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Artship Ensemble undertook a research into proportions of the human body as the starting point for move-ment for Tarantella, Tarantula.

Catrina Kaupat and Tom Franco,
core members.
Photograph by Matt Haber
Graphics by Craig Coss

The text below are direct copies from the exhibition

Drawings of the proportions of human bodies
from late Renaissance architectural treaties;
part of the research for Tarantella, Tarantula.

Drawings by Nathaniel A. Bolton, made continuously at the incubating and rehearsal process for the Tarantella, Tarantula.

Old map of Italy featuring, lower left,
Cave of Sybil of Cuma, near Naples.
Top right, Tarantella woman perform-
ing her rite.

An interior of an ancient Egyptian pyramid, possibly related to the architecture of the caves of the Sybil at Cuma.

Mardi Van Winkle, core member of Artship Dance/Theater, enacting a Tarantella woman
in a proportional diagram.
Photograph by Matt Haber
Graphics by Craig Coss

Athanasius Kircher’s map of Apulia, with images of tarantulas and the musical notation of a curative melody. Early 17th century.

A characteristic dwelling, typical of Apulia, land of Tarantella, called Trulo. Part of the Fano international summer school for the arts run by Slobodan Dan Paich.

Salvatore Rizzo, a local craftsman and com-munity leader, one of the mentors of  Slobodan Dan Paich, using his body as a source of pro-portion for making a basket.

Core members of Artship Dance/Theater,
Catrina Kaupat and Tom Franco, in the
choreographic research, based on the
proportions of the body, for Tarantella Tarantula.

Medieval mnemonic method for remem-
Bering musical notation, based on the palm
of a human hand.

African numerical system using fingers, arms,
and the parts of the body for indicating
numerical value.

Hand as a simple device for finding one’s way
at sea, used by mariners in ancient times.

Bas-relief from ancient Rome depicting Tarantella-like dance with clear references to Egyptian deities and the Greek god Dionysius.

A fresco from Pompeii depicting a Tarantella- like healer, watching over a woman resting after an exhausting process of dance therapy.

Images from Mediterranean cultures, which inspired the movements and gestures in Tarantella, Tarantula.

Photographs by Dennis Letbetter of Artship Dance/Theater core members performing elements of Tarantella, Tarantula at SomArts March 2006.

Two drawings by Augusto Ferriols, a founding member of Artship.

Performers at Lafayette Park in San Francisco with egg-shaped sculptures designed by Slobodan Dan Paich and co-create with Tom Franco. Artship Dance/Theater collaborated with San Francisco Neighborhoods Park Council in creating this performance piece, entitled Coexistence, incorporating early seeds of the Tarantella, Tarantula performance.

Tom Franco and Catrina Kaupat performing in the tree at Artship Dance/Theater’s Coexistence project in Lafayette Park, San Francisco in 2005

Net made by Evelyn Ross for Artship Dance/Theater, here seen in one of the rehearsals used by core members of
Artship Dance/Theater.

Photo montage of Tom Franco, executing
a movement from the Tarantella, Tarantula in the doorway of one of the ancient buildings in Apulia, the land of Tarantella.
Photomontage by Craig Coss

Three alchemical diagrams, from background research for Tarantella, Tarantula.

Tom Franco against a sculpture of an ancient Greek sunken ship. Photomontage by TheArthur Wright.

Historical representations of dancing women, possibly related to Tarantella, from background research for Tarantella, Tarantula.

Artship core members performing an element of Tarantella, Tarantula
Photograph by Matt Haber

Five images which were the generating force in the inception of the Tarantella, Tarantula.

Spring Moon, a retelling of the Persephone myth, by Artship Dance/Theater, for the 2005 reopening of North Beach Pool in San Fran-cisco, enacting elements used in Tarantella, Tarantula.

Four small installations of dried oranges inspired by Tarantella woman preserving and drying fruit, vegetables, insects, and animal parts for their ceremonies of healing,
by Slobodan Dan Paich

Series of images from the Ellis Island Collect-ion of Italian Immigrants and associated papers, at the time of the story for Tarantella, Tarantula.