With the emergence of groups dedicated to folklore, an elaboration and aestheticising took place of what came to be seen as the too simple and primitive steps of the traditional Tarantella.

What was originally a communal event came to be a dance performed before an audience. Former dancers thus became the audience and the elderly, the very people, who more than anyone could have ensured the continuation of the tradition, were excluded from the dance.

Within a few years the traditional style of choreography died out.
Dancing the original Tarantella came to be considered as an expression of backwardness. It is only in the poorest and most tucked away parts of the Basilicata, Calabria and the Vesuvian area that are geographically, socially as well as economically isolated that the people have preserved their tradition.
In Calabria it is even strongly influenced by the local Mafia, the 'Ndragheta.