DANCE TALKS NOTES

Some believe that the following centuries of persecution provided the tragedy and trauma that ultimately generated
the deep songs in Spain, whose verses often describe moments of terror or grief from a victim’s perspective.
They view the deep song as a monumental creation by some Gypsy families and clans in and around Jerez and
Seville – a testament, forged in the ghettos beyond the earshot of outsiders.
Other authorities dismiss that gitanista or “Gypsyist” view as a romantic backstory devoid of documentation.
They believe that flamenco simply didn’t exist before it was described in the press around 1850. Instead, they
say that many influences coalesced into flamenco song at that time.
Two later and lighter forms of flamenco song, the bulerías and the tangos, are also associated with Gypsy
genesis. The bulerías is an incessant presence in flamenco today, both in its traditional form and as a rhythmic
framework for catchy popular songs termed cancion or copla that appeal to a wider audience.
Other flamenco songs include the light and lively cantinas group – major key forms including the alegrías, the
mirabrás, the caracoles, and the romeras. The sprawling fandangos group seems to have sprung from the folky
and rhythmic fandangos de Huelva, which was “aggrandized” when sung slowly and freely. This led to the
creation of the serious and often melodramatic fandangos naturales and then to regional variants including the
granaínas, malagueñas, tarantas, cartageneras, mineras and others
Another group are the cantes de ida y vuelta, or round-trip songs, which incorporate melodies that filtered into
Latin America from Spain, acquired a distinctive Latin lilt and sway, and returned in the early Twentieth Century
as the guajiras, vidalitas, milongas and colombianas.)
Other flamenco song forms include the farruca and the garrotín, influenced by folk songs of Catalonia; the serranas
from the mountains of Andalusia; the caña and the polo, Andalusian songs influenced by Gypsy aspects of
the solea; the peteneras, which may reflect surviving Jewish influences, and the tientos, a majestic elaboration of
the tangos.
Great singers of the past include La Niña de los Peines, Manuel Torre, Antonio Chacon, Manolo Caracol, Antonio
Mairena and others. More recent figures were La Fernanda de Utrera, El Chocolate, Terremoto de Jerez, La
Paquera and the revolutionary Camarón de la Isla whose work with guitarist Paco de Lucía shattered the conventions
of the flamenco tradition. Enrique Morente was another singer who mastered the art and then made radically
different music. Among the living masters are Jose Mercé, Carmen Linares, Miguel Poveda, Manuel Moneo,
El Torta and Manuel Agujetas.
Flamenco dance is a way of interpreting all of the art’s rhythmic forms (and recently, some of the free-rhythm
forms). The dance sometimes surges up spontaneously as untrained people feel impelled to respond to the pulse
of a flamenco performance – usually a bulerías. That aspect of flamenco is often seen during the encore segment
of a troupe’s performance, when everyone including the accompanists takes a star turn.
But flamenco dance is above all a highly developed art. It seems to spring from the Spanish earth, recalling the
centuries of Moorish occupation, the simple folk dance forms of the earliest fandangos and verdiales, the dignity
of Spain’s formal court dances, the weight of poverty and oppression seen in the soleá, or the lightness, energy
and sheer joy that still shines in the alegrías.
Over time, flamenco dance evolved toward a greater majesty, as techniques became more complex and the differences
between feminine and masculine dance became codified.
The woman’s dance was more reposed, focusing on the arms and head while the feet smoothly marked the
rhythm. The arms were raised high above the head while the hands turned from the wrist in smooth twisting motions
to further accentuate the expressive line of the arms.
Violent, abrupt movement of the body was rare. The bata de cola – the flamenco dress with a long train – was
introduced. The skirt scarcely moved at all, rarely rising above the ground. The emphasis was on garbo, elegance
and grace.