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Join Sandra Taveri, author of the new bilingual text “Journey Into Tarantism." In this gathering, Sandra Taveri will share a bit about the magical/ritual/medical/therapeutic elements present in the spectrum of tarantism's manifestations across different areas of Puglia and beyond, which are collected in her book. She will also tell us a bit about the book itself and its story. And of course, there will be time for questions!

Sunday April 26th

11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern / 8:00pm Central European

Sandra will present in Italian. To allow this cultural exchange, the conversation will be translated into English by a bilingual community member. (This is not a professionally translated event, instead we gather across linguistic boundaries in a very human, conversational way.)

"Tarantism was a cultural phenomenon that manifested itself for more than seven centuries across many areas of the Mediterranean and, in particular, in Apulia, lasting until the early 1970s.

Since then, it has become the subject of extensive study, generating a vast body of literature that spans the worlds of music and dance as well as academic research, in all its multiple cultural and therapeutic dimensions. Within this broad field, the present volume-published in both Italian and English - addresses newcomers, tourists and the curious, as well as enthusiasts and scholars of music, dance and healing practices. It guides readers through the discovery not only of the essential rudiments of this mysterious syndrome - its etymology. symptoms, and principal areas of diffusion - but also of the main ethnographic, iconographic and archival sources.

Through an interdisciplinary approach, the book offers a fundamental key to understanding what the "taranta affliction" was and what it represented: an intimate and profound expression of a land that has fascinated visitors with its history and nature since the picturesque journeys of the eighteenth century.

Angela Sandra Taveri was born in Brindisi, Puglia, where she pursued theological studies and nurtured her passion for local history, popular religiosity and traditional practices with particular attention to tarantism, a cultural malaise from a not-so-distant past. She contributed to the cultural journal of literature and art "Mimose, carta di donna," and took part in numerous conferences on tarantism. Co-author of "Tarantelle, Saints and Healers. Forms and Figures of a Popular Cult", edited by Vincenzo Santoro and published by ItinerArti in 2024, she conceived and carried out a series of presentations and public events to share and deepen understanding of the phenomenon.

Timing & Group Size
The gathering will run for at least 1 hour, potentially 1.5hrs depending on discussion/questions. Max group size for this talk is 20.

Cost
$20 (sliding scale to $10-30, this is a helpful chart to assess what contribution might make sense for you)

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