PETER ROBERTS


 indicios de que la zarabanda tuviese algo que ver con ritmos africanos, en
 lo que a su procedencia respect. El caracter lascivo de este baile, destacado
 por todos los que lo described, nos hizo sospechar alguna relaci6n con los
 bailes negros. No queremos afirmar esta hip6tesis por carecer de pruebas,
 pero si nos complace hallar algo que confirm nuestra sospecha en el
 articulo sobre la zarabanda en la Enciclopedia Espaina donde leemos:
 '...Se cree que fue importada en Espania por los conquiatadores Arabes,
 que, a su vez, debieron tomar sus principles elements de la chika o danza
 de negros africanos.' (1992:142)

 The Encyclopedia of Music also gives information on the zarabanda linking
it to Spain, Africa, and the New World:

 Some evidence suggests that the zarabanda originated in the Spanish
 colonies in America, making it the first popular Latin American dance. Other
 evidence seems to suggest an African origin. A possible scenario might be
 that the zarabanda was brought to Spain by the Moors during the twelfth
 century, but was heavily modified by American influences during the early
 sixteenth century. (www.musicaviva.com)

 It is interesting to note that in 1789 Moreau de Saint Mery made comparable
comments about the fandango, which in 1797 he said was just another name
for the chica:

 America has not been the only place, in this respect, to receive the influence of
 Africa, because the Moors made the passion of the fandango a normal part of
 Spain. The fandango is nothing else but the chica, only a little less developed,
 because the climate or other circumstances were less propitious. (1789: 195)

 Note also that L6pez Cantos, referring to eighteenth century Puerto Rico,
says: "Hacia principios del XIX se consideraba el fandango como el baile
nacionarl" (2001: 214). In the literature, therefore, the links between the
calenda, the chica, the zarabanda and the fandango are difficult to unravel.
 It is clear that the New World description, over a period of time, of the
dance Labat called calenda was driven more by the written record than by
direct observation. It is clear also that the record itself did not start with
Labat in the New World. In addition to the Spanish literary record, there was
also a preceding West African history. From Marees (1602) to Barbot (1679-
1732) there is a filling out of a scenario with details, details about music and
dancing along the Gold Coast, which is both the result of consulting previous
sources and a matter of independent observation. The archives show how
the various slave traders changed and added to the record. The following
are two of several generalised statements, made by seventeenth-century
writers about Gold Coast dancing, which shed some light on the pre-
Caribbean history of the calenda: