338 drama and theater: The Americas fountains, artificial waterfalls and streams, and gardens where people could rest during breaks in the entertainment or go at other times to socialize and relax During the reign of Augustus pantomime became popular Usually depicting tragic myths, it was often performed to music, but as with pantomime today the actors and actresses did not speak They were much admired for their ability to tell stories with their movements, and even everyday audiences became very sophisticated in their appreciation of the art form, able to note even slight mistakes It was possible for the best actors to become very rich, and slaves often won their freedom with skilled performances Mimes, dancing, and pantomimes were performed throughout the rest of the history of the Roman Empire as essential parts of festivals and other celebrations If a wealthy Roman wanted to become popular, he or she would pay for extravagant performances Even after the fall of the Western Roman Empire and during the reigns of Germanic kings in Italy and much of the rest of Europe, mimes and pantomimes continued to be performed until historical records for them disappear in the 600s c.e.; they probably survived on a small scale during the Middle Ages in southern Europe THE AMERICAS BY ALESSIA FRASSANI Drama and theater are essential aspects of Native American artistic expression today Theatrical performances are a ritual activity triggered by specific events and needs and with specific desired results Entertainment is achieved through storytelling and special effects but is not always the ultimate goal Ensuring the community’s well-being is often a main concern Archaeological evidence suggests that public performances in the ancient Americas embodied some of these same elements People of high social stature (kings and religious figures) received particularly grand rituals To some degree ceremonial performances, in ancient America and elsewhere, were political The more complex the social organization, the stronger was the need for cohesion among different social classes Ceremonial behavior toward higher-ranking people served this purpose Shamanism, a common feature of Native American religions, played a crucial role in early drama Shamans, through innate ability and years of training, are thought to be able to such things as transform themselves into animals or supernatural beings During rituals a rhythmic beating of drums and shaking of rattles, repetitive chants, dancing, and the use of elaborate costumes accompany the shaman’s transformation Shamanic rituals are thus theatrical in their very nature Conjuring up the ancestral dead was a common purpose of such performances Assuming the identity of a supernatural being enabled the shaman to communicate with the dead in order to resolve critical political, economic, or social issues Excavations all over the Americas have uncovered small figurines from ancient times In North America the funerary sites of the Adena and Hopewell civilizations (1000 b.c.e.– 400 c.e.) have yielded large numbers of ritual items shaped like animals or humans A tobacco pipe from Newark, Ohio, for example, represents a seated man wearing a bear costume In Native American lore bears are feared and respected and are sometimes referred to as “grandfathers.” This pipe probably mourned and revered a deceased shaman-bear and testifies to the importance of animal doubles in early Amerindian rituals In Mesoamerica the sites of Tlatilco in central Mexico (1200–900 b.c.e.) and Colima and Nayarit in western Mexico (100 b.c.e.–200 c.e.) are famous for their abundance of small clay figurines, especially from burials, depicting dancers and musicians The figurines, which may represent either the deceased or funerary attendants, often have richly plumed headdresses, wear jade or shell tinklers on their ankles, and hold fans or musical instruments (especially ocarinas) Typical of Colima are assemblages of warrior-dancers with helmets, weapons, and elaborate ritual armor Effigy headdress includes crocodiles, sharks, and deities Pacific Coast people of Mexico still wear similar costumes during annual religious celebrations The rich ceramic tradition of Jama-Coaque and Tumaco– La Tolita, flourishing along the Pacific coast of Ecuador and Colombia between about 600 b.c.e and 500 c.e., produced small effigy figures that include musicians, dancers, and ritual performers Shamans, often impersonating bats, birds of prey, or jaguars, perform fertility rituals by dancing and scattering seeds and precious stones while shaking rattles Shells, symbols of fertility, decorate clothes and bags and may allude to the shamans’ propitiatory role The bags probably contained coca leaves, used to induce trances, or seeds to be cast ritually The political role of performance became more apparent in Mesoamerica and South America around the first millennium b.c.e The Olmec civilization, flourishing between 1200 and 400 b.c.e on the Gulf coast of Mexico, produced the earliest monumental architecture and stone sculpture in Mesoamerica A rising elite instituted large and ambitious programs and used rituals and public spaces to legitimize their political and economic privileges At the Olmec site of La Venta, pyramids and platforms around large plazas created stages for open-air ceremonies that included music, singing, and dance Stelae—vertical stone slabs carved, inscribed, or sometimes painted with commemorative information—were first created during the Late Formative Period (400 b.c.e.–150 c.e.) Often portraying rulers in full attire, they provide interesting information about the theatrical devices employed to convey the supernatural powers of these individuals Stela at La Venta, for example, shows a royal figure wearing a giant headdress with decorations probably referring to the maize (corn) plant, Me-