This May in the famous Spanish Square in Seville, Spain, I watched a live flamenco dance for the first time. Accompanied by loud, fast Spanish guitar music, the dancer in her colorful, lace-trimmed dress extended her arms, stomped her feet, sharply turned her body to the beat, and showed her powerful emotions. Next, the music became more and more intense, the dancer’s footwork became faster and more and more complicated, the clapping and the emotions became more and more passionate. Then suddenly everything stopped—STAMP!—at the same moment! Flamenco is a dramatic dance full of contrasts: fast and slow, intense and soft, energetic and delicate.
That night we went to experience the fiesta (festival) of Seville, which started as a cow market more than one hundred years ago and has now turned into an important yearly festival that lasts for an entire week. The fiesta was jam-packed with music, laughter, dance, drink, and food. Almost the whole city came out to join the festivities and all the ladies—from toddlers to silver-haired old women—are decked out in colorful, multi-tiered ruffled long dresses with shining shawls on the shoulder and beautiful flowers in the hair; the men in gorgeous velvet jackets and Andalucian hats. On the dance floor—the party ground—people danced Flamenco spontaneously to loud, rhythmic music in pairs, trios, or more, joyfully, jovially, and passionately—it was a festival, so everybody DANCE!
The Flamenco origin story sounds more like a myth to me than dry facts in a history book. One theory is that early Flamenco styles originated back in Muslim Spain (711–1492) since it has certain similarities with dances from the Arab world. Another theory is that Gitanos (wandering Romani people), who arrived in Spain in the 15th century, played an important role in developing the tradition, particularly during the 1800s. Flamenco has deep roots in Andalusia, southern Spain, as it is where Romani people resided.
In 1922, the Flamenco singing contest in Granada’s Alhambra (a venerable palace, fortress, and citadel) helped to preserve Flamenco music and dance. During Franco’s time (1939–1975), Flamenco was adopted as a national art form, and forever after it has been used to symbolize “hot-blooded” Spanish culture and to attract tourism. Flamenco has constantly evolved and absorbed new elements, but its distinctive features such as improvised, complicated footwork, and animated, expressive, passionate emotions are what make it … Flamenco!
The Flamenco performance struck me in many ways, from its high degree of energy and passion to its wide range of exaggerated emotions, as I am used to traditional Chinese dance, which is rooted in thousand years of royal court performance and typically shows soft and harmonious music and body movement and subtle but deep emotion. The dynamic Flamenco performances with its ardor and drama keep me fascinated and excited. Learning Flamenco dance is going to be on my schedule soon…
That night we went to experience the fiesta (festival) of Seville, which started as a cow market more than one hundred years ago and has now turned into an important yearly festival that lasts for an entire week. The fiesta was jam-packed with music, laughter, dance, drink, and food. Almost the whole city came out to join the festivities and all the ladies—from toddlers to silver-haired old women—are decked out in colorful, multi-tiered ruffled long dresses with shining shawls on the shoulder and beautiful flowers in the hair; the men in gorgeous velvet jackets and Andalucian hats. On the dance floor—the party ground—people danced Flamenco spontaneously to loud, rhythmic music in pairs, trios, or more, joyfully, jovially, and passionately—it was a festival, so everybody DANCE!
The Flamenco origin story sounds more like a myth to me than dry facts in a history book. One theory is that early Flamenco styles originated back in Muslim Spain (711–1492) since it has certain similarities with dances from the Arab world. Another theory is that Gitanos (wandering Romani people), who arrived in Spain in the 15th century, played an important role in developing the tradition, particularly during the 1800s. Flamenco has deep roots in Andalusia, southern Spain, as it is where Romani people resided.
In 1922, the Flamenco singing contest in Granada’s Alhambra (a venerable palace, fortress, and citadel) helped to preserve Flamenco music and dance. During Franco’s time (1939–1975), Flamenco was adopted as a national art form, and forever after it has been used to symbolize “hot-blooded” Spanish culture and to attract tourism. Flamenco has constantly evolved and absorbed new elements, but its distinctive features such as improvised, complicated footwork, and animated, expressive, passionate emotions are what make it … Flamenco!
The Flamenco performance struck me in many ways, from its high degree of energy and passion to its wide range of exaggerated emotions, as I am used to traditional Chinese dance, which is rooted in thousand years of royal court performance and typically shows soft and harmonious music and body movement and subtle but deep emotion. The dynamic Flamenco performances with its ardor and drama keep me fascinated and excited. Learning Flamenco dance is going to be on my schedule soon…
