CC BY
132
https://doi.org/10.29013/ESR-20-7.8-11-18
Sokolova Alla Viktorovna, PhD, (Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences), Senior Lecturer of Department of Department of Cultural, The Odessa National A. V. Nezhdanova Academy of Music, Ukraine
E-mail: [email protected]
THE SACRED DANCE IN THE COURT THEATER OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
Abstract. The article discusses the origins of the rise and fall of the Byzantine theater, the aesthetic principles of ancient Greek pantomime in the culture of early medieval Byzantium. The sacred and spiritual meaning of dance, which was the core of Byzantine musical theatrical performances, is revealed.
Keywords: Byzantine Empire, court theater, pantomime, mask, sacral dance, mime actress, the spiritual and secular meaning of the court theater.
Exploring the origins of the rise and fall of the that the imperial palace was an ideal environment for
Byzantine theater is a difficult task. On the one hand, dancing at the most refined level. The Christian tra-
the Byzantines carefully preserved the legacy of their dition borrowed the tradition of sacred dance from
predecessors: the revelations of the holy fathers and the Jewish people, for whom dance was an important
classical "Hellenic" literature. Indirectly, this testifies part of religious life.
to the existence of archives and libraries in Byzan- Many historians consider the church's limiting
tium. On the other hand, the number of archival doc- influence on dance, but archival research indicates
uments, one way or another, covering the theme of that the Church actually created the conditions for
the court secular theater in any form, is a small part, social and religious dance to flourish. and the surviving texts provide scant information. We should especially note the special attitude to
According to the famous sinologist, Professor dance as an integral part of the court theater art of
Wolfram Eberhard, the theater originated in sacred Byzantium.
dance, mimetic (imitative) and agonal (adversarial) At the end of the 1st century BC, the Roman the-
functions are associated with dance. This trend can ater associated with the staging of traditional classi-
be traced in the theatrical traditions of many cultures cal drama (tragedy, comedy) enters a phase of decay
and ethnic groups: India, China, Japan, Indonesia, and is associated with licentiousness, vulgarity and
Turkey and Iran [1]. Many scientists and philoso- wasting time. A negative view of the theater is dom-
phers viewed dance as a meaningful ritual action, inated by many scholars and writers, a prominent
prayer in motion, a sacred ritual, a theatrical perfor- representative of whom is the ancient Greek writer,
mance that permeates the whole world. historian and "last Hellene" Zosimus [2]. In the 4th
The desire to unite with God through dance was century, the influential John Chrysostom Archbish-
present in primitive culture, in the pagan mythology op of Constantinople attributed such features to the
of Egypt, Greece, ancient Rome and India. Paganism theater as immorality and cynicism. According to the
and the Sacred Dance are at the same time a sacri- Church Fathers, song, music, play posed a danger to
ficial ceremony, prayer, a connection with the past, a peaceful family life [3].
Both the Western and subsequently the Eastern Roman Empire, represented by the clergy and the Church Fathers, tried to ban the theater, condemning it for its pagan roots. However, soon the Eastern Orthodox Church, having signed in the actual inability to ban entertainment, tried to take the initiative into her own hands, to cleanse and spiritualize the vicious essence of theatrical art and dance. So, dances, which received the approval of the church, were group processions or round dances in which men, separated from women, performed solemn and befitting movements of the moment. It looked like a Christian rethinking of pre-Christian holidays and symbols. The Roman scientist Varro Reatinsky saw the meaning of dance in Christianity in the following: "The meaning of dancing at religious festivals is that, according to our ancestors, no part of the body should remain aloof from religious sensations" [4, 175].
Both critics and defenders of theatrical art left to posterity valuable information about the theater. There are several classical sources that historians rely on when discussing the origins of theatrical performances and dances. These include Lucian with his treatise "On the Dances" [5] and the historian Titus Livy with the large-scale work "History of Rome from the Founding of the City" [6]. The historian Titus Livy believed that theatrical performances first appeared in Rome around 400 BC: "Since neither human understanding nor divine help softened the merciless pestilence, superstition prevailed in souls, and then, as they say, in search of ways to appease the wrath of heaven, stage games were instituted -an unprecedented business for the military people, because until then the only spectacle was running in the circus" [6, 323].
The author of the book "Sexual Life in Ancient Rome" Otto Kiefer wrote: "... the Romans, by their very nature, had no artistic origin. They did not understand the true essence of dance, this aimless activity, and the Greeks, with their innate artistic flair, indulged in dancing as complete artists" [4, 166].
However, after the end of the first Punic War in Rome, dances are rapidly gaining popularity.
The ancient Roman writer and philosopher Ambrose Theodosius Macrobius notes: "In the era of the highest morality, between the two Punic wars, freeborn citizens, even the sons of senators, went to dance schools and learned to dance and shake tambourines. I am ashamed to admit that even the matrons saw nothing indecent in dancing. On the contrary, the most respected were interested in them, although they did not strive to become experienced dancers" [7, 14]. Publius Cornelius Scipio, Roman military commander and politician, who once went to such a school and saw more than fifty young men and women there. Among them was a twelve-year-old boy, the son of a candidate for magistracy: the boy performed "a dance with tambourines, which even a shameless slave cannot adequately perform" [8, 36].
The ancient Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, a Syrian Greek by origin, noted in the middle of the 4th century: "... even a few houses, formerly famous for their serious attention to science, are immersed in the fun of shameful idleness, and songs and loud ringing of strings are heard in them. Instead of a philosopher, they invite a singer, and instead of a rhetorician - masters of amusing affairs. Libraries are locked forever like tombs, and hydraulic organs, huge lyres the size of a cart, flutes and all sorts of bulky instruments of acting equipment are being erected ... women "slide their feet on the stage in a variety of figures, depicting countless scenes that are composed in theatrical plays" [4, 169].
It should be noted that in Rome in the III century, the pyrrhic dance became extremely popular. The ancient Roman writer of the 2nd century AD Apuleius, the author of novels written in Latin, wrote: "Young men and women, shining with the first color ofyouth, beautiful in appearance, in smart costumes, with beautiful gestures, moved back and forth, performing the Greek pyrrhic dance: in beautiful round dances they intertwined in a full circle, then converged in a winding ribbon, then joined in a square, then scattered in
groups apart. But then the sound of the trumpet rang out and put an end to these complex combinations of convergence and divergence. The main curtain came down, the screens were folded, and the stage opens before the eyes of the audience" [4, 49]. Thus, the pyrrhic dance embodied the main action of the pantomime, in its manner and style of performance, very reminiscent of modern ballet.
The author of the novel, Otto Kiefer, believed that in the Roman Empire, prior to its division into Western and Eastern, theatrical performances were conventionally divided into three groups: atellans, mimes and pantomimes proper. The Atellans (fa-bulae Atelannae) were a South Italian farce, crude and obscene in content. Mimes (mimos in Greek means imitation) supplanted Attelan, but differed little from them and staged scenes replete with obscenity, intrigue and erotic elements. Actors took part in short scenes with masks or without masks, depending on the storyline, women participated in the performances. The dance formed the core of the performance and was unlike any previously known. The actor accompanied the monologues with beautiful and smooth movements of the hands and body, and the dancer, who was on the same stage, complemented the action with a dance comic set to music or choral accompaniment [4].
However, after a while, the actors 'long and often meaningless monologues ceased to be practiced, and the actors' remarks sounded less and less frequently. Dancers begin to dominate the stage, expressing their feelings in the element of movement. This is how pantomime was born. The word "pantomime" is also Greek, however, according to the ancient Greek writer Lucian of Samosaat, it was widely used by Italians. The origins of pantomime undoubtedly lead to pagan religious rituals. Researcher E. T. Kirby is convinced that masquerade plays, pantomimes and other dress-up performances are a fusion of shaman-ic substratum and primitive folk customs [9, 285].
Greek pantomime was represented by a "dancer" or "tragic dance actor". The Greek performer
sought to express his commitment to Greek traditions through dance and music. Pantomime, as a form that took shape in Rome, is difficult to separate from other theatrical performances precisely because of the wide variety of forms of dance. These include cult dances, sometimes associated with the Greek god Dionysus, military dances, dance genres - round dance, sacred religious dances. However, there are a number of distinctive moments of pantomime, which include the actor's attire (a cloak and a silky tunic that reached the ankles), the accompaniment of an orchestra, which included pipes, flutes, trumpets, cymbals, chorus, as well as masks that completely or partially covered face. The wooden ratchet (scabellum) attached to the musician's leg was of particular importance. The time allotted for the performance was calculated in hours, since the dancers had to change their clothes several times. Mimes wore masks, and solo performances of dancers with masks only became fashionable after the 5th century, at a time when the Western Roman Empire fell. The most popular form of pantomime is performed by the Roman dancer Piladus of Cilicia, who is credited with leading the way in solo pantomime performances. The famous Roman dancer Batill ofAlexandria entertained the audience with other subjects: to the endless applause of the audience, he easily transformed into a goat-footed satire [10].
Many Roman and Greek philosophers such as Ludwig Friedlander in his work, "Roman Life and Manners Under the Early Empire" [11] rhetorician Libanius in his speeches, the ancient historian Zosimus considered pantomimes as a sign of immorality in society.
In Byzantium, which in every possible way emphasized its succession to Western Rome, pantomimes became widespread and were popular in different parts of the empire. The pantomimes of the East and the West are related not only by the phenomenon of division into comedy and tragic, but also by plots, which were mostly borrowed from ancient Greek myths [12].
The defining criterion of pantomime in Byzantium was entertainment. In pantomimes, jumps, imitation of wrestling, prolonged freezing and even somersaults were implied. And yet, a distinctive feature of pantomimes is their "accuracy" in imitating the depicted character. In this action, the dancer's hands were of paramount importance, the hands were supposed to "speak" and "enchant". The mask completely (sometimes partially) covered the face, and its image was supposed to help reveal the character of the character. A feature of Byzantine masks in late pantomimes are masks with long strands of natural hair [12].
Dramatic dance formed the basis of tragic pantomime and was extremely popular in Byzantium in the early Middle Ages. The researcher J. Jory noted that if a contemporary, during the early Middle Ages, was invited to a Byzantine theatrical event, it is more likely that such a performance would be called a pantomime [13, 57-66].
It is generally accepted that the pantomime, set on a mythological plot, and performed through the prism of dance, was performed to the accompaniment of a choir, and a dancer's obligatory attribute was a mask, which he could change several times during the performance, if the plot required it.
The Church openly opposed pantomime as a kind of theatrical art. The church associated theatrical art with the pre-Christian idea of the world and man, considered the theater a relic of the pagan world and fought resolutely against it.
In 425, the Church succeeded in banning dancing and performances on Sundays and major Christian holidays. [15, 39-45]. In 692, the Quinisext Council, held during the reign ofJustinian II and characterized by extreme conservatism, in fact banned theater, festivals and all such events and decided to treat theater as a form of paganism. However, there are good reasons to believe that the ban did not achieve its goal. In Byzantium they loved holidays and entertainment. Weddings, fairs, theatrical performances, acrobatic horseback riding, as well as dancers, magi-
cians, jugglers and acrobats are becoming a hallmark of Byzantine culture. The Church failed to finally convince even faithful Christians to abandon the theater and from participating in "bacchanal" carnivals and processions. In general, the hostile attitude of the church, which viewed entertainment from the perspective of pagan traditions, had a negative impact on the evolution of the Byzantine theater [15].
The pantomime broadcast the traditions of the Roman theater, multiplied by the cultural traditions of Byzantium itself. The performances consisted of short monologues or dialogues on themes taken from mythological plots, everyday life or sacred texts, that is, the pantomime was clothed in verbal form and, in fact, resembled a musical theatrical performance, where plasticity and movement were taken as the basis. Monologues and dialogues, in one form or another praising the virtues of the emperor, were accompanied by the sound of instrumental music, dancing and singing. It is significant that several times pantomimes were staged in St. Sophia Cathedral at solemn ceremonies [12].
Pantomime remained quite popular until the 6th-7th centuries. Since the 7th century, pantomime has lost its well-recognizable shape. The theater of pantomime, in the form in which the ancient Greeks and Romans knew it, actually died in Byzantium in the process of a long, complex and multifactorial transformation.
Byzantine diplomacy played a significant role in the development of a secular spiritual theater within the imperial palace. Byzantine diplomacy was so effective that many historians tend to view the successful diplomatic activity of emperors and other Byzantine officials as a key element that explains the empire's millennia-long existence. The Imperial Palace, with its imposing architecture, was a public monument designed to thrill the viewer into the might of the state and its august ruler, while at the same time allowing the mere mortal to feel pride at the mere sight of the imperial palace. The Byzantine Palace was a huge theatrical stage, awe-inspiring and admirable for those
who crossed its threshold. Until the 12th century, the Grand Palace served as the imperial residence and was a privileged place to receive foreign delegations sent to Byzantium to solve complex political issues. The Book of Ceremonies, which codifies the protocol used in the palace in the mid-10th century, informs historians of a certain official standard for receiving emissaries [17]. This standard was largely developed from magnificent techniques involving large-scale theatrical performances. Receptions were given, in particular, on the occasion of the arrival of representatives of the Cordoba Caliphate, as well as a delegation led by Princess Olga of Kiev. Thus, the theater was both opium and a form of propaganda. It can be argued that with the decline of the pantomime genre, theater in Byzantium did not die. He moved to the hippodrome, to the imperial palace, to aristocratic literary clubs, where poems, dialogues, and performed plays were accompanied by music, songs and dances.
During the heyday of the Empire, court culture was reduced to carefully orchestrated secular-spiritual performances prescribed for special occasions. It was important for the Emperor to show that "power can be exercised in divine harmony and order", and "the empire thus reflects the movement of the Universe in the form in which it was created by the Creator," according to the records of Constantine Por-phyrogenitus in the Ceremonial Book [18] special clothing for different social groups, for example, at a dinner given in honor of an emperor or empress, various groups of officials performed ceremonial dances, one group wearing "blue and white, short sleeved clothing with gold ribbons and ankle rings. In their hands they held what is called phengia", the second group actually performed the same actions, but in" clothes of green and red colors with gold stripes. " These colors were the hallmarks of the old aristocratic groups. Having danced three times, everyone stands at the foot of the emperor's table. Then the singers sing: "Lord, strenghten the Empire forever", and the people sing three times: "Lord, strenghten the Empire forever" [19, 227].
In the story of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the celebration dedicated to the name days of the emperor or empress resembles a ballet with an oratorio rather than an ordinary dinner. Some researchers believe that the dignitaries of the court dances were more like a restrained "stylized walk". However, enamel plaques on the Byzantine Holy Crown of Hungary, circa 1050, depict female dancers with their arms raised above their heads and their legs abruptly pulled back, swinging long strips of cloth over their heads [20].
Physician Sharaf al-Zaman Tahir al-Marwazi, author of The Nature of Animals, wrote: "In the morning the king comes in [to the imperial box overlooking the Hippodrome] with his intimates and servants, all of them dressed in red. He sits on an eminence overlooking the place and there appears his wife called dizbuna (Greek despoina, mistress) with her servants and intimates, all of them dressed in green and she sits in a place opposite the king. Then arrive the entertainers and players of string instruments and begin their performance" [21,170].
John Ash, author of The Byzantine Journey, notes: "The refectory was decorated with mosaics and frescoes, stucco, ceramic vessels and carpets ... The Roman custom of reclining on a bed was forgotten in the 10th century, and guests, whose number could reach forty, sat around a round or a rectangular table inlaid with marble, gold, silver and ivory" [19, 286]. Such feasts often served as a breeding ground for gossip and intrigue, against which the Byzantine moralists sharply rebelled, and they also turned out to be an arena for serious conversations about literature, philosophy and theology as well as a place for presenting new literary and musical compositions. Thus, musical theatrical performances, as well as gatherings of the noble men of Byzantium, became the prototype not only of the Parisian salons of the 18th century, but also of the court mask in England in the first half of the 17th century.
Refined theatrical performances become an integral part of imperial ceremonies. It is interesting to note that Emperor Michael III the Drunkard person-
ally took part in theatrical performances. The use of sharp satire directed against the Church gave a special piquancy to this story [14]. Ultimately, the Church establishes a special relationship with the theater, both direct, aimed at creating a religious drama, and indirect, where the liturgy was based on the principles of theatricality, and the secular theater existed within the boundaries of the imperial possessions and private homes of aristocrats. Representatives of the church are forced to turn a blind eye to the theatrical and musical performances that took place in the imperial palace. The content of the plays, as in the pantomimes, was associated with mythological plots, less often with events from the lives of emperors. Women were allowed to take part in theatrical performances.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the group dance (Xopos) was encouraged by the church fathers. The theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church Gregory Nazianzen strongly advised to perform triumphal round dances in honor of God. Basil the Great and Bishop John of Constantinople blessed the parishioners to perform round dances (Xopos). Eusebius of Caesarea described an act in which true Christians performed a dance in honor of God. "Everything was filled with light, and it was with smiling faces, sparkling eyes that they looked at each other, barely lowering their eyes, with dancing choruses, hymns in cities and villages, they honored God, the sovereign king" [22, 620].
The Byzantine historian and writer Eustathius of Thessalonica mentioned a dance that began in a circle and ended with a meeting of dancers, when the dancers did not dance in a circle, they raised their arms high or waved them left and right. They held a scarf in their hands, and their long sleeves accentuated the beauty of their movements; often, the dancers performed a song at the same time or improvised on the move, sometimes repeating the words in unison. At the end, the audience could join the general dance, which symbolized unity. Professional singers and musicians themselves composed poems, which they recited between dances [23]. Byzantine
dances were performed at banquets for the emperor and his guests. The circle served as the basis for the compositional construction of dances. The estate-hierarchical position of the aristocratic nobility influenced the arrangement of the dancers. Gothic dances were also performed in the Imperial Palace and were an example of exotic dance along with traditional Byzantine dance elements. Dances in secular places also included sexually obscene dances such as cordax and were performed until the 15th century. Much of the information about Byzantine dancing comes from the admonitions of the church fathers who openly opposed dancing. However, the rhetorician Libanios, the scientist, Byzantine monk Michael Psellos, the writer and historian Niketas Choniates, on the contrary, came out in their defense, which is confirmed by published speeches. Examples of dances in sacred places (churches) are the weeping dances (moirologia), which were eventually allowed to be danced using circular movements in the narthex of the church, or, for example, the Isaiah dance, associated with the Byzantine marriage ceremony and performed in the church. The founder of Byzantine ethnography, Phaidon Kukules, in the voluminous work "Byzantinon bios kai politismos" also mentions dancing in the church or in the narthex of churches. On Easter, women gravely led round dances in the narthex of churches; on Christmas, parishioners danced in masks in the immediate vicinity of the church [25, 425, 493].
Thus, the dance carries a sacred and spiritual meaning and does not lose it after the fall of Byzantium, strengthening in Europe and England in the court culture of the Renaissance.
Conclusions
Pantomime, as a form of theatrical art, which has an ancient Greek origin, was an important element of the cultural life of the Roman Empire. Subsequently, the traditions of pantomime were continued in the culture of early medieval Byzantium. Ultimately, the aesthetic principles of pantomime played a decisive role in the emergence of court secular-spiritual musi-
cal theatrical performances, which are a distinctive of the court theater. Theatrical culture of Byzantium
feature of the culture of the Byzantine Empire. demonstrates the spiritual and secular principle. The
Pantomime was rediscovered during the Renais- secular principle manifests itself in solving political
sance in many countries ofWestern Europe, as well issues during musical and theatrical performances
as England, mainly through the treatise of the an- and at banquets that completed the performances. cient Greek writer Lucian of Samosata "On Dances", The spirituality of the Byzantine court theater
which became an extremely popular ancient Greek was especially fully revealed in the religious sphere,
writer in the 16th—17th centuries. The founders of the in attracting pagans to the side of Christians, in the
ballet and dance concept in the 16th—17th centuries reading of odes and panegyrics as part of theatrical
were deliberately inspired by the example of ancient culture, which exalted the emperor claiming to be a
Greek pantomime. spiritual leader, in emphasizing his divine status, as
In the Middle Ages, the secular-spiritual court well as in the sacred meaning of the Byzantine dance. theater of Byzantium broadcasts the aesthetics of the Unlike the West, Byzantium never faced the
salon theater, where the discussion ofphilosophical, problem of a deep cultural break with its past. This
theological and political issues, the presentation of influenced the process of formation, prosperity and
new musical or literary works becomes a component decline of the theatrical art.
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