"[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
"Tambourine, n. (1) Instrument the lead singer’s girlfriend plays.
Also, (2) Instrument you give to a preschool child at your own risk.
Not, you’d think, a difficult instrument. Or a lead instrument. Or a sacred instrument used since ancient times to summon Cybele herself: the Earth mother, goddess of nature and fertility.”
— The Record
"It has been my privilege to work with and count as a friend some of the world's most accomplished percussion specialists. My experiences have enabled me to establish a criteria that I use as an evaluation tool in establishing artistic capabilities. Alessandra Belloni fits my criteria in every way. Alessandra is committed to her art more than any artist I have ever known. She is as good as it gets on her instruments technically and is, without question, musically superior. Dedicated, committed and professional describes Alessandra Belloni."
— Remo Belli
"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
"I describe this method as 'durable' because I can envision this percussion style and method as applicable in so many music contexts: Bluegrass, Freak Folk, Early Music, New Age, Music Therapy, Gospel, Jazz, Reggae... Show the opening tammorra solo from the DVD to the Heavy Metal aficionado in your life, and he might just be convinced, too! I know I am..."
— Stefan Dollak
"She’s a genius, she’s terrific," says the Very Rev. James Parks Morton, Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, who brought Belloni into his artist program 19 years ago.
"The kind of stuff she does, although it’s ancient over there [Italy], is largely unknown here," Morton says. "Mr. and Mrs. America don’t know about it, and most of the Italian community that’s been here doesn’t know about it either."
"In Italy during the late seventies, a great revival started of the ancient Southern Italian folk culture combining music, dance and theatre, known as “Musica and Teatro Popolare.”
— AB
"I love making a musical connection between ancient and modern, and have been using what I call the TECHNO TARANTELLA BEAT created especially for this show by my violinist Joe Deninzon, who is a master of electric violin with effects."
— AB
"…my generation learned to appreciate the musical and theatrical traditions of the so-called peasants of the South, who have a rich folklore directly connected to their agricultural life and to the Earth. I was born in Rome, where unfortunately, the Vatican has repressed most manifestations of these ancient pre-Christian rites."
— AB
"My wonderful violinist actually goes on the floor as a tarantato at the end of our concerts, really letting go on his back with his legs up in the air, as he keeps playing the very fast pizzica tarantata on his violin without missing a note! Really spectacular!"
— AB
“…..[Alessandra’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
“I met Alessandra early on in my drumming. I took her workshop in Vermont at a camp fair. I was in a transitional point in my life. I had been a musician of many other instruments, and still am, but the drums really shifted things in me.”
— Judy Piazza
"Learn the true art of Trance Dance, Tammorriata, Spider Dance, ancient song, Pizzica, Tamborello drum. This workshop invites you to Explore and unleash old, venemous energy from the pelvic floor and give rebirth to your body and spirit! Open to men and women."
— flyer from Las Vegas event
“If you have not seen Alessandra, you must! Passionate and intense, she is a force of nature… you will be ecstatically moved by the quality of Spirit that burns through her…and catches fire in you!”
— Ava, Priesting Priestess, The Goddess Temple of Orange County
"Belloni is a true visionary whose exquisite beauty and power breathe out of every piece on this CD. From medieval prayer chants to peasant celebrations and love ballads..."
— Amazon Reviewer
"I love making a musical connection between ancient and modern, and have been using what I call the TECHNO TARANTELLA BEAT created especially for this show by my violinist Joe Deninzon, who is a master of electric violin with effects."
— AB
"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's new release, Tarantata: Dance of the Ancient Spider."
— Sounds True
“The voice has the power to reach the divine spirit and the 6/8 rhythm creates a trance or altered state of mind during which I have visions and the person also receives the ‘vision’ or healing.”
—AB
“Alternating between high, eerie incantations and earthy folk melodies and playing a small museum’s worth of percussion instruments, they wove a sonic web not unlike another very popular vocal group, le Mystere des Voix Bulgares.”
— NY PRESS
