About Alessandra:
The only woman in the U.S. and in Italy with 45 years of performing and teaching the ancient healing tradition of Tarantella in folk dances and percussion combined with singing. Alessandra Belloni is also the proud receipient of the 2026 Heritage Fellowship award from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts for life time achievement as a Folk Arts Master.
- Artistic Director, Founder, and Lead Performer of music, theater, and dance ensemble I GIULLARI DI PIAZZA
- Artist in Residence at New York City's Cathedral of St. John the Divine
- A REMO Signature Series Artist with her own line of Italian tambourines
- Author of the book/DVD Rhythm is the Cure and Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna
LEARN MORE ABOUT ALESSANDRA HERE
Alessandra Belloni will air on State of the Arts this week!
The segment Aired on April 22nd on NJ PBS at 8:30pm, with additional broadcasts throughout the week.
WATCH HERE!
https://www.pbs.org/video/state-of-the-arts-rhythm-roots-ucoq5s/
This special 8-minute segment features my work as Master Folk Artist, and as recipient of the special NJ FOLK ARTS FELLOWSHIP in 2026!
This program is directed by a brilliant director, Nate Reninga, and produced by Jess Dotson.
The director filmed the show with my Italian Folk Music group I GIULLARI DI PIAZZA at the Bronx Heritage Hall, my healing dance and percussion workshop on the tarantella at CMDE in New Jersey, and a special interview at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where we are artist in residence.
Help Preserve 45 Years of Italian Folk Culture on Film
From Greenwich Village to the Cathedral
For 45 years, I Giullari di Piazza has brought the ancient music, dance, theater, ritual, and traditions of Southern Italy from village piazzas to the heart of New York City.
Now we are working to preserve that extraordinary history on film.
From Greenwich Village to the Cathedral is a feature-length documentary chronicling the journey of I Giullari di Piazza, America’s only professional Italian folk music, theater, and dance company, founded in 1980 by Alessandra Belloni and John La Barbera.
It is more than the story of a performing company.
It is the story of two artists who fell in love, built a life through music, and devoted 45 years to keeping traditions alive that might otherwise disappear.
A Living Cultural Legacy
Alessandra arrived in New York from Rome in 1971 and became part of the extraordinary artistic world of Greenwich Village. John, a New York-born musician from the Lower East Side, had traveled throughout Italy studying classical guitar and discovering Southern Italian folk traditions rooted in ritual, devotion, labor, community, and survival.
They met at Caffè Dante on MacDougal Street in the late 1970s.
Music and love brought them together.
In 1980, they founded I Giullari di Piazza — The Jesters of the Square.
What began in Greenwich Village grew into a lifelong artistic journey spanning New York City, Southern Italy, theaters, universities, festivals, sacred spaces, classrooms, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Why This Film Matters Now
Our archive contains decades of rare photographs, performance footage, Super-8 film, VHS recordings, field recordings, music, scores, posters, and documents collected throughout Italy and the United States.
Much of this material has never been seen publicly and exists nowhere else.
Some of the people who helped create this history are no longer with us. Others still carry stories that need to be recorded while we have the opportunity to hear them in their own voices.
This documentary is an act of cultural preservation.
The film will travel through three interconnected worlds: the birth of I Giullari in Greenwich Village, the company’s work at the Cathedral beginning in the 1990s, and decades of field research throughout Campania, Calabria, Puglia, and Sicily.
It will also include remarkable archival discoveries, including rare footage from Alessandra’s 1982 film TRICK OR TREAT, created for Italian RAI television during the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade and never before shown in the United States.
The Film Is Already Underway
This is not simply an idea. Production has begun.
Interviews have already been filmed with Professor Luigi Ballerini, I Giullari’s first mentor and founding board chairman, and actor Edoardo Ballerini, whose career began with I Giullari when he was eleven years old.
Archival tapes are being digitized, and the production team is in place.
The documentary is directed by Elisa Mereghetti, an anthropologist and documentary filmmaker who was herself a musician and actress with I Giullari in the 1980s.
We are also honored to work with renowned producer Ornella Fado, host and producer of Brindiamo!, and OK Productions.
Our next major filming period is planned for late October through mid-November 2026, with interviews and production throughout New York City.
We Need Your Help
Our total production budget is approximately $50,000, and thanks to generous early supporters, $20,000 has already been raised.
Our immediate goal is to raise $7,000 in matching funds to help move the documentary into its next stage of production.
Your contribution will help support:
Professional filming and camera crews
Interviews with artists, mentors, collaborators, and cultural figures
Preservation and preparation of rare archival materials
Editing and post-production
Preparation for film festivals, screenings, educational institutions, and public audiences
Donors who contribute $100 or more will be recognized in the film’s list of sponsors.
Help Us Carry This Story Forward
Our hope is to premiere From Greenwich Village to the Cathedral at NYU Casa Italiana, bring it to cultural institutions throughout the United States, submit it to film festivals, and work toward reaching a future PBS audience.
For 45 years, we have carried these traditions forward through music, dance, theater, teaching, research, and ritual.
Now we are asking you to help us preserve them for the next generation.
Please Support the Documentary
Every contribution — $25, $50, $100, $500, or more — brings us closer to completing this film.
[Click here to contribute through GoFundMe.]
With love and gratitude,
Alessandra Belloni
Artistic Director & Co-Founder
I Giullari di Piazza
Italian Folk Music, Theater & Dance
Artist in Residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NYC
Please note: We are currently aware of an issue affecting the GoFundMe “Donate” button and have contacted GoFundMe technical support. We hope it will be resolved shortly and deeply appreciate your patience and support.
Annual Rhythm is the Cure Retreat in Hawaii
RHYTHM IS THE CURE
Jan 25 - Feb 1, 2027
Healing Dance and Percussion Workshop
from Southern Italy in Hawaii!
Healing Dance and Percussion Workshop
from Southern Italy from Hawaii!
More Information Click HERE
Rhythm is the Cure is an 8-day, intensive healing workshop featuring Southern Italian ritual music and dance used as therapy for centuries throughout the Mediterranean. This new workshop will blend the Southern Italian musical traditions of the Black Madonna, and the Divine Feminine. Every morning drumming sessions will be held on the beach.
For questions about registration, please contact us!
CONTACT:
In collaboration with
FLEE
Book / LP Presentation
Tarantismo – Odyssey of an Italian Ritual
Genealogy of a cure beyond its postmodern simulacrum
Tuesday September 29 @ 6:30 EST
Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo
24 W 12th ST, NY
A lecture by
Alan Marzo-Strani, FLEE Project
Co-author of
Tarantismo: Odyssey of an Italian Ritual
Followed by a conversation with
Alessandra Belloni, Singer, percussionist, dancer, teacher, author
Moderated by
Emilio Tamburini, Ph.D. Candidate, NYU
The fruit of a transdisciplinary research project bringing together historians, ethnomusicologists, photographers, and artists, Tarantismo: Odyssey of an Italian Ritual traces the long genealogy of a trance ritual born in the peasant world of Salento, in which women bitten by the mythical tarantula spider were healed through days of music, dance, and trance, often mobilizing the image of Saint Paul. From its medieval and early modern origins as a contested object of medical and religious debate, through its gradual Christianization around the chapel of Galatina, to its postwar rediscovery by ethnomusicologists, photographers, and filmmakers who saw in it a mirror of Southern Italy’s poverty and subaltern culture, the book follows tarantismo as it is continually reinvented across centuries. This new edition extends that inquiry into the present, examining how a rite once feared as illness has become a heritage industry and a festival phenomenon, and how its grammar of ecstatic music and dance resurfaces today in the search for sacred experience within postmodern, urban, and global forms of ritual life. The book comes with a companion LP featuring rare and previously unreleased field recordings of tarantismo healing sessions made in the 1950s by ethnomusicologists Diego Carpitella and Alan Lomax, paired with new interpretations of these archives by contemporary artists and musicians.
The book and LP are available here.
About the Author:
Alan Marzo-Strani is an artist and researcher whose satirical work moves between sculpture and moving image. His films and installations have been presented internationally, including at Casa Castex (Buenos Aires), MAAT (Lisbon), and the Sharjah Art Foundation. A former resident of the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, he writes regularly for Les Cahiers du Centre Pompidou and releases music on labels including Bordello a Parigi and Maledetta Discoteca. He is co-founder of FLEE and co-author of Tarantismo: Odyssey of an Italian Ritual.
About FLEE:
FLEE is an art collective founded by Alan Marzo-Strani, Olivier Duport, and Carl Åhnebrink. It operates as an independent publisher, record label, and curatorial platform. By shedding light on subjectively selected sound and cultural phenomena, FLEE interacts with contemporary artistic approaches. The transdisciplinary initiative explores and emphasizes the contours of globalization from both historical and critical perspectives. Its installations, commissioned works, and objects have been featured at various institutions worldwide, including Jeu de Paume (Paris), Offprint (Tate, London), and more.
About Alessandra Belloni:
Alessandra Belloni is an award‑winning singer, percussionist, dancer, and actress whose work preserves and reimagines Southern Italian folk traditions. A 2026 Heritage Fellowship recipient from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, she is internationally known for her performances, teaching, and research on healing rituals connected to the Black Madonna. Born in Rome and based in New York, she is Artistic Director and co‑founder of I Giullari di Piazza, the resident Italian music and dance ensemble at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Belloni tours worldwide, leads workshops, and continues to shape contemporary folk performance through her recordings, books, and acclaimed stage productions.
Study ONLINE with Alessandra!
Internationally renowned singer, percussionist, teacher, author Alessandra Belloni - Remo Artist proudly announces two self-paced courses on the Black Madonna:
“The Voyage of the Black Madonna Virtual Pilgrimage to the Sacred Sites of the Black Madonna in Southern Italy.”
A Virtual Pilgrimage
Immerse Yourself in the Healing Musical Traditions of the Black Madonnas of Southern Italy!
RHYTHM IS THE CURE ONLINE SOUTHERN ITALIAN AND FRAME DRUMS AND TAMBOURINE Zoom Classes
Starting in September
Zoom: Percussion Classes
We will trace this style of percussion through the ages, from its ancient Greek roots, through the Italian Middle Ages and Renaissance, and its relevance today. We will study and practice basic tarantella tamburello techniques: holding the drum with emphasis on arm movement, hand technique for triplets, and the 6/8 and 4/4 rhythms.
Class sessions will be 12 lessons divided in 4 parts, will be held on Zoom weekly (90 minutes) and will be recorded.
BEGINNERS MONDAYS AT 6:00PM EST
INTERMEDIATE WEDNESDAY AT 6:00PM EST
ADVANCED THURSDAY AT 6:00 pm EST
COST $60 PER CLASS, $200 FOR 4 CLASSES
REGISTRATION VENMO Alessandra Belloni
zelle 646 322-4637
paypal blackmadonnacenter@gmail.com
4 classes: $200 https://buy.stripe.com/14AeVe2IW0ke3Wobxi83C0n
1 class: $60 https://buy.stripe.com/6oUdRa0AOaYS8cE30M83C0o
Zoom: Singing Classes: HEALING WOMEN CHANTS & SACRED SONGS FOR THE BLACK MADONNA, with guitarist composer John La Barbera
2 FRIDAYS PER MONTH
Each lesson will feature 2 songs from a specific southern Italian region: Campania, Calabria, Puglia, Sicily, and Lazio. We will describe the history, myths and legends that are part of this rich ancient folk tradition. You will receive lyric sheets with translations, and sheet music if available.
Class sessions will be 8 lessons and will be held on Zoom twice a month, for 90-120 minutes.
Classes will be recorded on zoom . registration, $60 per class, please register for 2 classes
venmo Alessandra Belloni
paypal blackmadonnacenter@gmail.com
The World Needs Healing !
Join Internationally renowned singer, percussionist,
teacher, author Alessandra Belloni -
Remo Artist & the BLACK MADONNA CENTER
In this Special Online Series,
Now Available Again on TEACHABLE:
THE VOYAGE OF THE BLACK MADONNA
A VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE TO THE SACRED SITES
OF THE BLACK MADONNA IN SOUTHERN ITALY
Written, narrated, produced & directed by Alessandra Belloni
Copyright (c) Alessandra Belloni 1991-2019-2021
An immersive journey into the musical & healing traditions of Southern Italy & the Black Madonnas' sacred sites in the regions of CAMPANIA, SICILY, CALABRIA, BASILICATA
Including: 8 Episodes - 3 hours of video series & lectures,
plus lyrics to the sacred chants in honor of the Black Madonna
Based on Alessandra's book Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna
published by Inner Traditions (2019), with preface by
best-selling author Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox
Happy to share the book is still a best-seller on Amazon, under Dance!
Click HERE to register and download THE VIDEO SERIES
as an online course through TEACHABLE for only $200
Also available on Teachable: Alessandra's Beginning Southern Italian Fram Drum in Honor of the Black Madonna. Normally sold separately for $150, Get both courses as a Bundle for $300 !
MORE INFORMATION ON BOTH COURSES HERE!
Read About Alessandra's Best Selling Book:
THE HEALING JOURNEYS WITH THE BLACK MADONNA
Published by Inner Traditions, with a foreword by bestselling author Matthew Fox, Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna is rated 5 stars on Amazon and has been No. 1 best selling in new releases under the categories of "Folk Dancing" and "Suggested Gifts"!
Sharing her more than 35 years of research and fieldwork at sacred sites around the world, Belloni takes you on a mystical pilgrimage of empowerment, initiation, and transformation with the Black Madonna.
An experiential guide to the ancient healing rituals of the Black Madonna:
• Reveals the practices and rites of the still-living cult of the Black Madonna in the remote villages of Southern Italy, including the healing rites of the tarantella dance
• Details shamanic chants, rhythms, and songs and how to use them for self-healing, transformation, and recovery from abuse, trauma, depression, and addiction
• Explores the many sacred sites of the Madonnas and connects them to other Great Goddesses, such as Isis, Aphrodite, Cybeles, and the Orisha Yemanja and Ochun
• Includes access to 12 audio tracks
Order now!
Read Alessandra Belloni's Best Selling Book Healing Journey's with the Black Madonna TODAY!
NOW AVAILABLE IN FRENCH!
Alessandra is proud to announce that her book HEALING JOURNEYS WITH THE BLACK MADONNA published by Inner Traditions Bear & company (a best seller on Amazon under dance) is now being published in France, translated into French by a great Publisher, LE DUC with preface by brilliant writer and teacher Marianne Grasselli.
LA VIERGE NOIRE (The Black Virgin) Rituels de Guerison de la Grande diesse.
https://espritdefemme.ch/les-vierges-noires/
https://www.editionsleduc.com/produit/2577/9791028522278/voies-de-guerison-avec-la-vierge-noire?fbclid=IwAR3T42PStTqqwwAr8_zpxWM5Etj9dPp6VQv1DZL_pY8-PzxMrbxi1Y09MFk
WE NEED YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT
Donate to Our Campaign to Preserve Our Legacy for Future Generations
CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT ALESSANDRA BELLONI AND THE BLACK MADONNA CENTER FUNDRAISER TODAY
(All Donations are Tax Deductible)
YOUR FUNDING WILL HELP US TO:
• Preserve 45 years of photos, videos, music scores, folk operas, promotional posters, program playbills, and past recordings from vinyl, cassettes, and CDs, including solo works by individual members of I Giullari di Piazza — into a digitized Master Archive;\
• Present and produce new live performances and complete ongoing projects;
• Fund educational pilgrimages and workshops in Campania, Sicily, and beyond;
• Pay adequate artists’ fees, technical crew, and administrative costs for a cast of 5 to 12 artists (depending on the scope of productions); and professional marketing personnel; and . . . .
• Our Magnum Opus: Establish officially the very first Folkloric School & Black Madonna Mystery School. To perpetuate the legacy of our deep studies, wisdom, heritage, and traditions of the Black Madonna, the school will offer TEACHER TRAINING: An intensive 3- to 6-month program with final certification, allowing the candidates to share the legacy of Alessandra’s work and passion.
OUR GOAL
We need to raise $7,000 by the end of 2025 so that we can continue this important work, to keep our programs alive and thriving, and to continue to inspire and heal future generations.
Please give what you can and share this campaign widely. Together, we can keep the voice of the Black Madonna and Southern Italy's healing dances and folk traditions alive.
CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE via GoFundMe
I Giullari di Piazza is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.
Please consider keeping art alive by supporting I GIULLARI DI PIAZZA a non profit organization under the 501 c-3 code by clicking on the gofund me campaign above!
