tarentella

la tarentella (ITAL N-F) a very rapid folk dance in 6 / 8 meter. Lore has it that after one is bitten by the tarantula spider (Lycosa tarantula, not particularly poisonous to man, though its bite is sharp and its image somewhat frightening) one dances the tarentella to accelerate the spread of the venom, forestalling a slower agony (alternatively: One dances it to sweat profusely, believing that the venom will leave the body that way). Others say it was the bite itself that caused spasmodic…