text: what people were said to have jumped into after being bitten by a tarantula?   you refer to a dance, which has become myth because of the early tourist trade to southern italy  for most english travellers, the grand tour ended in the city of naples, or in the underworlds of herculanæum and pompeii. only those who ventured south-eastwards to apulia – where the tombs and temples of magna grecia could be raided for coins, vases and other relics – were witness to the 'dancing cure' that was a common sight in this remote corner of italy.   henry turnbull, whose report was read before the philosophical society of edinburgh in 1771, found that the dance of the tarantella was relied on for various disorders throughout the region: "as there is scarce a disease to which the body is subject, but what they think proceeds from the bite of the tarantula, this method of cure is practised, and with so much success that it seems miraculous, and is esteemed the effect of the music by prejudiced minds."  the traditional dance known as the tarantella (small tarantula) is thought to have been an early remedy for a tarantula bite (you dance until you sweat the poison out of your system). performed not as a solo, but as a community activity, it usually starts with dancers holding hands in a circle and sliding their feet sideways to rotate the circle. variations of this dance can be found in at least seven different regions of southern italy, where it is most common. danced to tambourines played by the dancers, the tarantella is a lively, improvised aerobic dance for men and women alike. the tempo is either 3/8 or 6/8 and can quicken depending on the mood or alcoholic content of the musicians.  men and women perform the same step for the tarantella, which requires that you constantly switch feet. with both arms outstretched above you, hop twice on one foot with your other leg reaching forward. as you hop, tap the ground with your pointed, extended foot.  a complete circle is frequently formed around an individual or couple dancing this step.