What is the purpose of the book Juan Ignacio de Iztueta and I?

To take a step further in the knowledge of Juan Ignacio de Iztueta, clarify its character and character. An uncertain apologetic world has only confused the historical reality of “our character”, its origin. This has “forced” us to open a new field of research in his book on dances; we have analyzed the contents and the forms Iztueta wrote, we have investigated the sources of all the topics he explained, we have taken into account everything he said, even what he silenced. That is what our misery has sought to clarify.

What news has the book brought to your great work in the dance world?

I have been a long time since, so it is a good way to close our life dedicated to the study of Basque dance. Without forgetting that the breadth of the subject has inevitably led us to investigate European carnivals and other traditional dances. Moreover, in relation to the character of Iztueta, as well as the social importance it has been given, it seemed to us of vital importance to analyze this person from positions opposed to the valuations that have been given about it. It was necessary to “clean” Iztueta’s biography, his desires, his moods and his way of being in the world, had to pass through the sieve of an exhaustive historical study.

Who was Juan Ignacio de Iztueta?

He was born in Zaldibia in 1767. Iztueta was a special person, originated by the psychopathy or sociopathy she suffered throughout her life, known as Disease of Antisocial Identity. People with this disorder and imbalance usually face close environments. Iztueta [Gipuzkoa] was charged for the first time for robbery at the house of writer Martín Antonio de Aldasoro of Gaintza, at the request of the Vicar of Zaldibia, José Ignacio de Echave. In his first trial, disseminated by the Tribunal de la Inquisición, he revealed his manipulative capacity and his cruel and indifferent inclination towards his wife, María Joaquín de Linzoain. He had been tried and imprisoned, but he had not shown any remorse or guilt for his actions, that is, he had no idea of responsible behaviour, it was a total carelessness.

A sound basis is needed to establish this.

Of course. The misconception that the patient of this disease or disorder may pose Robert D. Canadian Doctor Hare explains this. According to this specialist, from the age of 40, in some cases the psychopathological tendency can be reduced if extremist and violent acts have not occurred. This “maturity” that has just begun helps the patient to see it and receive it in a different way. But for that reason, these patients are still what they are. In the case of Zaldibia, while serving fourteen years in prison, he had time to “adapt” himself to his personality. Moreover, he married Kontxsehi for the second time, [Conception of Bengoechea], which influenced the direction he took in his vida.Kontxsehi gave him a certain balance. However, Dr. Hare states that the personality of these people does not vary substantially.

He made a brief critique of the book Gipuzkoako Dantzak. What is the basis of criticism?

Iztueta's explanation of the old melodies does not correspond to the heritage that was made in Gipuzkoa. We think that his contributions are from a teacher of the previous Story Dances, probably from a teacher who taught at a college of the Society of Jesus. Perhaps these studies were not regulated, but that teacher could have acted in Azpeitia the same year he was expelled from the Company of Jesus; in 1767, the year Iztueta was born. The schools of the Society of Jesus, including URL 0 XIX.era, were the educators of all the intellectual elites of Europe and America. Among his subjects was Dance, which was part of the subject of Rhetoric. Dance training was carried out by specialists in dances. A very interesting example of this subject is the handbook Discourses on the Art of the Dançado (Seville, 1642) by Juan Esquivel Navarro. It includes, among others, the steps of the dances, which are called four atropees. Similar to the four hairs in Iztueta's book.

What value does the book of Iztueta Gipuzkoako Dantzak have?

Independent. The book allowed us to collect the method of Dances of Account, it's a great book. Without this edition of Iztueta, the method would have been lost. But, as I say, the heritage of the book is not yours.

The title of the book is suggestive: Juan Ignacio de Iztueta and I. Why Iztueta and you?

Iztueta's first wife, María Joaquín, was called Linzoain, from the valley of Erro. My family comes from there. On the other hand, the ancestors of Mary Joaquin come from Azpiroz, from the valley of Larraun, and from there also came the ancestors of Marian, my wife, those of last name Arrangi. At the same time, there are a-causal links between Marian and I, based on the toponymy of Ureta, and in the houses of Urbeltzia and Harregy, located in the Bajonavarra village of Heleta.

The book is also subtitled Synchronicity, Predestination and Acausal Links. What are these concepts?

These three concepts join the same idea, and that is: the appearance of two or more simultaneous facts without cause-effect connection between them, if so, are related by the meaning of the concept.

Marian Arrangi, your wife, has died this year. Who was it for you? Who has been in the Basque culture and more specifically in your work on dance?

Marian has been my dear wife – even if she’s gone, I still live with her every day. It was like a cabel with a charm and a spark that filled everything. In addition, he possessed unique creative abilities, temperament and genius for musical intuition. During his long life he was able to create a series of concrete melodies, destined for special moments that were dancing. In the field of traditional Basque music, the contribution of Mary is innate, has no parallel.

Can you end your trajectory as a folklorist with this book?

I guess so, at least to some extent. I started as a dancer in 1959, and I'll soon be 60 years old in dance research. I've completed a cycle, I hope it's made up of other researchers and experts.

What do you think about traditional dance today?

The world that has interested me in giving meaning or shape to the new dances, that is, the symbolic fund of our traditional dances, does not seem to be of great interest today. That should arouse some concern among the people and, above all, it should cause some concern to our rulers. In fact, it must be borne in mind how work is being done in other localities, how well traditional dances have been collected and interpreted in the nations of Hungary or the Caucasus. Dances are an essential part of their cultural identity. In our case, for lack of cultural direction, for lack of responsibility in the field of creation, we lose the dances, and nothing will replace them.

Do you agree with the evolution of Basque dances today?

No. I am not optimistic about the evolution of Basque dances. The traditional dance and the cultural world that have created it - in part they have been conserved - makes it possible to create new dances and take them to the scene. I do not want to praise my figure, but Marian and I have made a great repertoire dance in the Argia group, such as the dances of Eaurta, Irradaka, Muriska, Almute dantza, Iruñea ez-dantza, Elgoibar ezmessenger-dantza, Andoaingo ez -dantza, Jorge Otegalaireskuza. In any case, the dance situation is worrying, at least I am concerned, we cannot regard insignificance as a creative model. In the field of traditional dance I know what it is to create, but I do not understand that “to evolve” was understood.

When does dance stop being traditional and when it becomes modern?

The language of traditional dances is long-standing, it is modern in itself, it does not need to be “modernized”.

This year the dance film has been held. Director Telmo Esnal, production designer Koldobika Jauregi and choreographer Juan Antonio Urbeltz are the main authors of this work. ARGIA journalist Gorka Bereziartua has called the Essences Choreography film.

To see the choreography of essences in the dance film is to take into account the metaphorical background, since Telmo Esnal and Koldobika Jauregi have recognized the world of insects present in my theses and that they are metaphorically present in the dances of carnivals and swords.

As a choreographer of the film, what has Bereziartua's assessment suggested?

For me it's an honor, but it's also interesting to have brought dance to the movies. Not because they bring dance as such, but because they present metaphors that give it a transcendent sense.

What has the film brought to the dance world? Or what did she give to the same dancer?

The film has made known the acceptance and recognition of many years of work. Moreover, it has given the world or people the opportunity to know dance, not as “traditional dances” they understand, but as “X-rays of dances”. As if dances had been taken in x-rays.

At what historical moment is the Basque dance?

It's not completely recovered. Today there is a great proliferation of “contemporary” models that reflect the lack of cultural direction I mentioned earlier. In the last hundred years, traditional dance has been “contaminated” by models taken from classical dance, to the point of ending the traditional model, which, to put it another way, has left nothing of profit. It is now the new “contemporary” model derived from the Aurresku Championship that replaces the traditional model, which has never been matched in the dance arena. Farewell is made like the cradle of dance.

Does the dance situation also reflect the situation of Basque and Basque culture?

No doubt. The Basque is adrift, the current situation is untenable. The confusing character of Juan Ignacio de Iztueta, his disorientation, is the succession of the paradigmatic model in which we live. The Iztueta model is linked to the current political situation and the lack of national awareness of our people.