“Una invitación a viajar por España”: el repertorio de Antonia Mercé, la Argentina, dentro de la política dancística de la II República Española

Abstract

Several playwrights, composers and stage designers created ballets for the Antonia Mercé’s company Ballets Espagnols (1927-1929). These ballets were formulated as a foundational repertoire of Spanish ballet because of its possibility to synthesise the imaginaries of the Spanish. This idea about Spain, that it is analysed from the scripts, matches the international imagen that II Spanish Republic (1931-1939) wanted to assume. For that reason, after the study of the ballet’s keys, we delve into its trajectory in national projects focused on the creation of a National Ballet in the National Lyrical Theatre and on the institutionalization of Spanish Dance promoted by the National Committee of Music and Lyrical Theatres. In addition, we tackle the official recognition and public funding associated to Antonia Mercé, la Argentina, and her ballet’s repertoire, turned into an artistic, politic and touristic capital.