El teatro maya: brevísima semblanza histórica, su situación actual y problemática

Résumé 0

"In this joint essay from the Sna jtz’ibajom Association, Mayan Indian Culture, thewriter and actor Francisco Álvarez Q. tells of the Guatemalan mayan Bartolo Sizwho rescued the play Danza ritual Rabinal Achí [Rabinal Achí ritual dance] and transcribedit from quiché using the spanish alphabeThe essay also recalls the work of Fray FranciscoXiménez, the Italian Félix Cabrera and thefrench abbot Charles Ettienne Brasseur de Bourbourg,who saw the play performed and publishedit in Europe in spanish, french and english.Ángel María Garibay observes that it is commendablethat some examples of indigenous plays,especially mayan works, still exist. Francisco ÁlvarezQ. also cites performances in ancient timeswhich demonstrate that the mayans had developedthe art of theater to a considerable degree, includingmasks; costumes; flute, trumpet, kettledrum anddrum music; song; pantomime and recitation. Archeologicalremains include hand puppets whichresemble those used in puppet shows, and ventriloquismusing animal costumes and masks.He goes on to describe Cantares de Dzibalché,a Precolonial town discovered in 1942 nearCampeche, and published in 1965 by Barrera Vázquez.Its carnivals are described, in which costumesand theatrical rituals of the times are stillpreserved and used.Rosario Castellanos and the Petul puppet theaterare supported by the Instituto Nacional Indigenista(INI, Mexican Indigenist Institute) in Chiapas. Otherexamples rescued by Carlos Navarrete from the colonialtheater for indigenous people include Loa dela muerte, produced by the director and actor SocorroCancino. Also recounted are the experiences ofa group of tzeltal and tzotzil Mayan writers from theSna jtz’ibajom-the Writer’s House-who have beenreceiving training and support in written literature intheir language for twenty years, as well as puppettheater and actors.The essay ends with summaries of severalMayan works narrated collectively by the group withcommentaries by Dr. Donald Frischmann, professorof Hispanic American Literature at the University ofTexas. His commentaries have been translated fromEnglish to Spanish by Francisco Álvarez Q.De no ser por Bartolo Zis, indio del puebloguatemalteco de Rabinal que en 1850 escribióla primera obra completa conocida delteatro-danza de los mayas, y por el abate francésCharles Ettiene Brasseur de Bourborg, quien fueadministrador eclesiástico de los indios de Rabinal,muy poco sabrían nuestras culturas occidentalesde las expresiones teatrales de los indígenas mayasprehispánicos; en febrero de 1851 Brasseur imprimeen México, en francés y español, las cuatro Cartaspara servir de introducción a la historia de lasantiguas naciones civilizadas de México, dedicadasal duque de Valmy. Aunque en la primera de ellasasegura que es él quien da a conocer por primeravez la obra del padre dominico Fray Francisco Ximénez,que estuvo a cargo del curato d"