The last Aurresku. Gender, Dance and Basque Nationalism at the Beginning of the 20th Century

Abstract

This article examines the process leading to the creation of the Aurresku tradition, by which women were excluded from the main Basque dance, carried out at the beginning of the 20th century. Basque nationalism gender views were projected to folk dance, making women invisible first and then reproducing the binary gender that characterized the gender views of political cultures during the twenties and the thirties. The finding of a film recorded in 1921 that shows an Aurresku starring women contributes to the visibility of an activity that persisted despite the ongoing exclusion processes. Attested Aurreskus danced by women bear witness to an activity denied by folklorists. Tradition was created and recreated by integrating and reproducing through dance the frameworks of action, meaning and representation assigned to women by the Basque nationalism of the early twentieth century.

Keywords

• género
• danza
• nacionalismo
• invención de la tradición
• binarismo sexual