Aztec Dance Essay

Given the essentially physical nature of dance, it is not surprising that throughout Mesoamerica it relates to somatic sensations. For example, the Dominican friar Diego Duran disapprovingly describes the Aztec Tickling Dance as "so roughish as to be compared to our own Spanish dance called the saraband, with all its wriggling and grimacing and immodest mimicry." Duran also mentions that the term for this dance, cuecuechcuicatl, can also mean "dance of the itch," a connotation very similar to conceptions of dance among the ancient Mixtec of Oaxaca. Thus there is the Mixtec town called Zahuatlan, which means "place of itching" in Nahuatl. The original Mixtec term for this community is Yucu Cata, meaning "mountain of itching," but in Mixtec,
Among the Aztec it provided a means to meet and interact with possible future paramours and spouses. Finely dressed warriors danced during the day at the cuicacalli ("house of flowers") to attract women for potential trysts. These dances promptly ended when children from the various wards arrived for their lessons, indicating the erotically charged nature of these adult events. However, during children's dances it often became evident that certain boys and girls had a special affinity and fondness for one another, and this was often the prelude to future marriage. Two Aztec deities closely identified with dance and music were the male Xochipilli and the female Xochiquetzal, youthful and beautiful beings of sensuality, pleasure, and fertility. Although there is little direct evidence indicating that they were a couple, they shared very similar symbolic domains. Aztec figurines frequently depict Xochiquetzal wearing her flower headband while in a position of dance, with bouquets of flowers in her extended hands. Duran mentions that the "most enjoyed" Aztec dance, the Dance of Flowers, was dedicated to Xochiquetzal. Both Aztec deities contain the term xochitl, of "flower" in their names, a basic symbol of sensuality and fertility in