Dances with Spiders: Crisis, Celebrity and Celebration in Southern Italy

by KarenLüdtke (Author)

• New

  Hardcover
  2008

  $149.19

  For centuries, the rite of the tarantula was the only cure for those 'bitten' or 'possessed' by the mythic Apulian spider. Its victims had to dance to the local tarantella or 'pizzica' for days on end. Today, the pizzica has returned to the limelight, bringing to the forefront issues of performance, gender, identity and well-being.