Tarantella

Our granddaughter Steffi was here to visit and wanted to learn this dance and grandpa was more than happy to oblige. A lot of laughing took place but she learned it. The Tarantella Dance music is probably the most recognized song of all the Italian folklore music. It literally means "tarantula" because the dance is done buy everyone in a great big circle going clockwise, until the music in the set changes, becomes faster, then they quickly change the direction to counterclockwise, this continues several times and is fun to see who keeps up. You can see this dance at authentic Italian weddings, is often the theme song of many restaurants and pizzerias, can even be heard in The Godfather movie. Generally played with a strong mandolin (Italian guitar) each region has its own version. The most popular version you will undoubtedly hear most frequently is the Napoletana version (from the region of Naples). The Sicilian tarantella (Conco d' Ora) is quite different, but has a similar melody.