Tarantella Dancing

Club Garibaldi Tarantella Dancers was formed in 1992 with a desire to keep traditional Italian dance alive in New Zealand.

The tarantella is a traditional folk dance that is regarded by many as Italy’s national dance. It has different characteristics, depending on where in southern Italy and Sardinia it is danced. Around Naples, it is regarded as a happy dance with light and dashing movements, but in other areas dancers show a certain solemnity.

Legend has it that the word tarantella comes from the tarantula spider. The speed of the dance is such that it is supposed to allow a person bitten by a tarantula to sweat the poison out of their body. The dance could also have been named after the town of Taranto in southern Italy.

The Mediterranean Trio play Neapolitan and other Italian songs and melodies. The trio comprises Armando Gilmoni on piano accordion and vocals, Robin Page on bass, and Salvi Gaeta on guitar and vocals.