Arena, De Arena, Anthonius, Antonius, Antoine des Arens, *ca. 1500 Souliers (near Toulon), †1544 Souliers, French dance theorist and poet. In 1519, he studied in Avignon. He took part in the military campaign of French King Francis I to Italy (1525–27) and Lautrec’s expedition to Naples. He was the author of one of the oldest works on dance forms, mainly branle and basse danse. He wrote a macaronic poem about dance: Antonius de Arena Provençalis de bragardissima villa de Soleriis ad suos compagnones qui sunt de persona friantes, bassas dansas et branlos praticantes, nouvellos per quam plurimos mandat (Avignon 1536). The poem had 11 editions, the last one in 1758.
