What is the tarantella? A guide for international guests
If you are coming to Sorrento for a wedding, a holiday or a conference, there is a good chance you will see the tarantella: at a reception, on a hotel terrace, in a square on a summer evening. Before the music starts, here is a short guide to what you are about to see, written by the people who dance it.
We are Sorrento Folk, a cultural association that dances the tarantella sorrentina, the traditional folk dance of Sorrento. Our group was founded in 2011 by Francesco Di Fiore, a dancer since childhood who learned from the masters Salvatore Converso, Antonino (Tonino) Ambrosino and Francesco Saverio Apreda.
A dance born among legends
Ask where the tarantella comes from and you will hear more than one story. Some link it to the Sirens who enchanted Ulysses off this very coast. Others see in it a trace of the ancient cult of Dionysus.
The best-known story is about tarantism, a phenomenon recorded around Tarentum, today's Taranto, and along the Ionian coast. People believed that the bite of the taranta, a spider, could only be cured with music and frenzied dancing. The name of the dance is usually traced back to this world.
Around Naples, during the 18th century, the tarantella gradually lost its ritual meaning and became a dance of celebration: a dance of love and courtship, played on violin, guitar, mandolin, tambourines and castanets. That is the tarantella you will see in Sorrento today. If you want to go deeper, our page on the origins of the tarantella tells the whole story.
Not one tarantella, but many
"Tarantella" is really a family of dances from southern Italy. A few you may hear about:
- Pizzica: from Salento, in Puglia, closely linked to tarantism, with a fast rhythm usually in 6/8 or 12/8.
- Tammurriata: from the area around Vesuvius and the rest of Campania, driven by the beat of the tammorra, a large frame drum, and tied to devotion to the Virgin Mary and to rural life.
- Tarantella napoletana: the festive couples' dance that spread through Naples.
- Tarantella sorrentina: our tradition, a couples' dance of courtship with its own sequence of steps and its own costumes.
Each has its own rhythm, instruments and way of moving. They are relatives, not copies.
The steps you will see
The tarantella sorrentina is danced in couples. A show usually opens with a parade entrance, then the couples form a circle. Next come the steps that make it recognisable: eight quick hops on the spot, starting with the left foot; the traversè, eight small side steps to the right with the right leg raised to knee height; heel and toe; the rondeau, a full turn of the couple around its own axis; and the giro in vita, where partners hook right arms and spin together. In between, the dancers stamp the floor, open out to the sides and act out the moments of courtship.
Our master Tonino Ambrosino has been teaching the original steps for more than 40 years. You can see them one by one, with photos, on our dance and steps page.
Costumes and instruments
The costumes tell a story too. The men wear a red wool cap with a black edge, a colourful sailor-style necktie, a waistcoat with golden buttons and a sash knotted on the left hip. The women wear a white blouse with frills and lace, a velvet waistcoat with golden stripes, a white lace apron and a pleated velvet skirt. Everything is sewn by hand by Sorrento seamstresses. There is more on the costumes page.
The music relies on instruments with wonderful names: the tamburello (tambourine), the nacchere (castanets, played by the men), the triccheballacche with its little hammers, the putipù, the scetavajasse, nicknamed the poor man's violin, and the mandolin. Find out how each one works on the instruments page.
How to enjoy it as a guest
You do not need to know anything to enjoy a tarantella. At some point the dancers will probably come to your table and hand you a tamburello or a pair of nacchere: say yes. Nobody expects perfect steps. Clap, follow the circle and let the rhythm do the rest.
If you would like to learn a few steps properly, we also run tarantella experiences: basic step lessons for adults and children, a pizza school with a show, and dinner shows for groups. And if you are planning a celebration, take a look at tarantella for weddings.
Now you know what is coming. When the tambourines start, you will be ready.
