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Music is Fire; Rhythm is the Cure
IgniVox is honored to be working with an artist of Alessandra Belloni's caliber; her multi-dimensionality as a performer, producer, healer and voice for the lingua franca, the mother tongue of the power music possesses. IgniVox is committed in its mission to producing and collaborating with performers whose contemporary expression of ancient musical traditions is driven by the mandate to bring healing & restoration to the world.
From her 35 years of research and travels in the Mediterranean world, in particular, Southern Italy, Alessandra has incarnated, through her musical alchemy, a contemporary embodiment of these ritual musical practices into both performative and healing modalities, under her rubric: "Rhythm is the Cure."
This woman is about fire… So you are invited to listen, watch, look and be ignited by Alessandra Belloni’s volcanic energy. |
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Alessandra Belloni's Rhythm is the Cure
Often referred to as “A Mediterranean Volcano,” Tambourine virtuoso singer, dancer, actress and Alessandra Belloni is renowned in her field and travels worldwide to perform group and solo concerts, in theaters, universities, and international percussion festivals. Belloni began her career in her native Rome with the great actress Anna Magnani in "La Lupa", and with legendary film director Federico Fellini in "Casanova."
She is artistic director and leading performer of I Giullari di Piazza, an ensemble of musicians, vocalists, and dancers that specializes in authentic southern Italian music and theater events dating back to the 13th century. Belloni is a REMO artist and designer of her signature series of Italian tambourines; she is also the author of the book & DVD Rhythm is the Cure, published by Mel Bay.
The only artist in the world who specializes in southern Italian tambourines combined with ritual dances & singing, that she learned from her field research with the old people, Belloni was selected as one of the best percussionists in the world by DRUM! magazine, and has been acclaimed in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and featured in Modern Drummer and Percussive Notes.
She is artist in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and has been invited to appear in percussion festivals & acclaimed venues in London, Brazil, Poland, France, Italy, Australia, Rome, and throughout the US.
Her CD “Tarantata: Dance of the Ancient Spider” won Best World Percussion CD of the Year 2001. “Tarantelle & Canti D’amore” was runner-up for Best Percussion CD of the Year.
Each of her five CDs has been widely reviewed to international acclaim. |
A speaker of all romance languages & equally fluent in their ancient & ecstatic mediterranean rhythms, Alessandra has spent more than twenty years participating every Summer in the authentic drumming Festivals in remote areas of Southern Italy, held in honor of the Black Madonna and as rituals of purification and researching the origins of The Tarantella dance and music.
Practiced throughout Southern Italy since ancient times, the Tarantella has been adapted by Alessandra to help modern women from around the world free their minds as well as their bodies. A powerful key to facilitate sexual healing, the Tarantella! "Bite of the Spider" dance ritual is incorporated into Alessandra's workshops.
She has created cross-cultural productions dedicated to Mother Earth, featuring the Silver Cloud Singers, and African and Latin American artists.
Her work as teacher and healer brought her to be the main feature of the documentary film about her as artist and healer TARANTELLA TRANCE DANCE; Towards the Origins of South European Shamanism (series Living Shamanism) by French American film maker Manex Ibar, to be soon released.
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You can find Alessandra all over the web but here are her essential links:
www.alessandrabelloni.com
www.facebook.com/alessandrabelloni
www.youtube.com/alessandrabelloni
www.reverbnation.com/alessandrabelloni
Press, Film & TV
Ms. Belloni appeared in Fellini's Casanova (1976), Magnini's La Lupa (1979), Copola's The Godfather, Pt.II (1974), Next Stop: Greenwich Village (Mazursky), and is the main feature of upcoming documentary film Tarantella: Trance Dance (Living Shamans series), also featured on the PBS documentary, La Festa with The Voyage of the Black Madonna. |
Click "playlist" in upper left corner to select among Alessandra's TV appearances.
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Her world-wide TV appearances include: ABC TV Live in Chicago, the National Geographic documentary Spider Sex, World Beat on CNN, Globo Brazilian TV, Rai Uno Mattina, Russian TV Travel Channel & The Dancing Planet. |
PRESS
LENS — NY Times Blog By Ozier Muhammad
"Alessandra Belloni is member of the First Presbyterian Church in Edgewater, N.J. — or, as many are used to calling it: "The Church on the Edge," and is an artist in residence at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Manhattan."
The New York Times — Critic's Picks By Ben Brantley | NY Times | Jan. 16, 2013
"This new 'Spider Dance' production infuses the ancient melodies and instrumentation of the authentic tarantella with modern electronic dance beats. It features aerial, fire and stilt dancers, acrobats and a techno tarantella trance dance. As with all of Belloni's presentations, the show is meticulously researched, with costumes and instrumentation as authentic as possible."
The New York Times — Music Review By Jon Pareles | NY Times | Jan. 19, 2000
"Invocations and work songs, exorcisms and lullabies shared the program of Rhythm is the Cure in the Chapel of the cathedral of St. John the Divine.... driven by tambourine patterns so fast that the drummers hands became blurs. Ms. Belloni sang in an exultant voice. The songs blazed with an age-old momentum."
The New York Times — Review By Alex Ross
"Non-stop theatrical and musical energy... Belloni plays an unusually vivacious Mary .... riotously entertaining, curiously haunting and even profound."
DRUM! Magazine By Diance Gershuny | Frame Drum Roundtable | March, 2010
Shrouded in mystery, the frame drum can be traced back to the Paleolithic era, and has been historically used as an ancient technology to alter consciousness in spiritual ritual.
The New York Times — Review By James Oestreich | NY Times | April 10, 1995
"Conceived by Alessandra Belloni and adapted from a Medieval poem by Jacopone da Todi 'Stabat Mater: Donna de Paradiso' was something truly different ...a lavish Passion... slickly produced and smoothly executed."
The Village Voice — Review By Robert Massa
"Belloni is such a sexy and sure performer that her character remains the most sympathetic on stage... Belloni not only wrote and directed but sings and dances as the Virgin Mary, giving birth and slaying a dragon without dropping her castanets."
Los Angeles Times — Review By Don Heckman
"Alessandra Belloni...TARANTATA Dance of the Ancient Spider - (Sounds true) is a revelation ... The Music is utterly fascinating in addition to its revelatory presentation of Italian roots music, it is timely as well, given the current surge of interest in the healing powers of music."
ALL MUSIC — Biography and Review By Craig Harris
"The ancient musical and dance traditions of southern Italy are resurrected by world-class tambourine player, percussionist, vocalist, dancer and actress Alessandra Belloni."
Quantum Creativity Radio — Interview By Cezarina Trone & Santari Green | June 25, 2013
"The musicians were like the shamans came to the woman's house, played for three days and three nights and got rid of the venom. And the people came out of their imaginary spider web and were healed. It is more effective than prozac and electric shocks."
Belly Dance New England — Interview By Gina Capossela | May 19, 2013
"My work both as teacher and performer is dedicated to the healing power of rhythm and dance and its spiritual connections. Especially focusing on the ancient tarantella trance dance."
The Record — Feature Article By Jim Beckerman | The North Jersey Record | Jan. 10, 2010
"Alessandra Belloni is a quadruple threat: She choreographs, dances, plays percussion and sings."
Dirty Linen: Folk & World Music By Al Reiss
"Alessandra Belloni's singing is enthusiastic, emotional, and exudes confidence and pride."
TechnoBeat — Article By Bob Tarte
"It is I think a fantastic form of music dance therapy, more effective than prozac and electric shocks."
NAPRA Review
"Alessandra Belloni's rich voice is absolutely intoxicating... I dream of running away with the Gypsies..."
Rhythm Music & Percussion Source By Iris Brooks
"Armed with a detailed knowledge of Italian tradition, a mastery of percussive techniques, and her customary tambourine, Alessandra Belloni summons powerful healing forces... she is a Mediterranean Volcano; she can erupt artistically and emotionally at any moment with a passion that spills to a powerful effect..."
Culture Grinder — Feature Article By Nicole Casamento
"In the 1970s, as a young, rebellious woman, Alessandra Belloni thought she had to leave her home in Rome to find freedom in the rock & roll culture of the United States. Alessandra is not just a brilliant musical virtuoso, but a powerful contemporary voice for the power that music possesses."
New York Newsday — Review By Anemona Hartocollis
"With an earthy presence like Anna Magnani and a passionate voice all of her own, Alessandra Belloni has revived a Renaissance art form for 90's audience. ....Alessandra Belloni - Earth Mother, muse, Artistic Director, and self styled Black Madonna, 'the dark side of the Moon' dominates the stage, as usual." |
| "Ms. Belloni sang in an exultant voice. The songs blazed with an age-old momentum. Invocations and work songs, exorcisms and lullabies shared the program of Rhythm Is the Cure in a chapel of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. With combination of voice, hand drums and rustic fiddling... |
The musicians on Friday night were Alessandra Belloni, a singer and Neapolitan tambourine specialist who has researched ancient songs from southern Italy that show deep Arabic and African influences; Glen Velez, a virtuoso on frame drums, the percussion family that includes the tambourine and the Irish bodhran; and Siba, the leader of the Brazilian band Mestre Ambrosio, which is steeped in the folk styles of northeastern Brazil. The three musicians shared and traded songs, nearly all of them driven by tambourine patterns so fast that the drummers' hands became blurs."
—Jon Pareles |
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"The mystical-erotic trance rituals of southern Italy, the haunting prayers to the Black Madonna and the Goddess of the Mediterranean, and the breathtaking love songs of its storied islands—from the dawn of Italy's magical-spiritual song tradition comes Alessandra Belloni..." |
| "The ancient musical and dance traditions of southern Italy are resurrected by world-class tambourine player, percussionist, vocalist, dancer and actress Alessandra Belloni and her New York-based band, I Guillari Piazza (Players of the Square). Artists in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and the Caramoor Museum Center for Music and Art in Katonah, New York, Belloni and her ensemble have created a series of full-length presentations based on the folk myths and rituals of Italy." |
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"Italian-born virtuoso Alessandra Belloni is established as a unique phenomenon, not just a percussionist, but also an actress, lecturer, entertainer, and healer." |
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Alessandra Belloni has studied acting at H.B. Studios, voice with Professor Michael Warren, and mime and Commedia dell'Arte with Dario Fo (winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Literature) at New York University.
For her achievements in music and theatre, she won the following awards:
Italian Oral History Institute in Los Angeles, "Lifetime Achievement Award," 2005
Sons of Liberty "Citation of Honor" Award, 2001
Italian American Woman of the Year, 1996
Achievement in Italian Folk Music
The Carnahan Jackson Humanities Fund for Women Studies, SUNY Fredonia
The Community Arts Project Award, Lincoln Center
The New York State Council on the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts
The Department of Cultural Affairs
The Martin Gruss Foundation
Special Award from the City of Los Angeles from Mayor Tom Bradley & The Sons of Italy
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Click 'Playlist' in the top left corner to select among the videos.
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Contact
IgniVox Productions
Kathleen Mandeville
Director
kathleen@ignivox.net |
Mail:
477 FDR Dr.
Apt. #M 1107
New York, NY 10002 |
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Copyright © 2013 All Rights Reserved. |
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"[Belloni’s] music evokes the ecstasy that occurs when the body becomes a vessel for ancient forces that rise out of the land and its cycles; it shines with the tremendous power of the feminine reaching all the way back into ancient shamanic roots of Europe and ancient Greece. It is a rare occasion indeed that these rhythms became available.”
— Amazon Reviewer |
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"Get bitten by a tarantula, and Italian tradition suggests you'll find a cure in the trance dance known as the tarantella. Jittery percussion, wild violin, twanging jaw harp and Alessandra Belloni's powerful singing on Tarantelle and Canti D'Amore (Naxos World) may well cure what ails you if a paucity of rootsy Mediterranean dance music is your complaint… Belloni is the real thing, a practitioner of music therapy to ease the emotional pain of men and women who "have known the feeling of being stuck in a spider web. … She spent decades tracking down this obscure and fading tradition in remote villages in Southern Italy. The songs feel strikingly old and impressively pagan. And Belloni's wonderful performances are rousing fun."
— Bob Tarte, The Beat
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