Documentación acerca de las desaparecidas danzas ceremoniales de Fitero [Documentation about the disappeared ceremonial dances of Fitero]

Abstract

In a work of 1974 the researcher José M.ª Jimeno Jurío stated that he had not been able to find alive persons in Fitero remembering the celebration of stick dances in that village in the near past. Since then, the place has been forgotten in the main researches about this type of dance in the region of Tudela (Southern Navarre). This paper compiles a selection of documents conserved in the municipal archive of Fitero which proves that ceremonial dances were very appreciated among the ancient settlers of the village: for centuries dance and festivity were synonymous ideas in local mentality. Moreover, the collected information gives us many clues about how the decline of these celebrations happened, until their absolute disappearance...