October 12 (Thursday) 7:00 pm - Celebrate Italian Heritage Month with Alessandra Belloni, and I Giullari di Piazza - Dance/Concert Production. Italian American Museum - 155 Mulberry Street, Manhattan. Admission: $25 - Contact: [email protected]

This concert is a fiery "journey" through the South of Italy featuring magic rituals, by the women of Southern Italy, in honor of the Black Madonna, known as Tammorriata, as well as original songs by Alessandra Belloni inspired by the rituals and rhythms of Brazil. The performance ends with the authentic Pizzzica Tarantata, the healing trance dance from Puglia used as an exorcism to cure the mythical bite of the tarantula. At the end of the concert the audience is invited to dance the tarantella or "pizzica" in a celebration of life and good energy unique to the Italians using red ribbons in a circle.