshops.
The core objective of the Segmento Tarantella Festival is to serve as a platform for the promotion of Southern Italian and Southern European traditional music and dance, fostering connections, encouraging communications, and sparking curiosity among diverse communities. Additionally, the festival seeks to raise cultural awareness across all generations. The festival is supported by Victoria Multicultural Commission, the patronage of Calabria Region, Comission Victoria and Tasmania, and the Segmento Foundation
MELBOURNE – GEELONG – SHEPPARTON 12th November – 3rd December, 2023
FOR ALL EVENT INFORMATION VISIT heps://www.segmentotarantellafestival.com.au
