The mystical-erotic trance rituals of southern Italy ... haunting prayers to the Black Madonna and the Goddess of the Mediterranean ... the breathtaking love songs of its storied islands – from the dawn of Italy’s magical-spiritual song tradition comes Alessandra Belloni’s new release, Tarantata: Dance of the Ancient Spider. With her soaring mezzo-soprano and mesmerizing tambourine rhythms, Alessandra casts a spellbinding web of sensuality spun from the tarantella – the ecstatic rites used to cure young women of a mysterious affliction known asthe bite of the ancient spider.