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Eaurtako Neska Dantza: why are
there so many young widows in America?
by Lisa Corcostegui
Eaurtako Neska Dantza or the "Girls'
Dance from Eaurta," also known as "Axuri Beltza"
(because of the lyrics that accompany the dance) has become a
staple in the repertoire of many American Basque dance
groups. In the United States it has somehow taken on yet
another name: The "Widow's Dance."
It is hard to say exactly how this strange
interpretation evolved and spread through our Basque
communities. Since nothing about the dance itself or the
lyrics of the song suggest death or mourning, I believe that it
was the misinterpretation of two things that contributed to this
American misnomer. Before I reveal my theory, however, allow
me to provide some background about the Old World context of the
dance.
Eaurta is a village in the Salazar Valley of
Nafarroa. By the 1960s a girls' dance from there had been
virtually forgotten. The lyrics remained, as did a few
elderly women who had danced it as girls. Apparently, these
women, in their youth, had borrowed a genre of dance that
was only publicly performed by men and had invented a dance to
entertain themselves during the hours they spent looking after the
cows in the pasture land outside of town. They sang the
music and sometimes also used a small instrument called a muxu
gitarra or mouth harp to accompany their steps.
When Juan Antonio Urbeltz conducted
fieldwork in Eaurta in the 1960s he interviewed some of the women
who recalled having done the dance but realized that the dance
could not be reproduced exactly because their memories weren't
relaible or their physical condition did not allow them to
perform the movements as they remembered them. Based on his
extensive knowledge of the genre and the guidance of the
informants, Urbeltz recreated the dance and incorporated it into
the repertoire of his Basque dance company, Argia.
For Argia's performance of Eaurtako Neska
Dantza, Urbeltz choreographed an entrance and exit in which the
dancers enter holding hands in a single-file line. He set
this entrance and exit to a melancholy melody for a dramatic and
elegant effect.
Since dances for women are in short supply
in the traditional repertoire of Basque folk dance, groups in the
Basque Country and others as far away as Latin America and the
United States soon adopted the dance to lend more variety to their
programs.
Let us return now to the process in which
young cow herders became widowed in America. As I stated
above, I believe there are two main causes. One is the
melancholy music of the entrance and exit of the dance. It
certainly is somber. However, as soon as the actual dance
begins the mood lightens and offers no hint of mourning. The
lyrics which compare a black lamb with a white one, and say that
the one who wants to learn to dance must look at the dancer's
feet, also indicate no trace of widowhood.
The second factor that I believe influenced
the American misinterpretation of the dance is the costume worn by
the dancers. While we are accustomed to wearing what we
please and expressing our individuality through clothing, this was
a foreign concept in many parts of the Basque Country a hundred
years ago. Dress was an identity marker for the residents of
particular valleys or towns. Everyone of the same age or
marital status dressed the same way. The colors of trim on a
garment often indicated something specific about a person's origin
or status. Black was a dominant color for clothing in the
Salazar Valley. It did not inherently indicate
mourning. The adolescent girls wore the black skirt and
black embellished jackets shown in the photos above for special
occasions and the first Sunday their banns of marriage were
announced at mass. When this dance became popular
among American dance groups, most Basque-Americans were only
familiar with the girl's costume consisting of the red skirt,
black vest, etc. The regional costume of Eaurta stood in
stark contrast to the bright red of the traditional nationalist
costume. Lacking knowledge of the context in which the dance
developed, and searching for a meaning, dancers here applied
our modern cultural vocabulary in which black equals mourning, and
coupled with Urbeltz's solemn prelude, formulated an explanation
that made sense to them.
Communication between the Basque communities
of the United States and the Basque Country has improved in leaps
and bounds since Eaurtako Neska Dantza first was performed on
American soil. It is now easier to learn about the
background of the dances we perform. By exploring the Old
World contexts of our dances, we can learn more about
our culture and share a more authentic vision of the Basque
Country with our audiences.
The Lyrics of Axuri Beltza
Axuri
beltza ona dun baina
xuria berriz hobea
dantzan ikasi nahi duen horrek
nere oinetara begira
Zertan ari haiz bakar
dantzatzen
agertzen gorputz erdia
su ilun horrek argitzen badin
ageriko haiz guzia
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Eaurtako Neska Dantza by Argia
Eaurtako Neska Dantza by Argia
Vintage photo of girls from the
Salazar Valley
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