Italian folk music / Folk dance. The "Tarantella Napoletana" is the tarantella associated with Naples. It is familiar to many viewers of popular media as a stereotypically "Italian" musical riff or melody. In the films The Godfather (Il Padrino) (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1973) tarantella’s are played in the openings scenes. In this video the Tarantella Napoletana is played by Jo Brunenberg on a custom built Saltarelle Cleggan Accordion. The old film is from 1903. Title: Tarantellen af Napoli By: Peter Elfelt, Denmark. Dancers: Hans Beck, Valborg Borchsenius More info: http://www.dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/film/en/13516.aspx?id=13516 This tarantella has been popular for a very long time in the south of Italy. The origins of the Tarantella Napoletana's melody is controversial. Most likely it is a melody from the Middle Ages and variants have developed in different parts of Italy over the course of time. For example, there is a Sicilian ballad “Abballati, Abballati” that has a similar melody. Some therefore claim that the source of the melody must be found in Sicily. Others say that the song comes from Apulia, Calabria, Campania or Tarante. A conclusive proof of the origin is not yet found and that does not matter because it is a beautiful melody! Questa tarantella è apprezzata da molto tempo nel sud Italia. Le origini della melodia della Tarantella Napoletana sono controverse. Molto probabilmente è una melodia del Medioevo e le varianti si sono sviluppate in diverse parti d'Italia nel corso del tempo. Ad esempio, c'è una ballata siciliana "Abballati, Abballati" che ha una melodia simile. Alcuni affermano quindi che la fonte della melodia deve essere trovata in Sicilia. Altri dicono che la canzone viene dallaPuglia, dalla Calabria, dalla Campania o da Tarante. Una prova conclusiva dell'origine non è ancora stata trovata e non importa perché è una bella melodia! Tarantella (Italian pronunciation: [taranˈtɛlla]) is a group of various folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized forms of traditional southern Italian music. The specific dance-name varies with every region, for instance tammurriata in Campania, pizzica in the Salento region, Sonu a ballu in Calabria. Tarantella is popular in Southern Italy and Argentina. Courtship vs tarantism dances. The stately courtship tarantella danced by a couple or couples, short in duration, is graceful and elegant and features characteristic music. On the other hand, the supposedly curative or symptomatic tarantella was danced solo by a victim of a Lycosa tarantula spider bite (not to be confused with what is commonly known as a tarantula today); it was agitated in character, lasted for hours or even up to days, and featured characteristic music. However, other forms of the dance were and still are couple dances usually either mimicking courtship or a sword fight. The confusion appears to arrive from the fact that the spiders, the condition, its sufferers ('tarantolati'), and the dances all have similar names to the city of Taranto. The dance originated in the Apulia region, and spread throughout the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Neapolitan tarantella is a courtship dance performed by couples whose "rhythms, melodies, gestures, and accompanying songs are quite distinct" featuring faster more cheerful music. Its origins may further lie in "a fifteenth-century fusion between the Spanish Fandango and the Moresque 'ballo di sfessartia'." The "magico-religious" tarantella is a solo dance performed supposedly to cure through perspiration the delirium and contortions attributed to the bite of a spider at harvest (summer) time. The dance was later applied as a supposed cure for the behavior of neurotic women ('Carnevaletto delle donne'). (Source: Wikipedia). THE ACCORDEON / ACCORDION CHANNEL Italian Music – Napoli - Naples - Accordion Music Instrumental solo - Fisarmonica strumentale - Musica acordeon instrumentala– Italian music - Accordeon muziek – Italiaanse Accordeonmuziek - Musique a l'Accordéon Italien- Akordeon music – Italienische Akkordeon solo - Accordeon solo - l'accordeón musique - acordió - أكورديون - harmonikka - harmonika instrumental - ακορντεόν - бая́н - Баян вальс - muzyka akordeon - akordeony - akordeonowe - akordeonie - ધમણવાળું વાદ્ય - cairdín - harmónikku - 아코디언 - akordeonas - Acordeones - tocando el acordeon - хармоника - 手風琴演奏 - アコーディオン - ակորդեոն - Вальс мюзетт аккордеона - баяне музыка - Accordion song - Akkordeon Musik - musica fisarmonica - fizarmonikë - música acordeão - harmonika - dragspelsmusik - dragspel - trekkspillmusikk - trekkspill - haitarimusiikkia - бая́н – Nederlandse Accordeonist- Accordionist - acordeonista - acordeoneros - аккордеонист - Akordeon - аккордеон франция - Nederland - Limburg