fountains, artifi cial waterfalls and streams, and gardens
where people could rest during breaks in the entertainment
or go at other times to socialize and relax.
During the reign of Augustus pantomime became popu-
lar. Usually depicting tragic myths, it was oft en performed to
music, but as with pantomime today the actors and actresses
did not speak. Th ey were much admired for their ability to
tell stories with their movements, and even everyday audi-
ences became very sophisticated in their appreciation of the
art form, able to note even slight mistakes. It was possible for
the best actors to become ver y rich, and slaves oft en won their
freedom with skilled performances.
Mimes, dancing, and pantomimes were performed
throughout the rest of the history of the Roman Empire as
essential parts of festivals and other celebrations. If a wealthy
Roman wanted to become popular, he or she would pay for
extravagant performances. Even aft er the fall of the Western
Roman Empire and during the reigns of Germanic kings in
Italy and much of the rest of Europe, mimes and pantomimes
continued to be performed until historical records for them
disappear in the 600s c.e.; they probably survived on a small
scale during the Middle Ages in southern Europe.
THE AMERICAS
BY ALESSIA FRASSANI
Drama and theater are essential aspects of Native American
artistic expression today. Th eatrical performances are a rit-
ual activity triggered by specifi c events and needs and with
specifi c desired results. Entertainment is achieved through
storytelling and special eff ects but is not always the ultimate
goal. Ensuring the community’s well-being is oft en a main
concern. Archaeological evidence suggests that public per-
formances in the ancient Americas embodied some of these
same elements.
People of high social stature (kings and religious fi gures)
received particularly grand rituals. To some degree ceremo-
nial performances, in ancient America and elsewhere, were
political. Th e more complex the social organization, the
stronger was the need for cohesion among diff erent social
classes. Ceremonial behavior toward higher-ranking people
served this purpose.
Shamanism, a common feature of Native American reli-
gions, played a crucial role in early drama. Shamans, through
innate ability and years of training, are thought to be able to
do suc h t h i ngs a s t r a n sfor m t hem s elve s i nto a n i ma l s or sup er-
natural beings. During rituals a rhythmic beating of drums
and shaking of rattles, repetitive chants, dancing, and the use
of elaborate costumes accompany the shaman’s transforma-
tion. Shamanic rituals are thus theatrical in their very nature.
Conjuring up the ancestral dead was a common purpose of
such performances. Assuming the identity of a supernatural
being enabled the shaman to communicate with the dead in
order to resolve critical political, economic, or social issues.
Excavations all over the Americas have uncovered small
fi gurines from ancient times. In North America the funerary
sites of the Adena and Hopewell civilizations (1000 b.c.e.–
400 c.e.) have yielded large numbers of ritual items shaped
like animals or humans. A tobacco pipe from Newark, Ohio,
for example, represents a seated man wearing a bear costume.
In Native American lore bears are feared and respected and
are sometimes referred to as “grandfathers.” Th is pipe prob-
ably mourned and revered a deceased shaman-bear and testi-
fi es to the importance of animal doubles in early Amerindian
rituals.
In Mesoamerica the sites of Tlatilco in central Mexico
(1200–900 b.c.e.) and Colima and Nayarit in western Mexico
(100 b.c.e.–200 c.e.) are famous for their abundance of small
clay fi gurines, especially from burials, depicting dancers and
musicians. Th e fi gurines, which may represent either the
deceased or funerary attendants, oft en have richly plumed
headdresses, wear jade or shell tinklers on their ankles, and
hold fans or musical instruments (especially ocarinas). Typi-
cal of Colima are assemblages of warrior-dancers with hel-
mets, weapons, and elaborate ritual armor. Effi gy headdress
includes crocodiles, sharks, and deities. Pacifi c Coast people
of Mexico still wear similar costumes during annual religious
celebrations.
Th e rich ceramic tradition of Jama-Coaque and Tumaco–
La Tolita, fl ourishing along the Pacifi c coast of Ecuador and
Colombia between about 600 b.c.e. and 500 c.e., produced
small effi gy fi gures that include musicians, dancers, and
ritual performers. Shamans, oft en impersonating bats, birds
of prey, or jaguars, perform fertility rituals by dancing and
scattering seeds and precious stones while shaking rattles.
Shells, symbols of fertility, decorate clothes and bags and may
allude to the shamans’ propitiatory role. Th e bags probably
contained coca leaves, used to induce trances, or seeds to be
cast ritually.
Th e political role of performance became more appar-
ent in Mesoamerica and South America around the fi rst mil-
lennium b.c.e. Th e Olmec civilization, fl ourishing between
1200 and 400 b.c.e. on the Gulf coast of Mexico, produced the
earliest monumental architecture and stone sculpture in Me-
soamerica. A rising elite instituted large and ambitious pro-
grams and used rituals and public spaces to legitimize their
political and economic privileges.
At the Olmec site of La Venta, pyramids and platforms
around large plazas created stages for open-air ceremonies
that included music, singing, and dance. Stelae—vertical
stone slabs carved, inscribed, or sometimes painted with
commemorative information—were fi rst created during the
Late Formative Period (400 b.c.e.–150 c.e.). Oft en portray-
ing rulers in full attire, they provide interesting information
about the theatrical devices employed to convey the super-
natural powers of these individuals. Stela 2 at La Venta, for
example, shows a royal fi gure wearing a giant headdress with
decorations probably referring to the maize (corn) plant, Me-338 drama and theater: The Americas