INTERNATIONALLY RENOWN SINGER, PERCUSSIONIST DANCER ALESSANDRA BELLONI  Artist in Residence at the Cathedral of St John the Divine  REMO Signature Series Artist – presents: 

 Rhythm is the Cure   A Healing Dance and Percussion Workshop

    Sunday, March 8 CENTER FOR SYMBOLIC STUDIES http://www.symbolicstudies.org 475 River Road New Paltz, NY 12561 Get Directions Phone number(845) 658-8540 email to register:  programs@symbolicstudies.org or Abelloni@aol.com   Rhythm is the Cure is an intensive healing workshop featuring Southern Italian ritual dances used as music and dance therapy for centuries throughout the Mediterranean. Participants will learn the unique style of tambourine playing and the ancient healing trance dance of the tarantella, used to cure the mythical bite of the tarantula. The workshop focuses on releasing blockages of energies, breaking the imaginary "spider web" of the subconscious mind.

This workshop will give people the means to fortify themselves against daily stresses. Students will become empowered through discovery of the ancient art of frame drumming and a technique of music and dance therapy that will enable them to discover the means to achieve homeostatic balance and inner relief of stress, while restoring spiritual and physical energy.

Each class is designed to follow the method described in her book/DVD Rhythm is the Cure. This enables students to continue their studies independently after the course is complete.        Students shall begin each session with drumming followed by an hour and half  of dance. Students will learn the variations of the basic 6/8 rhythm of the Tarantella that originated as music and dance therapy to cure the mythical bite of the tarantula. The dance movements represent an unbroken chain of inspiration from pre-Christian times to the present. 

During these series of workshops, the participants will also  learn:   * The rhythm and dance of the TAMMORRIATA originally from Naples. The Tammorriata is an improvisation of drumming and singing, and it is danced during the rituals held in the summer in honor of the Black Madonna (originally ancient rites for the Earth Goddess Cybele)-    ** PIZZICA TARANTATA O Spider Dance , a very fast 6/8 rhythm from Puglia, with different accents, which originated as music therapy to cure the mythical bite of the tarantula. This wild rhythm, played mainly by women on medium size tambourines with a double row of jingles and the dance were performed  to cure a mental disease called tarantismo, which afflicted mainly women (tarantate), who fell into a hypnotic state of mind, and in a trance they frantically danced for days during the Summer Solstice. Originally these where the ancient Greek rites for the God Dionysus as Puglia was part of Greece and was called Magna Grecia.   RITMO E DANZA DI SAN ROCCO or SPINNING DANCE – This dance originating in Calabria during the Middle Ages evokes the elegant and meditative movements of the Whirling Dervish ceremonies of the Sufis. This dance was used during the time of the plague to heal people and as a release from overpowering fears of death. Due to the trance-inducing movements and incessant spinning many people enter ecstatic states during this dance.   The session ends with a meditation utilizing a chant to the Sun, Jesce Sole, in the Lydian scale. The calming and lilting harmonies of this chant combined with the ocean drum guides students into complete relaxation.    Participants emerge feeling light and joyful after this healing journey through sound and dance. They are encouraged to wear white and red  traditional ceremonial colors.

Tammorriata Dance is in honor of the Black Madonna http://youtu.be/vIIEZNDsL94

Group Drumming Rhythm of San Rocco from Rhythm Is The Cure Workshop, Tuscany Italy 2013http://youtu.be/zWYL-4zccBg

TARANTELLA TRANCE DANCE film trailer about Alessandra as artist and healerhttps://vimeo.com/59786628 password “ shaman “ 

Diva Shaman Trance- forming lives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVNHlgcXz_4

Alessandra Belloni’s links to TV appearances:Alessandra Belloni Live Appearance on ABC-TV 7 Chicagohttp://youtu.be/3J9ZlzKLzPw Alessandra Belloni featured on CNN World beathttp://youtu.be/IkOqBrpcB9Q Alessandra Belloni "Spider Sex documentary " on National Geographichttp://youtu.be/vp8dE3jJnq0

Don Hackman, writing in the Los Angeles Times,    found that "Alessandra Belloni and "Tarantata: Dance of the Ancient Spider" is a revelation, utterly fascinating." Drum Magazine noted that "Italian-born virtuoso Alessandra Belloni is established as a unique phenomenon, not just a percussionist, but also an actress, lecturer, entertainer, and healer." Jon Pareles of The New York Times, reviewing an I Giullari di Piazza show, remarked that "Ms. Belloni sang in an exultant voice. The songs blazed with an age-old momentum."