noun
tarantella
tair-un-TEL-uh/ˌtɛrənˈtɛlə/
A lively southern Italian folk dance in rapid triple time.
The dancers perform a lively tarantella at the village festival.
Etymology
The dance’s name probably comes from Taranto, sharing the spider’s geographical origin. The story linking the dance’s name to dancing after a spider bite is likely a folk-etymological explanation.
In context
this dance is called the tarantella and it's the folk dance from Italy it has an eight-count intro before we start the three parts
More examples
- She learns the quick steps of a tarantella.
- The wedding guests dance a tarantella to traditional Italian music.
- The troupe performs several tarantellas from southern Italy.
Forms
tarantella · tarantellas
Similar words
- jig
- A lively dance associated especially with Irish rather than Italian traditions.