(b Solliès, [now Solliès-Pont, Var], late 15th century; d Saint Rémy, Bouches du Rhône, or Solliès, after 1543). French dance theorist and man of letters. In 1519 he began to study law at the University of Avignon, after completing his studies he joined the French troops that invaded Italy. Late in 1528 he returned to Provence and spent several years in Aix until he was named juge ordinaire of Saint Rémy in 1536.
The most widely read of Arena’s writings is the dance instruction manual Ad suos compagnones studiantes qui sunt de persona friantes bassas danzas de nova bragarditer (Avignon, ?1519), which also includes an account of his experiences in the Italian campaign. Its 32 editions published between 1519 and 1770 testify to its popularity. The sections on dance date from Arena’s student days in Avignon; the main subject is the basse danse as it was practised in the south of France. 58 basses danses ‘qui ne sont pas communes’ are given with their choreography in the traditional French-Burgundian letter tablature, the only difference being that the letter ‘b’ (branle) of the older sources has been replaced by the letter ‘c’ (congé). The high-spirited, humorous text, intended to improve not only the dance technique but ballroom manners in general, contains much valuable information concerning measure, tempo and step sequences of the dances. Particularly important is Arena’s full description of the reverence, a movement so common to the courtiers of 15th-century Burgundy and Italy that no earlier writer had thought it necessary to describe it in detail.
Arena published two books on legal matters, and is also well known for his Meygra entrepriza(Avignon, 1537; ed. N. Bonafous, Aix, 1860), in which he condemned the ravages afflicted on Provence by Charles V’s armies. He wrote in macaronic language, a mixture of classical Latin, French, Italian and Provençal. His verse is supple, his gifts of observation and characterization keen, and his humour irrepressible.
Ad suos compagnones studiantes qui sunt de persona friantes bassas danzas de nova bragarditer (Avignon, ?1519 and many later edns [see Mullally]); ed. and trans. J. Guthrie and M. Zorzi: ‘Rules of Dancing: Antonius Arena’, Dance Research, iv/2 (1986), 3–53 [incl. introduction and notes by J. Rimmer; based on copy dated 1529, GB-Lbl]
A. Fabre: Antonius Arena: notice historique et littéraire (Marseilles,1860)
J. Plattard: ‘Antonius de Arena et les danses au XVIe siècle’, Revue des livres anciens, i (Paris, 1913–14), 140–43
I. Brainard: Die Choreographie der Hoftänze in Burgund, Frankreich und Italien im 15. Jahrhundert (diss., U. of Göttingen, 1956)
D. Heartz: ‘The Basse Dance: its Evolution circa 1450 to 1550’, AnnM, vi (1958–63), 287–340
R. Mullally: ‘The Editions of Antonius Arena’s Ad suos compagnones studiantes’, Gutenberg Jb 1979, 146–57
D.R. Wilson: ‘Theory and Practice in 15th Century French Basse Dance’, Historical Dance, ii/3 (1983), 1–2
F. Garavini: ‘Le traité de danse d’un étudiant provençal autour de 1520: Antonius Arena’, Recherche en danse, no.3 (1984), 5–14
P. Dixon: ‘Reflections on Basse Dance Source Material: a Dancer’s Review’, Historical Dance, ii/4 (1984–5), 24–7
D.R. Wilson: ‘The Development of the French Basse Danse’, Historical Dance, ii/4 (1984–5), 5–12
INGRID BRAINARD