It began with a tarantula bite in medieval Italy. As venom coursed through victims’ bloodstreams, bodies twisted and jerked. This spastic dancing came to be known as a side effect of tarantism, a psychological illness that was believed to occur after someone was bitten by a spider. The convulsive dancing inspired a music genre, tarantella, that roughly four centuries later is seeing a revival.
But with a 21st-century twist. Kalàscima, one of Italy’s most popular tarantella bands, is making this psychedelic genre of Puglian music compelling and current. How? For one, giving performances reminiscent of a 1970s rock group, complete with jumping and head-banging. They’re also meshing traditional beats with modern electronic rhythms. The result is a driving, trancelike mix of the ancient and the now.
