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Rab'inal Achí
The
Rab'inal Achí, or The "Warrior of Achí" is also known as
"Xajooj Tun"
meaning, “Tun (Drum) Dance”, is an undeniable and practically unique
testimony of the pre-Hispanic Heritage on the American continent. In
terms of the structure and the contents,
it is a
dynastic Maya drama from the fifteenth century and a rare
example of pre-
Hispanic traditions. It comprises myths of origin and
addresses popular and political subjects concerning the inhabitants of
the region of Rabinal, in Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, expressed through
masked dance, theatre and music. It survived clandestinely
from 1625 to 1856, until the French priest
Brasseur de Bourbourg traslated it
from the elder Bartolo Sis in
Achí
language. Although, when Bourbourg first edited it, there
was a prlogue by Sis, iwhere he afirms that there was a
manuscipt of the play, that its missed. What we now know is taht the
friar convinced the Cofradías to perform the play, event that took place
on January 20th, 1856, a play taht went on for 12 days. Thus, Bourbourg
had the experience of watch the play in its entirely, as a text and as a
play. The Rabinal Achí is the only
indigenous
Cultural text that does not
reflect any of the cultural contamination characteristically found in
all of the other surviving texts of the aboriginal people of the
Americas: As Alain Breton has pointed out "Two affirmations we can take
as facts: the first one, the substance of the narration
takes us back to pre-Hispanic times; the second one, even if the text
was transcribed into Latin characters during colonial times, it did not
suffer any European influence".
Another manuscript dated in 1913 and signed by Manuel Pérez was found in
1957 in the hands of Esteban Xolop. This manuscript is different from
the one made by Brasseur. It is also a possibility that the 1913
manuscript (which is the one used today) could be the one transcribed by
Bartolo Sis. Even if the existence of two different version@ÚX any doubt about the originality of any of the manuscripts, what is
important is to observe how up to our days the Rabinal Achí is
transmitted orally through custodians of the tradition who received it
from their family elders, and learned it by heart as a duty to the
preservation of the culture of the whole community. As Breton said:
...even today, despite the existence of a written reference of the text
in his hands, José León Coloch recites by heart all of the about three
thousand verses of the text, the same way Esteban Xolop, his father in
law from whom he inherited them, did it. (Breton 1999:26).
It was declared "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible
Heritage of the Humanity", on November 25, 2005 by UNESCO.
 The
oral and written narrative is presented by a group of characters,
who appear on a stage representing Maya villages, especially Kajyub’,
the regional capital of the Rabinaleb’ in the fourteenth century,
that was founded in the 10th century AD, shortly after the Classic
Maya Collapse. Its survival is a
testimony of the cultural resistance against the colonial
domination. It is notable how this cultural expression, surviving
clandestinely, was transmitted through a family tradition in which
the persons in charge received it from their ancestors as a task
undertaken in the name of the whole community. The Rabinal Achi
encloses a complex interrelation of many different aspects, which
give it outstanding historical, ethnical, literary, artistic,
traditional, linguistic, testimonial, anthropological, sociological,
and spiritual value.
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Temple remains
of Kayjub',
near today's Rabinal
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A
fundamentally oral tradition, the Dance Drama Rabinal Achí combines
poetry, dance, choreography, music, costumes and masks, to transmit
the Mayan history, mythology and symbolism of the community. The
narrative is performed by a crew of 21 masked dancers divided into
four acts, deals with a conflict between two major political
entities in the region, the Rabinaleb’ and the K’iche’. The fact
that the Rabinal Achí is recited in post-classic Achí is a clear
testimony of its originality. Its rhythms, the rhetorical figures,
and the composition of the text as whole reflects a particular
poetics. Through the language the interrelations between man
and nature, between man and reality, between man and the surrounding
world are conceptualized in a poetic and a performative way.
The choreographies of the dances respond
to very specific diagrams, and they follow a special composition to
prepare different moments of the representation.  Some
of them describe the movement of a serpent, other draw the placing
of the characters as they take part in the plot of the dance. They
are basically linear and rounded. At some points the dancers keep
the rhythm by beating their feet on the floor.
The structures of the music of
Rabinal Achí are ancient and authentically original. The music is
played by three musicians with trumpets, drums and cymbals.
It has complex rhythms and harmonies, and a continuous variation of
the melody. The music participates through different moments of the
performance and the musicians are very much part of it. The
structure of the music changes according to the characters taking
place in the representation at each moment. Each one of the main
characters is also identified with different musical introductions
as they are going to speak. It is important to point out how the
voices of the performers reciting the text become part of the music
too.
The pre-Columbian masks made by the artisans of Rabinal and the
costumes and the special headgear, known as 'tocados' are made to
represent particular symbolic meanings. All of the performance
elements are original and respond to aboriginal aesthetics. Its
construction and their use during performance require a different
sensibility and different skills..
The main characters are two princes, the Rabinal Achí and the K’iche
Achí, who are really the representatives of their corresponding
communities. The other characters are the king (Ahau) of Rabinaleb’,
Job’Toj, and his servant, Achij Mun Ixoq Mun, who has both male and
female traits, the green-feathered mother, Uchuch Q’uq’ Uchuch Raxon,
and thirteen eagles and thirteen jaguars who represent the warriors of
the fortress of Kajyub’. K’iche’ Achí is captured and put on
trial for having attempted to steal Rabinaleb’ children, a grave
violation of Maya law.
In
the first act, the Warrior or
Achi of K'iche' (of Kawek' origin),
challenges lord Ojob' Toj of Rab'inal to come out of his fortress.
It is here that the Warrior or Achi of Rab'inal intervenes and the
two warriors engage in a fight. It is eventually the Warrior of
K'iche' who is captured. In the second act, the Warrior of
Rab'inal enters the palace inside the fortress of lord Ojob' Toj to
announce the capture of the Warrior of K'iche'. In the third act,
the Warrior of Rab'inal returns to the captured and bound Warrior of
K'iche' to tell him about the response of lord Ojob' Toj.
In the fourth and final act, the Warrior of K'iche' is brought into
the palace of Ojob' Toj, where after interrogation he obtains
certain lordly and warrior-related privileges. Having eaten well and
being intoxicated from the beverages he took, he dances three
dances, including one with the princess of Rabinal, the last one of
which is a dance in which he tests the agility of the Eagle and
Jaguar factions of the Rab'inal warriors. The final act terminates
with the Warrior of K'iche' being tied to a tree and being executed
by way of arrows, shot at him by the Eagle and Jaguar warriors of
the kingdom of Rab'inal
 Since
colonization in the sixteenth century, the Rabinal Achí dance has
been performed on Saint Paul’s day on 25 January. The festival is
co-ordinated by members of cofradías, local brotherhoods responsible
for running the community. By taking part in the dance, the living
enter into “contact” with the dead, the rajawales, ancestors
represented by masks. For the Achís
of modern-day Rabinal, recalling
their ancestors is not just about perpetuating the heritage of the
past. It is also a vision of the future, since one day the living
will join their ancestors. As the Saint Paul festivities go on for a
few days, the Rabinal Achi is performed at various times during the
day, in especially designated areas in the open air where the
audience is free to come and go.
Originally
the representation took place around specific dates in the Mayan
Calendar dedicated for the offerings to
Tohil, a God instituted by governing caste Toj. The fact that the
representation nowadays takes place around Catholic celebrations has
to be  understood
as a survival and restoring strategy. In geographical terms, the
text refers to a series of localities where the Rabinal culture was
founded. Those places are the same sacred and symbolic areas where
the tradition started and is performed today: the Church, the
Cemetery and five surrounding Mountains. In those locations the
performers invite their ancestors to be part of it. They are the
spaces for the congregation of their ancestors, of their Gods and of
the individuals of the present. José León Coloch is the current
custodian of the oral tradition and director and representative of
the Rabinal Achí Dance Group, the responsible group of the tradition
within the community of Rabinal. This Dance Drama is important as a
living way for the past to communicate with the present; and as a
living memory of the foundational principles and identity of the
people of Rabinal
Download the Book at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/15309
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And an impressive photographic
story of Rab'inal by Shane Solow can be found at: Losttrails.com |
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