Travel Through Dance: The Tarentella in Caulonia

Dance and music allow travelers to simultaneously experience the uniqueness of a place while emphasizing the basic human need for rhythm and movement. Can you really claim to have experienced a place's culture and people without having moved with them?


There are so many locations in the world that have their own variants of song and dance. In southern Italy, it is the Tarentella.

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Although the image above is rather picturesque, the Tarantella has a grim past. It gets its name from the tarantula (which, in turn, is named after the region of Taranto) and has more than one story of its origins. The first is that the bite of a tarantula drives its victim to manic dancing, perhaps an explanation of the dance madness that swept across Europe in the Middle Ages. Another version is that when a person was bitten, he or she would frantically dance for hours to prevent the poison from leading to death.

A slightly gruesome and completely fascinating history still leaves its mark today. The Tarantella can be danced solo as a type of healing process and is used in therapy for depression and other ailments. It can also be danced for fun as a couple or group, simulating sword fights or courtship.


Both the music and the dance is still a part of the culture today, as evidenced by this talented group of ragazzi!

The Tarantella Festival takes place in Caulonia (or Kaulonia) in late August every year, and attracts thousands of visitors and Tarentella enthusiasts. Caulonia is a rocky municipality in southern Italy with beautiful cliff vistas, narrow twisting streets and greek ruins. 

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Exploring southern Italy is definitely on my trip wish list, but I would definitely like to visit Caulonia in time for this festival!