Arte para aprender a dançar compuesto por Cesar Negri Milanes (Madrid 1630): traduzione e tradizione coreico-musicale nella Spagna del XVII secolo

Abstract

The traces of the dancing body, present in printed treatises and choreographic manuscripts of the 17th century, represent pertinent research elements for understanding the stylistic, aesthetic, and rhetorical construction of dance. This study examines the technical and corporeal languages of 17th-century dance across two distinct traditions and cultures through the manuscript *Arte para aprender a danzar* (Madrid, 1630), the Spanish translation of Cesare Negri’s (c. 1535–c. 1605) treatise *Le gratie d’amore* (Milan, 1602). Since the transmission of choreographic sources in Spain often suffered from confused archival and cataloging practices, it is first necessary to contextualize the preserved Spanish documents contemporary to Negri’s translation and then frame their accurate classification. The paleographic and codicological analysis of these 17th-century Spanish sources sheds new light on some essential aspects, without which any analytical approach would be futile.