Alessandra Belloni's TARANTELLA: SPIDER DANCE Has Limited Run At TNC, Closes1/16

Jeff Britton and Broadway/Bound Productions presents A stunning and fiery new production by world-renowned artist Alessandra Belloni

TARANTELLA: SPIDER DANCE

Stage direction and choreography by Sabatino Verlezza.
Musical direction by Joe Deninzon.

Strictly Limited Run! 4 Performances Only!
January 13-16 at Theater for the New City (155 1st Avenue)

"Alessandra Belloni is a revelation!" - Los Angeles Times
"An earthly presence like Anna Magnani and a passionate voice all her
own." - Newsday

Jeff Britton and Broadway/Bound Productions presents acclaimed World Music artist Alessandra Belloni and her company I Giullari di Piazza in TARANTELLA: SPIDER DANCE - a New Year mystical celebration evoking Dionysus, the myths of the Tarantula and the Spider Woman, with aerial
stunts, fire and stilt dancers, acrobats, a techno Tarantella trance dance, and more - for four performances only, January 13-16, at Theatre for the New City (155 First Avenue) in Manhattan.

TARANTELLA: SPIDER DANCE is Alessandra Belloni's masterwork, celebrating the phenomenon of the Tarantella - the dance of love and liberation - still thriving in Southern Italy and catching fire across the world today. Spider Dance is the Italian River Dance, a cross-cultural musical journey that takes us from its origins in
ancient Greece to its deep roots in Italy. Starting with the birth of Spider Woman, the show follows the story throughout the centuries of this mystical celebration in honor of Dionysus, god of ecstasy and wine. The Pizzica Tarantata, the erotic trance dance ritual, survived
every century's challenges: plague, war, Inquisition, poverty. Bitten by love or longing for it, the women known as Tarantate performed this frenzied collective ritual dance to free themselves. But first they had to surrender to the Tarantella's ancient rhythm - alive in the
tambourines, frame drums, and in the love songs and work melodies that contained the healing.

Joining Ms. Belloni in TARANTELLA: SPIDER DANCE are Caterina Rago as Aracne, aerialist Fran Sperling as Spider Woman, fire dancer Julia Royter, stilt dancer Mark Mindek, and Greg Marzullo as Dyonisus.

The company of performers and musicians also includes Hasan Bakar, Aaron Bellinfanti, Great Campo, Bernard Davis, Giuseppe de Falco, Joe Deninzon , Dane Edidi, Cynthia Enfield, Micheal Garrett, Clete Larkey,
Mickela Mallozzi, Arden Mason, Wilson Montuori, Vinnie Scialla, Francesca Silvano, and Jessica Valiente.

TARANTELLA: SPIDER DANCE features stage direction and choreography by Sabatino Verlezza, production design by Arden Mason, sound design by Aaron Bellinfanti, additional choreography by Dane Edidi, arrangements by John La Barbera, and musical direction by famed violinist Joe Deninzon.

Alessandra Belloni is a Remo artist with her own line of signature series tambourines. A virtuoso of the instrument, she has documented its use in an ancient women's tradition. Women priestesses honoring
the Goddess of the Earth and the Moon in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome mainly played tambourines and frame drums. Today, these instruments are still used in Southern Italy. Ms. Belloni has mastered the instruments, combining them with singing and dancing. She has been named "One of the best percussionists in the World" by DRUM Magazine and other publications. She has collaborated with many
celebrated drummers such as Rick Allen (Def Leppard), Gordon Gottlieb, (NY Philharmonic, Julliard, Steely Dan), Jamie Haddad, (Paul Winter, Paul Simon), Kenny Aranoff, Anthony Miranda, Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco (from David Byrne's band) and others. Her company I
Giullari di Piazza is currently celebrating its 31st season.

Ms. Belloni's theatrical work is an ever changing, evolving series of dance/music concerts based on Dionysian rites, each with new music, new choreography and new guest artists. Previous versions of TARANTELLA: SPIDER DANCE were presented at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and Theater for the New City, playing to sold-out
audiences. In articles regarding World Music CDs, the soundtrack of this production has made the top ten lists of Jon Pareles of the New York Times and Dan Heckman of the Los Angeles Times.

TARANTELLA: SPIDER DANCE is being presented by Jeff Britton, Broadway/Bound Productions, in association with Theater for the New City (Crystal Fields, Executive Artistic Director).

Performances of Alessandra Belloni's TARANTELLA: SPIDER DANCE run Thursday-Saturday, January 13-15 at 8pm and Sunday, January 16 at 3pm at Theater for the New City (155 First Avenue, near 10th Street).

General admission is $30 (if purchased before December 24); $55 (at door, and after December 24). For tickets, call 212-868-4444 or visit www.SmartTix.com.

For more information visit www.alessandrabelloni.com.

 

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