The fire behind Flamenco

Flamenco origins come from de Gypsy group of Andalusia in the south of Spain, for them, Flamenco was more than a folk dance characterized by hand clapping, it was a whole culture, it was art, it was a significant movement, it was a lifestyle.

The gypsies arrived in Andalusia in the 15th century, by this time they were persecuted by the catholic monarchy, and because of that they got involved with other minority cultures, such as jewish, slaves and moorish people, all those groups influenced Flamenco as it was evolving to what we know nowadays. Flamenco was used as a manifestation way against the oppression by the monarchy and three centuries later, it started to finally receive continental recognition.

If you have already seen a Flamenco show, you must know that the performances are intense and full of emotion. Flamenco is an art that explores the deepest feelings, such as love, passion and joy, and these are transmitted through voice and movement. There’s always an emotional element. Singers known as “cantaores” and dancers known as “bailaores” communicate to each other, allowing themselves to improvise every single movement, as they exteriorize their feelings to the audience.

Dancers involve upper torso and arms movement (called braceo), hand and finger movement (called florea), footwork (called zapateo), and heel-work (called taconeo), which are often performed in long solos. The musicians who join the dance, play instruments like guitars, cajon (percussion) and castanets, incorporating “jaleos” which are calls of encouragement, such as “Olé”, all those elements and expressions represent their identity and are important to complete this dance. To learn all these elements we suggest you to take this StepFlix Flamenco class that will give you a short introduction of what you need to start dancing Flamenco.

There are over 50 different Flamenco rhythms, called Palos, these are classified by elements such as rhythmic patterns, chord progression and stanzas. Some Palos are sung acapella while others have guitar or the cajon, which is a box that performs the percussion. Some palos are exclusively for men and others for women, while some may be performed by either. Some of the most popular palos are:

Tangos:

Its music is a couplet, composed of 3 or 4 eight-syllable verses, their accents on beats are marked clearly with heavy strumming.

Rumba Flamenca:

Also known simply as rumba is accompanied by guitars, which flow more freely than in other palos, hand clapping, occasional body slapping, castanets and the cajón. The dance is improvised with prominent hip and shoulder movements.

Fandango:

Is structured on a 3/4 measure and has a great tonal variety. The Flamenco fandango copla consists of four or five octosyllable verses, which sometimes become six by repetition of one of them. They are accompanied basically with guitar and palms, although it can be accompanied with violins or “a palo seco” which means without music.

Sevillana:

Is a very famous Flamenco style. It comes from Seville, Spain and is usually danced in Andalusia fairs. The rhythm of Sevillanas can be interpreted as 3/4. Each sevillana is composed of 4, with each part divided into 3 coplas and with each copla made up of 6 movements.They are normally danced in pairs. The last copla usually finishes in a beautiful and romantic way.

SoleÃ:

Is a slow rhythm composed by a 12-beat music with accents on counts 3, 6, 8, 10 and 12. The singer and guitarist start together and little by little the dancer starts joining the duet.

This look in Flamenco, was adapted from the gypsies over the time; men usually wear a tight black or red tuxedo and flat hats while women wear a dress or long skirt, typically in black, red or white and may be either plain or patterned, with the most famous being the polka dotted (traje de lunares).The outfit is completed with a shawl worn over the shoulders. The traditional dancer also wears her hair in a bun adorned with flowers.

A theory says that Flamenco is called that way because it derives from the word “Flama” in Spanish, which means fire or flame, alluding to the fiery behavior of the gypsies. Flamenco is a unique dance distinguished by its graceful movements of arms, energetic tapping, intense laments and guitar strumming. Its emotional intensity takes anyone to another world; if you want to experience this, we invite you to our Live Flamenco class (in Spanish), taught by our StepFlix instructor, Ania Diaz on October 11th 2020 at 12pm (Miami Time). In this class she’ll go over a warm up specifically for Flamenco, arm-work and footwork exercises, synchronization and coordination practices and much more. Don’t miss the chance to fill your mind and body with this incredible knowledge that will give you a better understanding of this dance and more awareness of your proper posture and structure when it comes to dancing Flamenco. Here’s the link to sign up https://bit.ly/flamencoania1

Also read: Lo que no te dicen en las clase de Flamenco, guia definitiva del braceo