ABSTRACT
In strong ritual doses the dance of the small tarantula — the tarantella – was for centuries prescribed in the southern Italian region of Salento. Symptoms of nausea, vomiting, dizziness, stomach and muscular pains, fever, feelings of anguish, physical agitation or inertia were alleviated through its impact. In June 1996, a new case of spider poisoning was registered in the southern tip of Salento and newspaper headlines announced the tarantula's return. The nature of the spider bite in question merges the real and the imaginary and raises the question of whether there are modern representations of tarantism. Lapassade and his academic colleague Piero Fumarola have identified the members of the music group Sud Sound System as curators of tarantism, on the basis of their musical productions, mixing Jamaican reggae with southern Italy's musical heritage. Contemporary tarantism can be identified in a third dimension: on stage and on screen, at musical concerts, dance lessons, theatre and film productions.
