Historical etching showing people dancing and playing music as an antidote to a tarantula bite. Between the 15th and 17th centuries, Taranto, Italy, was hit by a dance craze after the rise of a malady characterized by the hysterical impulse to dance. This became known as tarantism. Some claimed tarantism was caused by the bite of the European wolf spider known as the tarantula (named after Taranto). The only cure was thought to be dancing off the venom.