Las danzas del Corpus Christi en Avila a finales del siglo XVI: fiesta y ritualidad como escaparate de la Contrarreforma

The recent discovery of a contract relating to the organisation of dances for the feast of Corpus Christi in Avila from the year 1579 casts new and interesting light on the study of the historical aspect of dance. One of its most striking details is the originality of several of the productions described, wherein, without disregarding certain conventionalities, it accommodates elements unheard-of in the Eucharistic feast. It is worth pointing out the inclusion of a dance of the living and the dead with obvious parallels to the medieval danse macabre. The newly discovered document will also become the leitmotiv with which to identify the most distinctive features of Corpus celebrations in Avila based on a markedly interdisciplinary perspective.