Monday 09 May

Jnan Sbil Garden – 16.30

Officina Zoé – Italy

With special appearance by Maria Mazzotta (voice) and Maristella Martella (dance)

Women’s voices from Puglia and their songs of love, work and healing

Music cares for the soul – Officina Zoè

Through the artistry of its women, southern Italy has preserved the wealth of its pastoral heritage where the sacred and profane are intrinsically linked. This is a land where dance and music make miracles – the land of Salento in the extreme southeast of Puglia. For centuries it has heard the playing of tambourines and the singing of women. Their songs tell ancient myths of impossible love and are sung while the women work. And in these fields hides the menace of the tarantula – the people of Salento have a healing ritual to eradicate the poison of its terrifying bite, known as Tarantism. Mixing up dance, music, trance, possession and Christian devotion, the origins of Tarantism go back to the Dionysiac rites of antiquity.
In order to care for the woman caught by the spider, the local musicians are called upon to play rhythms that lead her into a wild dance as she begins to go into a trance. This expels the poison and brings her back to health. It is not surprising that the word Pizzica means the potentially mortal bite of the tarantula as well as this frenetic music which continues to be played at village festivals in Salento. Here where the rhythm engenders both a whirlwind of a dance and an antidote to poison, today it is a remedy for the tribulations of modern life!

In partnership with Puglia Sounds, Puglia Region, FSC 2007/2013