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(MEXICAN MANUSCRIPTS.) Edict by the Inquisition banning popular dances. 2 manuscript pages, 12 x 8 1/4 inches; moderate wear with slight loss of text at fore-edge, dampstaining. [Mexico], 4 December 1802
This edict from the Mexican Inquisition condemns the immodesty of women at church and bans a purportedly indecent dance known as jarabe gatuno. Originating in Veracruz and part of the son jarocho style of dance, it was so associated with Africans that it was called "la danza de los negros." The Inquisition had called for the complete prohibition of the dance on account of its supposedly corrupting influence, as it was spreading from city to city like a "malignant cancer." So indecent was this new style of dance that the Inquisition claimed there were "no words to explain its danger and brazenness." As legal justification and precedent for their edict, they cited a previous and supposedly successful 1766 ban on another dance considered to be immoral and indecent, the chuchumbé. While this edict is filled with hyperbole, the dance could certainly be regarded as sensual and subversive. The accompanying music sometimes included lyrics critical of hypocritical clergy who violated their vows of celibacy. The church would not succeed in clamping down on this dance. Even as late as the Mexican Revolution, authorities were still attempting to restrict it.
