Between the Dreams of K’iqab’ and Tecum: Performing the Dance of the Conquest

Abstract

This essay explores the symbolic function of dreams within traditional Guatemalan dance performances, with particular emphasis on the Baile de la Conquista (Dance of the Conquest). As a ritual enactment descended from the colonial entradas of Moors and Christians, this dance dramatizes the arrival of Spanish conquistadors and the subsequent downfall of Indigenous communities, centering on the figure of the native hero Tecum Umam. Through a choral structure interweaving text, music, costume, and choreography, the performance constructs a narrative of confrontation, defeat, and religious conversion.

Central to this narrative are the prophetic dreams of Indigenous characters such as K’iqab’ and Tecum, which foreshadow the impending catastrophe and serve as pivotal elements in the dramatic arc. This essay argues that such dreams may not reflect authentically Indigenous worldviews, but rather function as discursive devices imposed to naturalize colonial domination, rendering it both inevitable and desirable. In this light, the dance operates not merely as an aesthetic expression, but as a pedagogical tool of Christian submission. Nevertheless, the continued performance of the Baile de la Conquista in contemporary festive contexts suggests a complex process of cultural re-signification. Within its ritual gestures may persist submerged memories of resistance, identity, and historical reinterpretation—revealing the dance as a contested site where hegemonic narratives and subaltern meanings coexist in tension.