“Gimnasia, Música y Patria”: exhibiciones gimnásticas en el franquismo. El caso de los Festivales salesianos y el XIV Campeonato Nacional de Gimnasia Educativa

This interdisciplinary research was possible thanks to the finding of two sources of great artistic value for physical education in Spain, which have been virtually ignored until now, in the National Library and Administration’s General Archive (the Gymnastics Festivals of the Salesian Gallery [192?] and the obligatory set of exercises with music of the 14th National Championship of Educational Gymnastics [1961-1963]). The main aim of this article is the historicist reconstruction of educational gymnastic practices during Franco´s regime by locating and assembling parts which were scattered; analyzing and correlating music and movement; and editing and studying the body exercises, lyrics and sounds contained therein, which cast light on the historical context.The study concludes that Gymnastics, Music and, especially, its direct coupling were the touchstone of the esthetic and educational ideology of the Movement, as they brought an enormous benefit to the moral and intellectual education of young people. At the same time, the above mentioned disciplines were used as effective propaganda. This was achieved by the organization of great pomp, performances and gymnastic exhibitions, which proved an authentic patriotic window to the world, in which, in a massive and enthusiast way, the national spirit of participants and spectators was moulded and lift.El hallazgo en la Biblioteca Nacional y el Archivo General de la Administración de dos fuentes para la educación física española de gran valor artístico (los Festivales Gimnásticos de la Galería Salesiana [192?] y las tablas con música del XIV Campeonato Nacional de Gimnasia Educativa [1961-1963]), prácticamente ignoradas hasta el momento, ha impulsado este trabajo de carácter interdisciplinar. Como principal objetivo se pretende la reconstrucción historicista de prácticas de gimnasia educativa en el franquismo a través de la localización y ensamblaje de partes dispersas, análisis y correlación de parámetros músico-corporales, y la edición y estudio de algunos ejercicios corporales, letras y sonidos, alumbradores de su contexto. El estudio concluye que Gimnasia, Música y, sobre todo, su correcto acoplamiento, fueron piedra de toque en el ideario del Movimiento por el enorme beneficio que reportaban a la educación moral e intelectual de los jóvenes, empleándose además como eficaz medio de propaganda en grandes fastos y exhibiciones gimnásticas, auténticos escaparates patrióticos en los que, de forma masiva y entusiasta, se moldeaba y elevaba el espíritu nacional de participantes y espectadores