Between Spain and Argentina: Representacions of Identity in the Quest to be Modern

Resumen

I propose to examine the connections between Spain and Argentina through the representation of identity in Antonia Mercé’s dances and in the construction of her figure as an artist. These connections are complex rather than homogeneous and bear witness to Mercé’s process of exoticizing Argentine national identity. I will first discuss the notions of «Argentineness» and «Spanishness» in Argentina at the time, before briefly examining Antonia Mercé’s influence on the Argentine dance scene in the first half of the twentieth century. Finally, I will analyze some aspects of her Suite Argentina. My hypothesis is that with this piece Mercé achieved the goal of the intellectual elite in Buenos Aires, namely to create a choreography of stylized Argentine folkloric dances filtered through the prism of modernity. Thus, this piece functioned as a cohesive representation of identity in a romantic stereotype of the Argentine nation both for the country itself and abroad, where it was widely performed by Mercé and lent legitimacy to local dances.