A Flamenco Primer

Uncategorized — By on September 16, 2007 12:00 am

Flamenco, by
contrast, luxuriates in gravity, feeds off gravity; in short, Flamenco is a
temperamental, Spanish ode to the force of gravity: long hair hangs, sensuous
skirts drape and cling, high heeled shoes percussively stomp and hammer across
the stage, hands clap and faces grimace – the sugar plum fairies they
ain’t.

As one may guess
by Flamenco’s coarse, gritty beauty, it was not the spawn of high Spanish
society. Flamenco has a complex and
sinuous history involving several cultures across many centuries, but one thing
is sure: it has always been the form of oppressed people. It’s thought to have its roots in the
cultural alliance of the Moorish, Jewish, and Gitano (Gypsy) people brought
about by their collective expulsion from Spain in 1492 under the Catholic
Monarchs, Isabel and Fernando. This
unlikely coalition and the artistic convergence that followed gave birth to
flamenco. In its rhythms, the wild and
defiant spirit of its creators is palpable and is further energized by the fact
that, like jazz, flamenco is a largely improvised form – an intricate interplay
between the guitarist, the singer and, of course, the dancer.

From its
inception in southern Spain,
flamenco began its serpentine course through history: at times, popular, at
times condemned – sometimes commercial, sometimes traditional. Often considered base and not worthy of note
by historians, much of the story is ‘off the radar’ so to speak. Eventually it burst into view initiating the
golden age of flamenco (1869-1910).

At this time
“Cafes Cantantes” (cafes featuring music and dance) became popular in the
southern cities and flamenco became a legitimate form of entertainment. As is expected, authenticity is the price it
paid for this newfound popularity with the masses determining which styles were
performed. At this time, many less
accessible forms were lost and others neglected. Flamenco’s development continued and was
helped along by Federico Garcia Lorca, Spain’s premiere poet, who believed
that culture needed to be more closely tied to popular tradition. In 1922, he,
with Manuel
de Falla, a renowned composer, organized a folk festival to celebrate and
maintain the form.

The proliferation and prominence of flamenco continued, but during the
1950s post-war tourist boom, it faced a crisis as the repertoire became even
more tourist-driven. Luckily, many of
the performers responded by reconnecting with their past and returning to the
roots of flamenco.

Since this time, flamenco has been firmly established as an art form and
today continues to grow and diversify fusing with everything from pop to
hip-hop to jazz. Although, the south
continues to be the stronghold, performances can be found in most major
cities. While in Spain, a
performance of flamenco is not to be missed since it can, as Lorca knew, communicate
volumes of history as succinctly and beautifully as poetry.