Choreography of Lupercalia

RCC is pleased to announce this talk by RCC Fellow Zoa Alonso Fernández, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of the Classics at Harvard University.

Abstract: In this presentation, I apply the methodologies of dance studies and cultural studies of the body to an analysis of the Roman Lupercalia. Taking into account the corporeality of the participants as the most striking component of the performance, I demonstrate that the physicality of these bodies and their meaningful mobility not only transmit but also generate cultural significance, which is crucial for understanding the role of dance in Roman public rituals.

In the Ides of February, a sodalitas of young patrician Romans wandered naked around the city walls celebrating a sort of carnival festival with initiatory connotations. According to Varro, the luperci used to amuse the people with their ‘ludic’ race, and this is why he called them ludios (Tert. spect. 5), a term also applied to the Salian priests (Varr. ling. 6,22), the “Dancing Lares” (Naev. com. 99), and the dancers of the Roman pompa (Cic. har.resp. 23). All these connections prompt consideration of the Lupercalia as a sort of choreography, a public spectacle based on pivotal naked bodies that exult in an imposed yet improvised spatial pattern.

In order to appreciate the dancing practices of Roman public religion on a more general level, it is vital to understand a ritual like this, in which the agency of the participants is expressed in terms of chaotic physicality and masculine display.

This presentation is hosted by the Epichoreia XII workshop at New York University. As part of the RCC Knowledge Ambassadorship initiative Zoa will be happy to arrange a meeting at RCC with anyone interested in learning more about international study groups for ancient Greek and Roman music and dance (i.e. Epichoreia, MOISA Society, CORD / SDHS etc.).

Sponsor(s): RCC Study Group Roman Dance Cultures in Context.

Contact(s): Zoa Alonso Fernández