author
active 17th century Juan de Esquivel Navarro
A rare voice from seventeenth-century Spain, he is remembered for writing one of the period’s key books on dance. His work opens a window onto courtly manners, performance, and social life in Seville under Philip IV.
1 Audiobook
Discursos sobre el arte del dançado y sus exelencias y primer origen, reprobando las acciones deshonestas
by active 17th century Juan de Esquivel Navarro
About the author
Juan de Esquivel Navarro was a Spanish dance master and writer active in the seventeenth century, with strong ties to Seville. Reliable sources describe him as a dancing master at the court of Philip IV and as the author of Discursos sobre el arte del danzado, published in Seville in 1642.
That book is often noted as the only known printed Spanish treatise on dance from the seventeenth century. Beyond steps and technique, it is valued for what it reveals about etiquette, artistic taste, and everyday social codes in Golden Age Spain.
Although many details of his life remain uncertain, his reputation endures because this single work preserves a vivid picture of dance culture in his time. For modern readers, he offers both practical insight into historical dance and a lively glimpse of the world in which it was performed.