Dances with Spiders (eBook)

Karen Lüdtke received her DPhil in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford. Aspects of her research on the performance arts and well-being in the context of the Salento have been published in the edited volumes Music as Medicine(Ashgate, London) and Performing Ecstasies(Institute for Mediaeval Music, Ottawa).

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Preface

Introduction: Tarantula Territory


Salentine Tarantulas: Spider Dances and Discourses

Tracking Down the Spider: Research Techniques and Intentions

Crisis, Celebrity and Celebration: Contextualizing Salentine Tarantulas

Preview: Summarizing this Book


PART I: PAST AND PRESENT SPIDER WEBS

Chapter 1. Seeking St Paul: Historical and Contemporary Enactments


Dances at Galatina: a Crossroads of Old and New Tarantati

Dances on Screen: Invention versus Intention

Maria’s 1959 Domestic Ritual: a Historical Performance

Ada’s 2001 Dance on TV: a Contemporary Performance


Chapter 2. Webs through Time: Origins and History of Tarantism


Possible Origins: Searching for Tarantism’s Roots

Historical Interpretations: Explaining the Tarantula’s Cult

De Martino’s View: a Key Point of Reference

Recent Studies: Continuing the Quest for Answers


PART II: THE SPIDER'S CULT TODAY

Chapter 3. Curing Myths and Fictive Cures: Views of Believers and Sceptics


Tarantism as Cure: Debates in Favour of the Tarantula

St Paul’s Grotto: a Contested Site

Spider Poisoning: a Contested Case

Tarantism as Fiction: Debates Against the Tarantula


Chapter 4. Ads and Antidotes: Celebrity versus Conservation Taranta-muffin, Techno-pizzica, Tarantavirus: Hybridizing the Pizzica


The Festival of San Rocco: Revitalizing and Commercializing Traditions

La Notte della Taranta: a Music and Media Spectacle

La Sagra dei Curli: a Community Festival


Chapter 5. Sensing Identities and Well-being: Personal Motivations and Experiences


The Alla Bua: Music for Healing

Tanya’s Story: Dancing Colours

Ada’s Story: Retrieving Soundness


PART III: FROM RITUAL TO LIMELIGHT

Chapter 6. SpiderWoMen Transfixed: Negotiating Crisis and Cure


Diagnosing Spiders: Identifying Tarantula Cases

Views on Venom: Interpreting the Spider’s Bite

Tarantula Alternatives: Choosing Treatment Options


Chapter 7. Tarantula Threads and Showbiz Airs: Fine-tuning Performances


Spider Sites: Performance Places

Spider Schedules: Performance Times

Tarantula Threads: Past Props and Techniques

Showbiz Airs: Present Props and Techniques


Chapter 8. SpiderWoMen Transformed: Celebrating Well-being


Magic Circles: Allowing Music to Take Over

Rhythmic Intervention: Choosing to Entrain

Vibrating the Spider’s Web: Tapping a Source of Vitality

Integrating Toxins: Connecting Self and Other

Transforming Identities: Evoking a Sense of Belonging


PART IV: CONCLUSION

Chapter 9. Dancing Beyond Spiders


Evelina’s Story: Living with the Tarantula

Tarantula Rhythms: Reflections on Performance and Well-being


Epilogue
Bibliography
Filmography
Index