Dante's Performance

Dante's Performance presents an insightful rereading of the Commedia as a performative text, meant to be enacted in the imagination and the senses of the reader. Ciabattoni argues that the medieval world that Dante lived in was filled with sound, movement, and spectacle—from liturgical chants and miracle plays to processions and sacred dances. Much of this sound hailed from a strong oral tradition, including songs, musical/bodily performance, acting and ritual gestures that medieval audiences would have recognized intuitively. Modern readers, however, are not nearly as familiar with these cultural and ritualistic frameworks, and so Ciabattoni reconstructs them in his book. In this way, modern readers too are able to appreciate Dante's multimedia performance as a staged spiritual journey that unfolds through sound, gesture, and spectacle.In the first chapter, “Medieval Theatre before and up to Dante,” he provides a broad picture of the Commedia's cultural “stage” by describing both ecclesiastical and popular performance traditions, from quem quaeritis tropes and ordines prophetarum to mystery plays and carnival processions. He shows how Dante draws on this wide range of medieval performance traditions—imitating everything from stage direction to musical styles—to shape the Commedia as a kind of grand theatrical production.The second chapter, “Dialogue, Drama, and Carnival in the Inferno,” looks at how Dante-author depicts the theatre of Hell—blending drama, farce, and carnival-like chaos to expose the sins of the damned souls Dante-protagonist encounters. In particular, the dramatic theatrical dialogue, the inversion of the liturgy, and the grotesque parody stand out and underscore the performance aspect of the canticle. Moreover, the visual and aural elements of these greatly enhance the reader's understanding of morality. Ciabattoni focuses on Paolo and Francesca's drama d'amore (Inf. V) that echoes elements of courtly plays; Farinata and Cavalcante's two-person scene (Inf. X) that echoes elements of classical Roman comedy; and Malebranche's buffoonery and satirical parody (Inf. XXI–XXII) that echoes elements of the commedia dell'arte. Throughout the chapter, he shows how Dante portrays sin as a kind of performance gone wrong—where people stumble through broken scripts and roles they can't quite play.The third chapter, “Liturgical Drama in the Purgatorio,” explores how Dante moves away from dramatic spectacle and turns instead toward sacred ritual in the second canticle. Ciabattoni argues that purgation is not just described—it is brought to life through action and ritual. He draws powerful connections between the structure of the Purgatorio and the flow of the Catholic Mass: confession, penance, purification, and finally, communion. In this light, spiritual transformation becomes a drama, especially with the angelic boat scene, the pilgrim songs, and Beatrice's triumphal procession.The fourth chapter, “Dancing in the Afterlife,” focuses exclusively on Dante's pervasive and dramatic use of dance from Earthly Paradise through all of Paradise. Here, dance functions as both a bodily and metaphysical articulation of joy, spiritual ascent, and, ultimately, spiritual harmony. Ciabattoni highlights Paradiso X and XXIV, noting the performative, choreographed dances of the saints and theologians moving in spirals that echo real-life sacred dances and engage the reader's bodily imagination. He convincingly demonstrates how Dante uses dance extensively throughout the Paradiso to represent a cosmic order, divine joy, and even theological expression.The fifth chapter “Theatre, Dance, and Polyphony in the Paradiso,” explores the musical theology woven into the liturgical drama that expresses divine unity. It examines the multiple celestial choirs that sing continually in metaphysical, polyphonic structures with overlapping voices. In particular, Ciabattoni notes that Dante describes harmonies in Paradiso XVII that are similar to medieval innovations in polyphony. These harmonies function not just as mere metaphor—but as a foundational structure and a way of understanding the complicated nature of Paradise. Ciabattoni also looks at the river of light in Paradiso XXI where the souls, since they lack actual bodies, appear as pure light in elaborate visual choreography. He then examines the climax of the grand performance, the vision of the Trinity. The most abstract canticle of the poem, Paradiso, is actually the most choreographed and correspondingly, the climax of the canticle becomes a sublime, word-transcending performance—an orchestration of sight, sound, and intellect that evokes that which words cannot describe.In the final chapter, Ciabattoni reiterates that the entire Commedia must be seen as a progressively immersive spiritual journey, one that combines text, sound, body, and memory. Each canticle uses a different performative mode—grotesque and carnivalized drama in the Inferno, redemptive ritual and liturgical reenactment in the Purgatorio, and transcendent choreography and metaphysical polyphonic music in the Paradiso. What's more, he suggests, this intermedial experience pushes the reader to not just read but to actually perform Dante's work as well. Ciabattoni concludes his thoroughly researched and captivating study: “If Dante is indeed the divine speaker of his poem, then we as readers cannot but be, in our own manner, actors and interpreters of his sounding poetry” (238).Ciabattoni's final point—that the reader actively participates in interpreting Dante's poem—opens up fertile ground for examining twentieth- and twenty-first-century immersive, multimedia, and theatrical adaptations of the Commedia, where performers—like readers—embody and reinterpret the narrative. A great place to start is Tod Machover's Hyperstring Trilogy (1991–93), though many other works take a similarly interactive approach. These contemporary performances are co-created in real time, shaped by audience input, environmental conditions, and sometimes even AI interpretation (as with the artist-robot Ai-Da) or generative processes. With changing instruments, staging, or digital media, each performance is intentionally different, making the Commedia feel fresh and alive every time it is experienced.