Roselyn Constantino
Spanish and Women´s Studies
Penn State Altoona College
Email: rxc19@psu.edu

In The Flesh: Sor Juana on The Alter

In 2002, Jesusa Rodrodríguez performed Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz´s "Primer sueño" as a strip tease on the alter of the Cloisters of Sor Juana in Mexico City. Rodríguez´s detailed choreography juxtaposed with Sor Juana´s lengthily dense poem permitted the audience an exploration of both the philosophical musings of the poem and of Jesusa´s interpretation of the history, myth, legend and reality of this seventh-century Mexican genius nun. This includes Sor Juana´s complex relationship to the Roman Catholic
hierarchy, colonial Hispanic patriarchal society, religion itself, as well as Sor Juana´s brilliant insight into humanity and life.

The presentation of this strip tease, Jesusa´s sensuous "reading" of Sor Juana and her poem in the Cloisters of this icon of patriarchal society offers numerous opportunities for an study of the power of spectacle in the hands/on the body of woman now claiming for herself and others that which was appropriated by the Church. Using theories of the body and memory, I will explore the various possibilities of interpretation and effect of Jesusa´s performance.