Italy- Tarantella Worksheet

ITALY – TARANTELLA The tarantella is a traditional dance 6/8 or 4/4 time characterized by the rapid whirling of couples. There are several local variations of this dance, including the Neapolitan, Sicilian, Apulian and Calabrese tarantellas. The time signature, the fact that it is led by a caller, and several of the figures suggest that the tarantella may be related to contra dance. It is named after Taranto in southern Italy, and is popularly associated with the large local wolf spider or "tarantula" spider (Lycosa tarantula) whose bite was allegedly deadly and could be cured only by frenetic dancing. One variation of the legend said the dancer must dance the most joyous dance of her life or she would die, another says the dancer will go in to the most joyous dance of her life before she dies. In actual fact the spider's venom is not dangerous enough to cause any severe effects. The spiders, far from being aggressive, avoid human contact. The tarantella can be traced back to the Middle Ages, and may have evolved from an even older dance. According to legend, an epidemic of tarantula poisonings spread through the town of Taranto. The victims (tarantata) were typically farm women or others whose daily life might reasonably bring them into contact with the kinds of spiders that run in the fields. These supposed victims of spider bites would dance while villagers played mandolins or tambourines. Various rhythms were used until one worked, vigorous dancing ensued, and eventually the tarantata was cured. This dance is a staple of some old-fashioned Southern Italian weddings. Dancing the tarantella alone was said to be unlucky, and thus it was always a couple’s dance, involving either a man and a woman, or two women. The tarantella is a circle dance, performed clockwise until the music in the set changes to become faster, after which everyone changes direction. This cycle occurs several times, eventually becoming so fast that it is very difficult to keep up with the beat. The music is generally led by a mandolin. For the costume, the men wear close-fitting, knee length pants with buttons near the bottom, white shirts with ties at the neck and long sashes wrapped around the waist and short decorative jackets. Women wear long sleeved, below the knee dresses with patterned aprons tied at the waist. Did you know? • • •

The tarantella was featured in the Godfather. Many great composers such as Franz Liszt, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff etc composed pieces of music they titled the tarantella. "Tarantallegra" is a jinx in Harry Potter books which causes the opponent's legs to move rapidly and uncontrollably, hinting that the incantation of this jinx might be based on the tarantella dance. This jinx is first introduced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, in the Dueling Club scene. Incidentally, spiders also play a central part in the same book.

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Italian Inventors Count Alessandro Volta was an Italian physicist who invented the chemical battery in 1800. This invention provided the first generator of continuous electrical current. Volta also discovered and isolated methane gas, CH4 (in 1778). The volt, the unit of electrical potential, was named for Volta in 1881. Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian inventor, artist, architect, and scientist. Da Vinci had an interest in engineering and made detailed sketches of the airplane, the helicopter (and other flying machines), the parachute, the submarine, the armored car, the ballista (a giant crossbow), rapid-fire guns, the centrifugal pump (designed to drain wet areas, like marshes), ball bearings, the worm gear (a set of gears in which many teeth make contact at once, reducing the strain on the teeth, allowing more pressure to be put on the mechanism), and many other incredible ideas that were centuries ahead of da Vinci's time. Galileo Galilei was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. Galileo found that the speed at which bodies fall does not depend on their weight and did extensive experimentation with pendulums. In 1593 Galileo invented the thermometer. In 1609, Galileo was the first person to use a telescope to observe the skies. Galileo discovered the rings of Saturn (1610), was the first person to see the four major moons of Jupiter (1610), observed the phases of Venus, studied sunspots, and discovered many other important phenomena.

Words in Italian Bennisimo

Excellent

Grazi

Thank you

Buongiorno

Good day!

Buonasera

Good Evening

Per favore

Please

Come stai?

How are you?

Molto bene, e tu?

Very well and you?

Prego

You are welcome

Ci vediamo domani!

See you tomorrow

Scusa!

Sorry

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What is pasta? The word comes from Italian pasta which shares its origins with "paste", meaning "dough", "pasta", or "pastry" as in "small cake”. Dried Italian-style pasta is made from durum wheat semolina, which gives it a light yellow colour and a slightly chewy texture when properly prepared. It is traditionally cooked al dente (Italian: "with [a slight] bite"). Pasta comes in many different shapes and sizes. There are simple string-shaped pasta like spaghetti and vermicelli, ribbon-shaped ones like fettuccine and linguine, short tubes like elbow macaroni and penne, large sheets like lasagna, and hollow pasta stuffed with filling, like ravioli, manicotti, and tortellini. Pasta can be eaten with pasta sauces such as arabiatta, pesto calabrese, pesto basilico etc Basil Pesto You will need : 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup Olive oil 3 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts 3 garlic cloves, finely minced Directions: 1. Place basil leaves in small batches in food processor and whip until well chopped (do about 3/4 cup at a time). 2. Add about 1/3 the nuts and garlic, blend again. 3. Add about 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese; blend while slowly adding about 1/3 of the olive oil, stopping to scrape down sides of container. 4. Process basil pesto till it forms a thick smooth paste. 5. Repeat until all ingredients are used, mix all batches together well. 6. Serve over pasta. Basil pesto keeps in refrigerator one week, or freeze for a few months.

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Gelato is the generic Italian for ice cream. "Gelato" is an Italian word for "frozen" and comes from the Italian word gelare, meaning "to freeze.” Gelato, is Italian ice cream made from milk and sugar, combined with other flavorings. The gelato ingredients are frozen while stirring to break up ice crystals as they form. Like high end ice cream, gelato generally has less than 35% air - resulting in a dense and extremely flavoursome product. Make your own Peach Gelato What you need : 3 pounds peaches, peeled and pitted 1/4cup sugar, or more, to taste 1/2 cup mascarpone, crème fraîche or yogurt Directions : 1. Cut the peaches into very small pieces. The smaller you cut them, the faster they will freeze and the finer the final texture will be. Arrange the peach pieces in a single layer on a rimmed cookie sheet and freeze solid, about 2 hours. 2. Put the frozen peach pieces in a food processor with the sugar and grind briefly. Add the mascarpone and pulse until the mixture is smooth. 3. Empty the food processor into a small container and freeze again, 20 to 30 minutes, before serving. If the ice cream freezes solid, simply process it briefly again before serving. Makes 8 servings Given below is the picture of a tarantella spider. First colour it. Then cut and paste them on either side of a drinking straw. You now have your own tarantella straw.

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Below are two really famous paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, a famous Italian painter. Can you guess the title of the paintings? Colour the paintings as you like. Read about Leonardo online or in your school library and share some information you find on this worksheet.

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Italian Folk Story – The Travellers Tale Once there lived a man named August and his wife Nina, who owned a wine business . They had a little daughter who they loved very much. They lived a happy life together. One day when Nina was cooking some soup for the child, and her daughter was playing in the sunshine in the garden, a mean looking man suddenly kidnapped the little girl. August and Nina were very sad because they loved their child very much. They tried very hard to find her but couldn’t. Five years later, when August was returning home, he saw a little boy who was about seven years old crying on the road. "Please, sir, I'm so hungry”, the little boy said. August said to the boy, "Well, little fellow, come home with me; we'll have some supper together." Then he took the boy's hand. "What is your name, son?" "Oresto," said the boy. "Where is your mother?" August asked. "My mother died just two days ago," said the boy sadly. "They buried her." August squeezed the boy's hand. "And where is your father?" ”My father left us when I was only two years old.” Said the boy Oresto. "I'm so sorry," said August. August thought that maybe, he and Nina could adopt the boy and make him their son. But, of course, he had to talk to his wife Nina about it first. Nina loved the little Oresto and they began to live as a family. Little Oresto was a good boy and made his new parents happy. In school he studies so hard that soon he could read and write very well. When Oresto was old enough, August took him into the wine business. Orestos job was to deliver goods from house to house. But Oresto did not really like this business. He wanted to do something else so that he could make more money so that he could take good care of Nina and August when they were old. When he turned eighteen August gave his foster son some money. With this, Oresto bought a lot of hay and sold it at a good profit. Then Oresto bought and sold more hay, and more hay. In a short time he was able to buy a horse and wagon. The business went very well indeed. Though Nina and August were very happy with oresto, they sometimes thought of their daughter and were sad. At times like this Oresto wished he could find out what had happened to the little girl. Meanwhile, Oresto had built a pretty little house on a hill with a lovely garden around it. August gave up his wine business. Every day he stayed at home and enjoyed working in the garden beside his good wife, and almost all the time they talked about their young son. One Sunday, as the family was eating dinner, they heard a knock at the door. Oresto went out, and came back to tell August and Nina that a traveler was outside and was asking for a place to stay and rest for a little while. The three of them welcomed him in. The traveler was an old man with gray hair, and wore a big straw hat, which hid his face completely. Thank you," he replied. Then he placed his large walking staff in the corner and looked round him. "I've been on the road since yesterday without food or rest," he said. "I will be so thankful to you if you can give me a little of both." "Sit down, please," said Nina. Oresto brought a plate and placed it before the guest. "As you can see," she said, "we're all alone here, so we're glad to talk to travelers who can tell us what's going on in the world." The traveler answered quietly, "I'm afraid I cannot tell you very much, dear lady, for I have been sick more than a year, and it is only a few days since I came out of the cave where I live."

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Later, when they were all sitting around the hearth, Nina looked into the fire, as she was accustomed to doing, and cried out suddenly: "Oh! Whatever has become of my poor little girl!" The traveler then asked with interest if they had had a daughter. Nina told him of the kidnapping and how they later adopted Oresto. The traveler keenly listened to her and slowly turned pale and fainted. "Poor fellow!" said Nina. "He spoke truly when he said that he was still very sick. I'll make up a bed so that he can lie down." Oresto carried the stranger in his arms to the bed, and laid him carefully upon it. The old man's eyes opened, and he looked around him as if in surprise. He whispered: "Cecilia." And then went to sleep. At sunrise he was up and ready to leave.Later that day when Oresto went to the market to sell hay, he met the old man who called him by name and asked to speak to him alone. He told Oresto that he would give him news of his sister, if only he promised to forgive the kidnapper and not to take revenge on him. Oresto agreed and the man confessed to being the kidnapper. Oresto gave a great cry. Enraged with anger, he lifted his hand to strike the old man, but catching sight of his gray hair, and remembering his promise, he lay down his hand. At the same instant a beautiful fairy appeared. She pointed at the old man with her finger. She announced: "Oresto, that man is your father." and vanished. Oresto pinched himself to see whether he was dreaming, but he was not. He asked his fathers forgiveness. His father begged Orestes’ forgiveness "Although I only dimly remember you," said Oresto, "I know that my mother always taught me to respect you." "Ah, your mother," said the old man. "How I loved her." "Then why did you desert her?" "Listen to me carefully. Take in what I say, my son, and I hope you will understand." Oresto looked on puzzled. The man said that he had wanted to marry Oresto’s mother Anita so badly and had made a pact with a wizard. When the deal went wrong he was forced to kidnap August and Nina’s daughter and live a life of exile with her. He tutored her for years and she would be taken by the wizard when she was 18 years old. He made a plan with Oresto to free the girl who was now called Cecila. Happy and anxious, Oresto went home instead of proceeding to work and said to his parents ,” I have a feeling that your daughter will come home today”. They shrugged off his words as wishful thinking. The next day, Oresto went to the Dolphin castle in the sea. He was amazed by the beauty of the place. Silvery and golden fishes with glittering scales were swimming about and everything had a fairy tale look about it. He met his father who told him to wait in a room with crystal furniture. He soon returned. With him was a young girl with sky blue eyes that were beautiful but sad. Oresto fell in love. She had golden hair and said to Oresto “Take me back to my mother and father, and we will all live near one another in happiness." The old man said felt that time had come for him to die and so he said to them “My last wish is for forgiveness from Cecilia's parents, and to have them agree to your marriage, for I know the two of you love each other." And he soon died. However back home much happiness awaited the couple and their parents, for August and Nina were overjoyed to have their daughter back. The blessed the happy couple and Oresto and Cecila were soon married.

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