Ancient dances and mysterious rituals, as well as a frenzy to… celebrate! Very little is missing from the Taranta Night 2018, which this year will start on August 3 in Otranto and will touch about 15 Salento cities. This fantastic and exciting tradition defies the passage of time, and still intrigues today for its charm. Anyone, from all over the world, comes to the splendid natural setting of Salento to enjoy dances and music, with always new proposals. But before celebrating to the sound of pizzica, let's find out a little more about Taranto...
La Notte della Taranta: more than a party, a true tradition!
Taking a nice trip to Puglia is the dream of anyone who loves beautiful things. The its white beaches and its sea enchant every visitor, and transport him to a magical place. Nothing to take away from the splendid towns that populate this fantastic region, the Salento area in particular bewitches thousands of tourists every year. This place, like a bewitching siren, seduces not only with its natural beauties: the Salento traditions are known and even studied for their characteristics. First of these is certainly the dance of the Taranta! Also known as pizzica, the Taranta preserves an ancient and truly unique history. Today the pizzica is played in moments of celebration, but once it accompanied the ethnocoreutic rite of tarantism.
What is the tarantism? According to the story, the women of yore they were plucked by tarantulas present in Salento, and this sting caused them pain and uncontrollable states of frenzy. The drums played the Taranta along with their orchestras, just for the purpose of exorcise (so to speak) tarantate women and heal them, using the dance they performed to bear the pain. The pizzica or Taranta often had its own characteristics, which differentiated it from the one played for the dance. There pinch tarantata, famous thanks to the recordings of the violinist Luigi Stifani, was performed with a rhythm generally more accelerated than the classical one. This lively and agitated trend is still unmistakable today, so much so that it has deserved one Night ... all his!
La Notte della Taranta: folklore meets a new world
Like every year, 2018 will also be characterized by a great desire for life and fun! Oh yes, because again this year we will see the magic Taranta night, a highly anticipated festival. On the notes of the pizzica, the twenty-first edition of the Festival will start, the title of which already invites us to reflect: the place of the Taranta. Salento, with its centuries-old history and its deep and rooted traditions, will remind us of the our cultural heritage and how important this is. Resonance will be given above all to the enhancement of what is special we have, which must be defended and preserved with pride. The words of the Tourism and Cultural Industry Councilor of the Puglia Region, Loredana Capone, were enlightening: "(The Festival) has the merit of uniting different artistic languages, of linking places to the arts, history to contemporaneity, technology to the beauty of the ritual in a unique experience".
Protecting the historic centers and the landscape therefore seems to be the mantra of this edition, since the Taranta represents the language through which Salento parla. The program of this event will also be full of news, since pizzica will meet rap! Yes, you got it right. Thanks also to the participation of great artists of the contemporary scene, such as the famous rapper Clementino and the songwriter Enzo Gragnaniello. This partnership will bring together Neapolitan popular music and Salento pizzica, and then it will be the turn of the violin and the voice of Ylian Canizares, which will join Africa, Greece and Latin rhythms. This and much more awaits you in the phantasmagoric Night of the Taranta, where the ancient spirit of the boundless Salento tradition will make you dance… until dawn!
