Transform oneself in a divinity
During a performance, the dancer becomes the avatar of the divinity they homage (Looper 2009: 226). This transformation is caused by a plethora of phenomena all occurring at the same time. The dance starts with a shamanic ritual accompanied by the usage of hallucinogenic drugs. A bloodletting then triggers the ceremony. The performers enter the scene wearing the costume and attributes of the god they wish to represent and start dancing (Taube 2009: 45). In those instants, the fragrance of burning offering combined with the effect of the drugs and the costumes worn allowed for the mythical forces to manifest.
Those performances are a shared feature among all Mesoamerican societies, and many depictions can be found throughout Central America. By showing their devoutness to their deities, those ceremonies allowed for the natural order to be maintained (Looper 2009: 226).
Description of a whole society and expression of social status
Archaeologists have unearthed lintels representing diverse scenes such as hunts, alliances, monster slayers or ballgames (Looper 2009: 226). As mentioned above, those activities are only now classified as dances due to the glyph for ‘dance’ being carved on it44.
Ball games and hunting may be overlooked and respectively seen as entertainment and as survival skills. However, their realisation in conjunction with performances poses questions on their actual significance.
BALL GAMES:
This ancient game was played using a rubber ball with a size ranging from a softball to a soccer ball. The goal was to propel it through the air and make it traverse a stone ring attached to the other half of the court. Players were forbidden to use their hand and worn protection attached to various part of their body (Blümchen 2019: 232).
44
I do not know how frequently the glyph was represented. I, therefore, cannot state whether it was systematic or occasional. Nonetheless, Looper considered those activities in his book and modern usage associates hunting and dancing (as discussed below).
49 In addition to their entertaining value, ball games held cosmological and structural functions, and, therefore, played an integral role in political, religious, and social life (Morse 1992: 36). Various elements attest of this; firstly, hachas (one of the protections) with depictions of animals or skulls on them are often retrieved from archaeological excavations. Secondly, war prisoners, warriors, creation myths, and transmission of power have been carved on various ballcourts (de Montmollin 1997: 38). Thirdly, and lastly, the lore associated with ball games (Morse 1992: 36). A story from the “Popol Vuh” describes the life of the Hero Twins. “As the tale goes, the Maize Gods were avid ballplayers who were killed and buried on the court by the Lords of Xibalba (the Underworld) for bothering them with the noise of the game. The head of one of the Maize gods was hung in a tree in the Underworld, and as a daughter of the Lord of the Underworld passes, the head spit into her palm, miraculously impregnating her. The daughter bore twin sons, the Hero Twins, who avenge their father and uncle’s deaths by resurrecting them on the ballcourt. The Hero Twins go on to survive the ordeals of Hell presented to them by the death gods, while the reborn Maize Gods remain on the ballcourt for humans to honour”.
What we can infer from this short explanation is that ball games were never considered a mundane activity. Quite the contrary, playing such games was a necessity meant to please their gods. These games were inevitably linked to the Maize God, one of the principal deities of their pantheon, and holding ceremonial ball games meant to replicate and perpetuate their history. Moreover, in addition to the game itself, sacrifices were held, with prestigious captives offered to the gods. Lastly, a ballgame was sometimes the occasion for two cities to settle their disputes.
HUNTS:
To assure the sustainability of their population and to reaffirm divine permission, performances were often held before and after a hunt. The Loojil Ts’oon’s ritual is a prime example of such things; various tasks, such as the cleansing of the jaws or carrying the corpse of the animal to a nearby hill, were required. If held right, this ritual would allow the animal to be brought back to life by the gods, ensuring stability and continuity. Santos-Fita et al. have demonstrated that this practice is still respected in modern Maya communities (2015: 3)45.
45
This suggests that if we consider the Maya society under specific aspects, a relative permanency can be attested between the Classical Period and our current era.
Next, sacrificial dances assume various roles, but its most widespread use was to honour the spirit of the hunt; Landa, for instance, describes performances where both men and women danced with painted animal skulls alongside incenses and offering to the hunting gods (Tozzer 1941: 45 in Looper 2009: 192).
Looper argues that dancing also reaffirmed gender roles (2009: 226). Males were usually depicted in positions where their strength was celebrated. For example, men are traditionally portrayed while lifting a heavy object or in the middle of a dynamic movement. On the contrary, a woman will either be represented empty-handed or carrying a cradle bundle46. Women are also frequently depicted with their tunic lifted. This position is, according to Looper, a reminder of their role in the textile manufacture (Looper 2009: 226).
To conclude, dancing was highly intertwined with Maya rituality. As discussed above, Maya homage their gods by disguising their performers as deities and by respecting regulated rituals47. These rituals have taken a variety of forms, depending on the deity they want to please. A ball game is just one of those arrangements; it celebrated the Maize God rebirth but also the foundation of alliances or the accession to power of a new king. By acting out ceremonies including every member of their society, the entirety of their nation was represented, and, either maintained in its current state or gathered to celebrate a change (Looper 2009: 228).
Consolidation of the state authority
As explained in point 2, dancing feasts were often held to celebrate the enthronisation of a new king or the building of alliances. In some instances, the ruler himself participated in those dances; a lintel discovered at Piedras Negras, and dated to the eighth century, allows the visitors to witness the appointment of a new king. In this scene, the lord is seemingly participating in a joint dance with his governors to celebrate his enthronisation (Looper 2009: 229).
46
An action associated with the act of nurturing (Stone 1991 in Looper 2009: 226).
47
As it will be discussed below, this does not signify that there was no place for improvisation in their performances.
51 Some dances, such as The K'awill dance48, were held to celebrate a king reign, and could only be executed by the governors, while the commoner was only authorised to admire it. This dance does not have a singular purpose as it helped to fertilise the land, to celebrate critical astronomical events and was linked to death and resurrection (Garcia Barrios and Valencia Rivera 2007: 23). Overall, this example is a prime testimony of the functions held by royal performances. By executing this celebration, a favourable harvest was guaranteed for the following year. Since only the nobility was authorised to perform it, the K’awill dance reaffirmed nobility grasp and authority over their peers and maintained a centralised power. Looper suggests that “through dance performances, Late Classic Maya rulers were able to display, consume, and possibly distribute an array of exotic items in an aesthetically compelling manner that highlighted their personal role in mobilizing these goods. For these rulers, dance demonstrated the link between ideological power and the coercive force required to collect tribute” (2009: 232).
Warfare
Armed triumphs were celebrated through dances, along with the parading of body parts of defeated opponents. For example, Bonampak arbours a world-famous classic Maya painting that describes a battle scene. Among the various characters depicted, we can see a trump player as well as a rattle player using their instruments (Inomata 2006: 810). Multiple scenes are attested throughout the Maya region but also Mesoamerica in general (Vernier 2006: 227). The frequency of such representations on both mural paintings as well as pottery suggests a link between music and warfare in Mesoamerica.
Moreover, writings from conquistadors strengthen this link as they describe instances where music and war were intertwined. The Franciscan monk, Diego de Landa, narrates two war dances the “Holcan Ok’ot” and the “Batel Ok’ot” where “hundreds of warriors were dancing in long strides in perfect unison to the beat of the drum” (Taube 2009: 61).
48
The K'awill dance was named after the stick held by the God Sun. This sceptre represented the power of this deity and became a symbol of royalty. It maintained the lineages, created new ones, or reassured the power for a new heir. On a side note, K’awill dance occupied the same role and importance during the Classic and Postclassic era (Garcia Barrios and Valencia Rivera 2007: 27-28).
Furthermore, bells themselves may have been strongly associated with war; both the Chilam Balam of Mani and the Chilam Balam of Chumayel mentions bells as dress ornaments. The first one explicitly associates them with Kukulkan’s war costume; “[i]n the Katun 5 Ahau, Kukulkan beckoned with his hands, his bells tinkled, and he gathered his tribute of honey and quail. In the nineteenth year, Kukulkan beckoned a second time, and again his war bells were heard, and he took his donation of the miserably poor ones” (Craine and Reindorp 1979 in Paris 2008: 46). Finally, Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of war, is consistently represented with bells at its ankle and “The Relation de Michoacán” portrays a chief Tarascan warrior wearing ankle bells while pillaging a village (Paris and Lope 2013: 188).
To sum up, by covering these four elements, dance governed their whole nation. It touched every member of the society, held the social structure intact and rendered homage to their divinities. Maya mundane activities and traditions were ritualised, and dance presented itself as a perfect canvas for those rites. It maintained the natural order intact by pleasing their gods and justified social status.