Schooled by elder southern Italian musicians in their traditional tambourine styles, Alessandra Belloni is a singer, percussionist, dancer and actress who has made a career out of keeping alive the musical and dance traditions of her southern Italy. Tarantata: Dance of the Ancient Spider is a sixty-plus minute testament to her mastery of musical styles and influences drawn from Italy to North Africa and Latin America. Belloni and her accomplished ensemble, I Guillari di Piazza, have made Tarantata a celebration of the ancient purification dance known as the tarantella (little spider), which is performed by women to cure them of the mythical bite of the tarantula, a metaphor for repressed desire. Therefore, a number of the songs are vivid healing chants and prayers. I Guillari di Piazza's gentle mesh of hypnotic tambourines, accordion, classical guitar and clarinet are equally at home whether performing a vigorous quick-step such as "Pizzicarella (Little Bite)" or haunting and intense pieces like "Ave Mama e Deu (Hail Mary, Mother of God)" or "Ave Maria di Monteserrat," in which Belloni's passionate mezzo-soprano radiates. Although the song-by-song explanations included with Tarantata: Dance of the Ancient Spider are great for music obsessives, one only needs to listen to Belloni's stirring voice and evocative instrumentation to get the message.