Flamenco Dance: Facts about Flamenco Dancing in Spain

The culture and history of Spain has always been influenced by many external factors and the location of the nation is one of them. Flamenco dance is one of the best examples to underline this fact. Flamenco is actually a musical genre, specifically belonging to the beautiful region of Andalusia. Though the etymology of the word flamenco is not very clear, it is said to be derived from the Hispanic-Arabic word fellahmengu, meaning - 'expelled people'. At the end of the Moorish reign, the word was used to refer to the Muslim Andalusian people. Initially, the flamenco dance was performed in and for small groups and that too very secretly. With time, it gained popularity and is now a very famous dance form. A brief acquaintance with Spanish history, is very important if we want to know the facts related to flamenco dancing.

History of Flamenco Dance

Andalusia is the extreme southern region of Spain and lies on the northern shores of the Mediterranean sea. It can be considered as the midpoint, that separates middle eastern Asia from Europe. This location had its own share of lows and highs in the formation of Spanish culture and the history of flamenco as well. The region was constantly exploited by many emperors, starting from the Moorish then Persian, Roman, Greek, Sephardis (Jewish) and finally the nomadic kings. These explorers were accompanied by traders, musicians, metal workers, palmists and dancers, who very conveniently mixed up with the local people. These people constantly moved in groups and were known as gitanos or the gypsies. Flamenco was initially the tradition of the Andalusian gypsy community, belonging to the the Guadalquivir valley.

All this started with the famous 'Reconquesta', that took place in the Kingdom of Castilla. It was a fight to get rid of the Muslim community and to get back the Christian honor in the Iberian Peninsula. It lasted for more than 400 years (from 712 AD - 1238 AD). By then all the Muslims were either expelled from the region or were converted to Christianity. In this time period, Flamenco dance was performed by the gypsies to express their anguish and despair, of what they went through, during 'Reconquesta'. It was the year 1782, when the Leniency Edict of Charles III, gave the gypsies a right to perform the dance in public.

During the Phoenician empire, Hindu dancers were chartered in the city of Cadiz, to entertain the people at the time of religious festivals. This embedded the Indian dances like Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakal and Nianipuri in the flamenco. Flamenco got influenced by these dances and included the turnout leg position, angled body and arms, spread out fingers, rapid zooming turns and the percussive movements of feet along with the flamenco music and clapping of hands!

Facts about Flamenco Dance

The late 18th century was the period when flamenco was on total ascension. Performed at the 'cafés cantantes', it was really the time when flamenco dance was completely professionalized and taken to a newer level. With the passage of time a lot of improvisations happened and now flamenco has more than 50 musical styles, known as 'palos'. These styles are classified on the basis of their rhythmic patterns, modes, geographic origin, chord progression and the formation of stanzas. It was the time when the variegation occurred in the types of performing flamenco. Before it was permitted legally, flamenco was as if a private ritual for the gypsies, who performed the dance hidden from the other people.

Flamenco dance is combination of dance steps with the Andalusian folklore, folk songs and instruments of Mozarabic origin. Instruments like, tambourines, finger cymbals known as 'Castanets' and other tuneful musical instruments are also an integral part of the dance form. Flamenco dance is also greatly influenced by the Moroccan 'Shikhat' and African dance forms. The very first flamenco cante jondo (deep song), was a passionate cry of despair of the poor and marginalized Andalusian peasants. Every performance used to carry a message and it was conveyed through the rhythm of the flamenco guitar along with the chaps of the dancer and also the applauds from the audience. All these make flamenco an extremely passionate dance form, that touches the deepest of human emotions.

One simply cannot tell apart the flamenco music from Spanish flamenco dancing. Flamenco music is the inherent part of the Spanish culture, deeply influenced by various cultures but still totally distinguished. Songs, guitar and the dance are its 3 components. The melodious synthesis of all these integral parts of flamenco makes it a great dance form. The male flamenco dancer is known as 'bailaor' and the female, 'bailaora'. They wear some atypical theatrical flamenco dancing costumes. A bailaor wears a tight black or red tuxedo and flat Cordoban hats, while bailaoras wear a long and beautiful frilled dresses called bata de cola, colored black, white, red, blue and sometimes pink, accompanied with a shawl, high heels and a fan. They also wear a rose behind their ears.

Flamenco fiestas are organized in all the regions of Spain, but Andalusia is still holding the platform. Seville, Granada, Cadiz and Jerez de la Frontera are the three places famous for flamenco dances in Andalusia, where various flamenco dance shows are organized on the streets. There are numerous penas (flamenco clubs), in which the dance is performed and practiced on a regular basis. The flamenco dance is one of the best tourist attractions in Spain.

The popularity of flamenco dance is touching the skies even in the modern day Spain. Advent of the mass media, has taken flamenco dance, which started as an emotional outburst of the gypsies, to the world. Flamenco, has now become one of the most popular dancing styles in the world. Keeping the facts about flamenco dancing in mind, Venga, bailamos!!!