Body and Soul podcast interviewee Alessandra Belloni presents her workshop, Rhythm is The Cure at the New York Open Center, Sunday, April 6 (10am-5pm).
New York Open Center
83 Spring St # 1, Soho, Manhattan
212-219-9635
Admission: Open Center Members: $120 / Nonmembers: $130
email: aracelybrown@yahoo.com
Southern Italian folk dances and rituals are joyous and healing forms of music and dance therapy. In this workshop, we’ll learn ancient Neapolitan chants used to invoke the healing power of the sun and to honor the Black Madonna. In this way we request miracles and healing in our lives. A central part of the workshop will be learning the dance Pizzica Tarantata, which originated as a ritual to cure the mythical bite of the tarantula. In the Pizzica students will dance inside a circle of tambourine players. Each student will take a turn inside the circle, learning the fast steps and wild rhythms of the Pizzica. Part of the ritual takes place on the floor—on a white sheet, surrounded by red ribbons—and the dance involves spider-like movements, as if emerging from a spider web. We’ll also learn the Tammurriata, a sensual dance from Naples, and a Calabrian spinning dance similar to trance-inducing movements of Sufi dances. We’ll experience how dance, drumming and music allow us to release anxiety, relax sexual blocks, open the heart and liberate our expression. This brings the mind and body into a state of total relaxation.
Note: Participants will be barefoot. Women should wear skirts, and, if possible, everyone should wear white clothes. Please do not wear black. Tambourines will be provided, but you may bring your own.