ITALY – TARANTELLA

The tarantella is a traditional dance 6/8 or 4/4 time characterized by the rapid whirling
of couples. There are several local variations of this dance, including the Neapolitan, Sicilian,
Apulian and Calabrese tarantellas. The time signature, the fact that it is led by a caller, and
several of the figures suggest that the tarantella may be related to contra dance.

It is named after Taranto in southern Italy, and is popularly associated with the large
local wolf spider or "tarantula" spider (Lycosa tarantula) whose bite was allegedly deadly and
could be cured only by frenetic dancing. One variation of the legend said the dancer must
dance the most joyous dance of her life or she would die, another says the dancer will go in to
the most joyous dance of her life before she dies. In actual fact the spider's venom is not
dangerous enough to cause any severe effects. The spiders, far from being aggressive, avoid
human contact.

The tarantella can be traced back to the Middle Ages, and may have evolved from an
even older dance. According to legend, an epidemic of tarantula poisonings spread through
the town of Taranto. The victims (tarantata) were typically farm women or others whose daily
life might reasonably bring them into contact with the kinds of spiders that run in the fields.
These supposed victims of spider bites would dance while villagers played mandolins or
tambourines. Various rhythms were used until one worked, vigorous dancing ensued, and
eventually the tarantata was cured. This dance is a staple of some old-fashioned Southern
Italian weddings.

Dancing the tarantella alone was said to be unlucky, and thus it was always a couple’s
dance, involving either a man and a woman, or two women. The tarantella is a circle dance,
performed clockwise until the music in the set changes to become faster, after which everyone
changes direction. This cycle occurs several times, eventually becoming so fast that it is very
difficult to keep up with the beat. The music is generally led by a mandolin.

For the costume, the men wear close-fitting, knee length pants with buttons near the
bottom, white shirts with ties at the neck and long sashes wrapped around the waist and short
decorative jackets. Women wear long sleeved, below the knee dresses with patterned aprons
tied at the waist.

Did you know?

• The tarantella was featured in the Godfather.

• Many great composers such as Franz Liszt, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff etc composed
pieces of music they titled the tarantella.
• "Tarantallegra" is a jinx in Harry Potter books which causes the opponent's legs to
move rapidly and uncontrollably, hinting that the incantation of this jinx might be based
on the tarantella dance. This jinx is first introduced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets, in the Dueling Club scene. Incidentally, spiders also play a central part in the
same book.

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Italian Inventors

Count Alessandro Volta was an Italian physicist who invented the chemical battery in 1800.
This invention provided the first generator of continuous electrical current. Volta also
discovered and isolated methane gas, CH4 (in 1778). The volt, the unit of electrical potential,
was named for Volta in 1881.

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian inventor, artist, architect, and scientist. Da Vinci had an
interest in engineering and made detailed sketches of the airplane, the helicopter (and other
flying machines), the parachute, the submarine, the armored car, the ballista (a giant
crossbow), rapid-fire guns, the centrifugal pump (designed to drain wet areas, like marshes),
ball bearings, the worm gear (a set of gears in which many teeth make contact at once,
reducing the strain on the teeth, allowing more pressure to be put on the mechanism), and
many other incredible ideas that were centuries ahead of da Vinci's time.

Galileo Galilei was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. Galileo found that
the speed at which bodies fall does not depend on their weight and did extensive
experimentation with pendulums. In 1593 Galileo invented the thermometer. In 1609, Galileo
was the first person to use a telescope to observe the skies. Galileo discovered the rings of
Saturn (1610), was the first person to see the four major moons of Jupiter (1610), observed
the phases of Venus, studied sunspots, and discovered many other important phenomena.

Words in Italian

Bennisimo Excellent

Grazi Thank you

Buongiorno Good day!

Buonasera Good Evening

Per favore Please

Come stai? How are you?

Molto bene, e tu? Very well and you?

Prego You are welcome

Ci vediamo domani! See you tomorrow

Scusa! Sorry

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What is pasta?

The word comes from Italian pasta which shares its origins with "paste", meaning "dough",
"pasta", or "pastry" as in "small cake”. Dried Italian-style pasta is made from durum wheat
semolina, which gives it a light yellow colour and a slightly chewy texture when properly
prepared. It is traditionally cooked al dente (Italian: "with [a slight] bite"). Pasta comes in many
different shapes and sizes. There are simple string-shaped pasta like spaghetti and vermicelli,
ribbon-shaped ones like fettuccine and linguine, short tubes like elbow macaroni and penne,
large sheets like lasagna, and hollow pasta stuffed with filling, like ravioli, manicotti, and
tortellini.

Pasta can be eaten with pasta sauces such as arabiatta, pesto calabrese, pesto basilico etc

Basil Pesto

You will need :

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts
3 garlic cloves, finely minced

Directions:

1. Place basil leaves in small batches in food processor and whip until well chopped (do
about 3/4 cup at a time).
2. Add about 1/3 the nuts and garlic, blend again.
3. Add about 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese; blend while slowly adding about 1/3 of the olive
oil, stopping to scrape down sides of container.
4. Process basil pesto till it forms a thick smooth paste.
5. Repeat until all ingredients are used, mix all batches together well.
6. Serve over pasta.

Basil pesto keeps in refrigerator one week, or freeze for a few months.

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Gelato is the generic Italian for ice cream. "Gelato" is an Italian word for "frozen" and comes
from the Italian word gelare, meaning "to freeze.” Gelato, is Italian ice cream made from milk
and sugar, combined with other flavorings. The gelato ingredients are frozen while stirring to
break up ice crystals as they form. Like high end ice cream, gelato generally has less than
35% air - resulting in a dense and extremely flavoursome product.

Make your own Peach Gelato

What you need :

3 pounds peaches, peeled and pitted

1/4cup sugar, or more, to taste

1/2 cup mascarpone, crème fraîche or yogurt

Directions :

1. Cut the peaches into very small pieces. The smaller you cut them, the faster they will freeze
and the finer the final texture will be. Arrange the peach pieces in a single layer on a rimmed
cookie sheet and freeze solid, about 2 hours.

2. Put the frozen peach pieces in a food processor with the sugar and grind briefly. Add the
mascarpone and pulse until the mixture is smooth.

3. Empty the food processor into a small container and freeze again, 20 to 30 minutes, before
serving. If the ice cream freezes solid, simply process it briefly again before serving.

Makes 8 servings

Given below is the picture of a tarantella spider. First colour it. Then cut and paste
them on either side of a drinking straw. You now have your own tarantella straw.

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Below are two really famous paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, a famous Italian painter. Can you
guess the title of the paintings? Colour the paintings as you like. Read about Leonardo online or
in your school library and share some information you find on this worksheet.

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 Italian Folk Story – The Travellers Tale
Once there lived a man named August and his wife Nina, who owned a wine business . They
had a little daughter who they loved very much. They lived a happy life together. One day when Nina
was cooking some soup for the child, and her daughter was playing in the sunshine in the garden, a
mean looking man suddenly kidnapped the little girl.

August and Nina were very sad because they loved their child very much. They tried very hard
to find her but couldn’t. Five years later, when August was returning home, he saw a little boy who was
about seven years old crying on the road. "Please, sir, I'm so hungry”, the little boy said.

August said to the boy, "Well, little fellow, come home with me; we'll have some supper together."
Then he took the boy's hand. "What is your name, son?"
"Oresto," said the boy.
"Where is your mother?" August asked.
"My mother died just two days ago," said the boy sadly. "They buried her."
August squeezed the boy's hand.
"And where is your father?"
”My father left us when I was only two years old.” Said the boy Oresto.
"I'm so sorry," said August.

August thought that maybe, he and Nina could adopt the boy and make him their son. But, of
course, he had to talk to his wife Nina about it first. Nina loved the little Oresto and they began to live
as a family. Little Oresto was a good boy and made his new parents happy. In school he studies so
hard that soon he could read and write very well. When Oresto was old enough, August took him into
the wine business. Orestos job was to deliver goods from house to house.

But Oresto did not really like this business. He wanted to do something else so that he could
make more money so that he could take good care of Nina and August when they were old. When he
turned eighteen August gave his foster son some money. With this, Oresto bought a lot of hay and sold
it at a good profit. Then Oresto bought and sold more hay, and more hay. In a short time he was able to
buy a horse and wagon. The business went very well indeed. Though Nina and August were very
happy with oresto, they sometimes thought of their daughter and were sad. At times like this Oresto
wished he could find out what had happened to the little girl.

Meanwhile, Oresto had built a pretty little house on a hill with a lovely garden around it. August
gave up his wine business. Every day he stayed at home and enjoyed working in the garden beside his
good wife, and almost all the time they talked about their young son. One Sunday, as the family was
eating dinner, they heard a knock at the door. Oresto went out, and came back to tell August and Nina
that a traveler was outside and was asking for a place to stay and rest for a little while. The three of
them welcomed him in. The traveler was an old man with gray hair, and wore a big straw hat, which hid
his face completely.

Thank you," he replied. Then he placed his large walking staff in the corner and looked round him. "I've
been on the road since yesterday without food or rest," he said. "I will be so thankful to you if you can
give me a little of both."
"Sit down, please," said Nina. Oresto brought a plate and placed it before the guest. "As you
can see," she said, "we're all alone here, so we're glad to talk to travelers who can tell us what's going
on in the world."
The traveler answered quietly, "I'm afraid I cannot tell you very much, dear lady, for I have
been sick more than a year, and it is only a few days since I came out of the cave where I live."

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 Later, when they were all sitting around the hearth, Nina looked into the fire, as she was
accustomed to doing, and cried out suddenly:
"Oh! Whatever has become of my poor little girl!"
The traveler then asked with interest if they had had a daughter. Nina told him of the
kidnapping and how they later adopted Oresto. The traveler keenly listened to her and slowly turned
pale and fainted. "Poor fellow!" said Nina. "He spoke truly when he said that he was still very sick. I'll
make up a bed so that he can lie down."

Oresto carried the stranger in his arms to the bed, and laid him carefully upon it. The old
man's eyes opened, and he looked around him as if in surprise. He whispered: "Cecilia." And then went
to sleep. At sunrise he was up and ready to leave.Later that day when Oresto went to the market to sell
hay, he met the old man who called him by name and asked to speak to him alone. He told Oresto that
he would give him news of his sister, if only he promised to forgive the kidnapper and not to take
revenge on him. Oresto agreed and the man confessed to being the kidnapper.
Oresto gave a great cry. Enraged with anger, he lifted his hand to strike the old man, but catching sight
of his gray hair, and remembering his promise, he lay down his hand.

At the same instant a beautiful fairy appeared. She pointed at the old man with her finger. She
announced: "Oresto, that man is your father." and vanished.
Oresto pinched himself to see whether he was dreaming, but he was not. He asked his fathers
forgiveness. His father begged Orestes’ forgiveness
"Although I only dimly remember you," said Oresto, "I know that my mother always taught me
to respect you."
"Ah, your mother," said the old man. "How I loved her."
"Then why did you desert her?"
"Listen to me carefully. Take in what I say, my son, and I hope you will understand." Oresto
looked on puzzled.

The man said that he had wanted to marry Oresto’s mother Anita so badly and had made a pact with a
wizard. When the deal went wrong he was forced to kidnap August and Nina’s daughter and live a life
of exile with her. He tutored her for years and she would be taken by the wizard when she was 18
years old. He made a plan with Oresto to free the girl who was now called Cecila. Happy and anxious,
Oresto went home instead of proceeding to work and said to his parents ,” I have a feeling that your
daughter will come home today”. They shrugged off his words as wishful thinking.

The next day, Oresto went to the Dolphin castle in the sea. He was amazed by the beauty of
the place. Silvery and golden fishes with glittering scales were swimming about and everything had a
fairy tale look about it. He met his father who told him to wait in a room with crystal furniture. He soon
returned. With him was a young girl with sky blue eyes that were beautiful but sad. Oresto fell in love.
She had golden hair and said to Oresto “Take me back to my mother and father, and we will all live
near one another in happiness."

The old man said felt that time had come for him to die and so he said to them “My last wish is
for forgiveness from Cecilia's parents, and to have them agree to your marriage, for I know the two of
you love each other." And he soon died. However back home much happiness awaited the couple and
their parents, for August and Nina were overjoyed to have their daughter back. The blessed the happy
couple and Oresto and Cecila were soon married.

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