Every summer, the Salento region of Apulia hosts the “Night of the Taranta” (Notte della Taranta), one of the largest festivals of traditional music in Europe. The festival’s official ensemble comes to Megaron to bring the pulse of this unique celebration through the dances and songs of Salento, many of which are performed in Griko, the dialect still spoken in the Greek-speaking villages of Grecìa Salentina, keeping alive the ancient bonds between Greece and southern Italy. Musicians, singers and dancers sweep us up in the rhythm of the pizzica, a traditional dance linked to the ritual of tarantism: according to folk tradition, music and dance were considered the only antidote to the tarantula’s bite!
Orchestra Popolare La Notte della Taranta (musicians, singers, dancers)
In collaboration with:
- the Ministry of Culture
- the Italian Embassy, and
- the Ministry of Culture of Italy
