To Be Like Gods: Dance in Ancient Maya Civilization (The Linda Schele Series in Maya and Pre-Columbian Studies)

Dance as an Image of Divinity, 224 Dance as an Image of Society, 226 Dance as an Image of the State, 228 Aesthetics as Image and Process, 230 Dance in Ancient Maya History, 231 Appendix: t516 "Dance" Expressions Ordered by Date, 235 Notes, 241 Bibliography, 247 Index, 271 vi contents To Be Like Gods √ the definition and interpretation of ancient maya dance 1 the definition and interpretation of ancient maya dance 9 Lanka gain effectiveness through a variety of performative strategies, including the manipulation of ritual frames, aesthetic distance, audience/participant focus, attitude, and commitment to the performance reality. A performance works not merely through the communication of symbolic meaning, but by the way in which it makes these symbols part of lived experience (Schieffelin 1985: 709). These studies bring the analysis of ritual into alignment with dance, which is widely recognized as being composed of interacting discursive and nondiscursive components: "Dance is not merely a sum of text and performance . . . but an artistic whole in which performance is not incidental to content, but intrinsic to it" (Carr 1998: 62). As a result of these investigations into the social context of language and ritual, scholars now often view performance from one of two perspectives. The fi rst is a narrow defi nition, referring to "symbolic" or "aesthetic" events which are "framed" or set off from ordinary activities, according to local defi nitions (see Bauman 1989: 265; Diamond 1996: 1). The second views performance in broader terms, as a dynamically embodied signifying act (Farnell and Graham 1998: 411). These practices emerge from what Mauss (1973: 70) calls "techniques of the body," referring to the culturally conditioned ways in which people come to know how to use their bodies to communicate (Farnell 1999: 343). Richard Schechner (1990: Fig. 2.1) shows how dance is situated within a continuum of performance, based on similarly broad defi nitions. This inclusive defi nition of performance, which I employ in this book, allows for a consideration of dance unhindered by preconceived notions of context or genre. This study adopts three major tenets of performance theory to interpret ancient Maya dance. First is a focus on the social effects or "emergent qualities" of these performances in addition to their meaning (see Bauman 1975: 302-305; Schieffelin 1985: 721). Second, the participants in performance are considered as the agents who effect this social transformation. In this context, agency, or self-mobilization, may be defi ned as "a mutual process of consideration whereby persons consider how the other persons will, can or could act in response to their own act in order to direct themselves to act in such a way that a joint or social act is accomplished" (Varela and Harré 1996: 323). Finally, 1.6. Naranjo Stela 30 showing the king impersonating the Jaguar Fire God and performing a sacrifi ce, from Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, vol. 2, pt. 2, p. 79, reproduced courtesy of the President and Fellows of Harvard College. 1. (top) Bonampak Room 1 mural, detail of robing scene on north wall. Illustration by Heather Hurst with Leonard Ashby. Image courtesy of the Bonampak Documentation Project, Mary Ellen Miller, © Bonampak Documentation Project. 2. (bottom) Bonampak Room 3 mural, detail of main dancers, east-south-west walls. Illustration Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 INTRODUCTION. The Definition and Interpretation of Ancient Maya Dance......Page 12 Definitions of Dance......Page 13 History of Maya Dance Studies......Page 14 Aesthetics and Embodiment......Page 20 Sources and Methods......Page 24 CHAPTER 1. The Textual Record of Dance......Page 26 Decipherment of Dance Texts......Page 27 The Contexts of T516 “Dance” Expressions......Page 29 Case Study 1: Dos Pilas......Page 31 Case Study 2: Yaxchilán......Page 39 Conclusions......Page 55 CHAPTER 2. The Iconography of Dance......Page 56 Identifying Dance Iconography......Page 58 Color Section......Page 66 Case Study: The Bonampak Murals......Page 80 Conclusions......Page 100 CHAPTER 3. Dance Poses and Gestures......Page 102 The Study of Body Positions in Maya Art......Page 103 Dance Poses......Page 105 Problematic Poses......Page 112 From Pose to Gesture: Reconstructing Dance Movement from Figural Images......Page 122 Case Study: Narrative and Avian Dances......Page 125 Conclusions......Page 130 CHAPTER 4. Dance on Classic Maya Ceramics (Matthew G. Looper, Dorie Reents-Budet and Ronald L. Bishop)......Page 132 Case Study 1: Dances of the Maize God......Page 133 Case Study 2: The Ik’-Style Corpus of Pictorial Cylinder Vessels......Page 151 Conclusions......Page 168 CHAPTER 5. The Architectural Settings of Dance......Page 170 Case Study 1: Dance Platforms at Copán and the Yucatán......Page 175 Case Study 2: Temple and Palace Dances in Campeche......Page 192 Conclusions......Page 205 CHAPTER 6. The Persistence of Maya Dance After European Contact......Page 208 Characteristics of Colonial and Modern Maya Dance......Page 210 Case Study: The Patzkar......Page 220 Conclusions......Page 240 EPILOGUE. Dance as an Image of Civilization......Page 242 Dance as an Image of Divinity......Page 243 Dance as an Image of Society......Page 245 Dance as an Image of the State......Page 247 Aesthetics as Image and Process......Page 249 Dance in Ancient Maya History......Page 250 APPENDIX. T516 “Dance” Expressions Ordered by Date......Page 254 Notes......Page 260 Bibliography......Page 266 Index......Page 290 Winner, Association for Latin American Art Book Award, 2010 The Maya of Mexico and Central America have performed ritual dances for more than two millennia. Dance is still an essential component of religious experience today, serving as a medium for communication with the supernatural. During the Late Classic period (AD 600-900), dance assumed additional importance in Maya royal courts through an association with feasting and gift exchange. These performances allowed rulers to forge political alliances and demonstrate their control of trade in luxury goods. The aesthetic values embodied in these performances were closely tied to Maya social structure, expressing notions of gender, rank, and status. Dance was thus not simply entertainment, but was fundamental to ancient Maya notions of social, religious, and political identity. Using an innovative interdisciplinary approach, Matthew Looper examines several types of data relevant to ancient Maya dance, including hieroglyphic texts, pictorial images in diverse media, and architecture. A series of case studies illustrates the application of various analytical methodologies and offers interpretations of the form, meaning, and social significance of dance performance. Although the nuances of movement in Maya dances are impossible to recover, Looper demonstrates that a wealth of other data survives which allows a detailed consideration of many aspects of performance. To Be Like Gods thus provides the first comprehensive interpretation of the role of dance in ancient Maya society and also serves as a model for comparative research in the archaeology of performance. The Maya of Mexico and Central America have performed ritual dances for more than two millennia. Dance is still an essential component of religious experience today, serving as a medium for communication with the supernatural. During the Late Classic period (AD 600–900), dance assumed additional importance in Maya royal courts through an association with feasting and gift exchange. These performances allowed rulers to forge political alliances and demonstrate their control of trade in luxury goods. The aesthetic values embodied in these performances were closely tied to Maya social structure, expressing notions of gender, rank, and status. Dance was thus not simply entertainment, but was fundamental to ancient Maya notions of social, religious, and political identity.
Using an innovative interdisciplinary approach, Matthew Looper examines several types of data relevant to ancient Maya dance, including hieroglyphic texts, pictorial images in diverse media, and architecture. A series of case studies illustrates the application of various analytical methodologies and offers interpretations of the form, meaning, and social significance of dance performance. Although the nuances of movement in Maya dances are impossible to recover, Looper demonstrates that a wealth of other data survives which allows a detailed consideration of many aspects of performance. To Be Like Gods thus provides the first comprehensive interpretation of the role of dance in ancient Maya society and also serves as a model for comparative research in the archaeology of performance. "Using an interdisciplinary approach, Matthew Looper examines several types of data relevant to ancient Maya dance, including hieroglyphic texts, pictorial images in diverse media, and architecture. A series of case studies illustrates the application of various analytical methodologies and offers interpretations of the form, meaning, and social significance of dance performance. Although the nuances of movement in Maya dances are impossible to recover, Looper demonstrates that a wealth of other data survives that allows a detailed consideration of many aspects of performance. To Be Like Gods thus provides the first comprehensive interpretation of the role of dance in ancient Maya society and also serves as a model for comparative research in the archaeology of performance."--Jacket