Tarantella 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.In the Italian province of Taranto, Apulia, the bite of a locally common type of wolf spider, named "tarantula" after the region, was popularly believed to be highly poisonous and to lead to a hysterical condition known as tarantism. To get rid of the poison the bitten people had to dance and jump.
