IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BOLERO: NEW CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THEATRICAL SPANISH DANCE HISTORY IN THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Abstract

In the late eighteenth century, the choreographic, musical and social phenomenon called bolero was the culmination of a process that, obviously, had antecedents within the Spanish scenic, academic and social dance panorama since centuries before.

On the illustrated theater, from «bailar a lo majo» to the performance of Seguidillas boleras with full integration into the style, with the intermediate step characterized by stylistic labeling, the evolutionary process that took place on the scene was decisive for the emancipation of dance and its emergence as an independent activity of dramatic works.

From the transdisciplinary and 'emic' perspective, it is intended to provide a new historical reading on its specific appearance and nature, based on the contrast, collation and interrelation of documentary sources until now without using, and that will complete the panorama of the Spanish Theatrical Dance research, along with a critical approach to the available testimonies.

All this serving the purpose of beginning the necessary historiographic review and holistic treatment of the theatrical bolero, which was the national style or Spanish Theatrical Dance par excellence, today about to disappear.