74
Popular Culture Review
Jose Antonio Maravall and Jose Maria Diez Borque argue that the theater
promoted traditional values and that it acted as propaganda for the elites; while
many others, particularly in the American academy, saw the theater as a
transgressive spectacle that sided with women and other oppressed groups for
which the theater provided a space to confront the norms of society.
In order to please a very diverse audience, the theatrical spectacle offered a
melange of several pieces with different tones and themes. The main feature was
a serious play that was accompanied by several comic shorter pieces, one of
which was a dance performance. In this essay I analyze how dances relate to the
ideology and conventions of the main play, using as an example three dances by
Agustin Moreto: Baile del Conde Claros {Dance o f Count Claros), Baile de
Lucrecia y Tarquino {Dance o f Lucretia and Tarquin), and Baile entremesado
del Rey Rodrigo y La Cava {Interlude-like Dance o f King Rodrigo and La
Cava).
A dance was a brief show in which the actors presented a very simple
comical story that always included a dance. Gaspar Merino Quijano explains
that a dance frequently consisted of four elements: reciting, music, singing, and
dancing (51). The dancing part could be a traditional dance or a dance
specifically choreographed for the event. The popularity of the dances was such
that when they were prohibited, the clientele of the theaters decreased
dramatically, to the point that some companies required that contracts include a
special clause specifying that they receive compensation if the dances were
forbidden at any period by the authorities. Of all the parts that comprised a
theatrical event, the dance was the one that concerned moralists the most.
The variety presented in a spectacle by the inclusion of different genres and
tones assured the success of the spectacle and increased the audience by
providing something for everyone. The theatrical events required variety to
achieve economic success, therefore the co-presence of a dance and a long
serious piece responds not only to ideological and artistic reasons but also (and
maybe mainly) to economic ones. John J. Allen studied the accounting and
organization of the public theaters of Madrid and concluded that even though all
classes were present in the audience and all paid different prices for their seat,
the only ones that had a significant influence were on one side the
administration and very high nobility and on the other the lower masses. The
Consejo de Castilla censored the content of the plays and the guilds and the
town hall managed the business, but the money came primarily from the
cheapest tickets, that is, those sold to the lowest classes. Although the upper and
middle classes paid significantly more money for their seats, in total, the biggest
contributors were the lower classes, who were more numerous.
Now that the importance of the economical factor has been established, I
turn now to the close analysis of three dances to show their relations with the
long serious plays. Whether one agrees with the interpretation of theater as
promoter of traditional Catholic and aristocratic values, or on the contrary, sees
it as the voice of rebellion against those same values, what cannot be negated is