The only surviving pre-Columbian dance-drama — the trial and ritual sacrifice of a captured warrior of the K'iche' by his Rabinal Achí captor. Performed annually since before the Conquest in the Maya highlands of Guatemala.
1 chapter
Tradition
K'iche' / Achi Maya. Recorded in 1856 by the Brasseur de Bourbourg edition. UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Translation
Richard E. Leinaweaver, "Rabinal Achí: Commentary and English Translation," *Latin American Theatre Review* 1, no. 2 (Spring 1968): 3-53. Open-access scholarly translation, based on the Brasseur de Bourbourg 1862 edition and the Monterde Spanish version. The major modern translation is Dennis Tedlock, *Rabinal Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice* (Oxford UP, 2003).
License
Used under fair-use principles for non-commercial educational and religious commentary. Copyright remains with Richard E. Leinaweaver and the *Latin American Theatre Review*.