The Importance of the Dance in the Spanish Comedia Before the Eighteenth Century

Lima.—Spanish Cultural Index, No. 144 (Jan. 1, 1958), 97. Lucas Fernández. Auto de la Pasión. Presented at the Teatro Infanta Beatriz, Madrid, by the Little Theater group, and produced by Miguel Narros.—Spanish Cultural Index, No. 148 (May 1, 1958), 475. Fernando de Rojas. La Celestina. At the Sarah Bernhardt Theater, Paris, by the Theater of the Nations, with the same version and cast as employed by Luis Esobar at the Teatro Eslava, Madrid.—Spanish Cultural Index, No. 148 (May 1, 1958), 514. Lope de Rueda. Pasos. Performed during Spanish Drama Week in Paris, produced by Manuel Montoro and directed by Josita Hernán.—Spanish Cultural Index, No. 148 (May 1, 1958), 515. José de Valdivielso. El hospital de los locos. Produced by Julio Vier, with choir, and presented in the Church porch, Sacred Heart Basilica, Buenos Aires.—Spanish Cultural Index , No. 148 (May 1, 1958), 524. Lope de Vega. Los locos de Valencia. In Barcelona, at the Teatro Griego de Montjuich , in the Schroeder version, "que actualmente se representa, con enorme resonancia , en Alemania."—ABC, July 10, 1958. Lope de Vega. El perro del hortelano. At the Odeon Theater, Buenos Aires, in an adaptation by Eduardo Blanco Amor.—E.S., "Lope de Vega, Shakespeare," Sur, No. 252 (May-June, 1958), 95-97. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DANCE IN THE SPANISH COMEDIA BEFORE THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY by T. B. Barclay, University of Toronto Popular association of the words "Spanish" and "dance" is not unjustified. Such a conclusion is at least partially borne out by a study of the extent to which Spanish dramatists up to the beginning of the eighteenth century incorporated descriptive dance passages or wrote lyrics specifically to accompany dancing in their works. Evidence exists to support the assumption that in so doing, such writers were merely following a cultural tradition. Beyond the earliest written records, there exist pictorial representations that suggest that the dance was, from the beginning, an integral part of peninsular life. The cave paintings of Cogul1 or Valltorta2 furnish virtually as many scenes of dancing as records of the essential skill of the hunter. As the civilizations of the peninsula succeeded one another, dance continued to be an important component of the social and religious life of the people. Its place among the Celt-Iberians, for example, was commented upon by Strabo.3 Excavations of Carthaginian and Greek settlements4 in Spain have yielded evidence of the importance of dance in their cultures. In Roman Spain, the dance became a spectacle and, as such, won public favour comparable to that it achieved in the Spanish plays of the seventeenth century. Martial's epigrams on the subject5 suggest that it was during this period, too, that the entertainment supplied by dancers assumed that equivocal nature that was to move mediaeval churchmen to condemn it as immoral.6 The popularity of the zéjel, meant to be danced as well as sung,7 shows that adherence to expressive, rhythmic movement did not diminish during the period of Arabic control of the peninsula. Mediaeval Spanish Christian documents and art indicate repeatedly that that one of the principal skills upon which a juglar relied to hold the attention of his audience was that of dancing. The theatre in Spain has never excelled in closet drama, nor in a drama appealing only to the taste of a cultured minority. Its essence is of the people, and its characters, though often disguised in the garb of mythological or exotic personages, have always been innately Spanish in motivation and feeling. It was, therefore, natural that Spanish writers, seeking to present on the stage a faithful copy of the national character, 21 should include the dances which were so typical an expression of it. This tendency is noticeable from the earliest examples of the Spanish theatre, for, although the plays of Juan del Encina, for example, were intended for a select audience, the shepherds in his pastoral plays not only speak roughly, but dance boisterously. Both traits are equally indicative of Encina's grasp of appropriate detail in sketching character. As the Spanish theatre developed and increasing stress was laid on plot development and dramatic action, in contrast to what...