Flamenco shoes - Dancing Flamenco

Spanish Gypsy and Flamenco Dance History

Flamenco is one of the great European nonacademic musical genres. More than simply a type of folk music, flamenco embodies a complex musical and cultural tradition. There are many questions remaining about the roots of flamenco, but it is generally acknowledged that flamenco grew out of the unique interplay of native Andalusian, Islamic, Sephardic, and Gypsy cultures.

dancing flamenco

Flamenco History

This cultures existed in Andalusia prior to and after the Reconquest. Latin American and especially Cuban influences have also been important to shape several flamenco musical forms.
Once the seeds of flamenco were planted in Andalusia, it grew as a separate subculture, first centered in the provinces of Seville, Cádiz and part of Málaga —the area known as Baja Andalucía (Lower Andalusia) — but soon spreading to the rest of Andalusia, incorporating and transforming local folk music forms. As the popularity of flamenco extended to other areas, other local Spanish musical traditions (i.e. the Castilian traditional music) would also influence, and be influenced by, the traditional flamenco styles.

Although there are many theories promising to explain the meaning of the word flamenco, most lack enough evidence to substantiate them. One commonly accepted version translates flamenco as Spanish for the Flemish soldiers of the Spanish-Belgian Territories. These soldiers were renowned for their self-confidence, style and ostentatious pride, all qualities that reflect the gypsy character. In fact, the term "flamenco" came to be synonymous with "gitano" (gypsy) in Spanish Romany Argot.

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History

For a complete picture of the possible influences that gave rise to flamenco, attention must be paid to the cultural and musical background of the Iberian Peninsula since Ancient times. Long before the Moorish invasion in 711, Visigothic Spain had adopted its own liturgic musical forms, the Visigothic or Mozarabic rite, strongly influenced by Byzantium. The Mozarabic rite survived the Gregorian reform and the Moorish invasion, and remained alive at least until the 10th or 11th century. Some theories, started by Spanish classical musician Manuel de Falla, link the melismatic forms and the presence of Greek Dorian mode (modernly called Phrygian mode) in flamenco to the long existence of this separate Catholic rite. Unfortunately, owing to the type of musical notation in which these Mozarabic chants were written, it is not possible to determine what this music really sounded like, so the theory remains unproved.

The appearance of the Moors in 711 helped to shape particular music forms in Spain. They called the Iberian Peninsula Al-Andalus, from which the name of Andalusia derives. The Moorish and Arab invaders brought their musical forms to the Peninsula and, at the same time, probably gathered some native influence in their music. The Emirate, and later Caliphate of Córdoba became a center of influence in both the Muslim and Christian worlds and it attracted musicians from all Islamic countries. One of those musicians was Zyriab, who imported forms of the Persian music, revolutionized the shape and playing techniques of the Lute (which centuries later evolved into the vihuela and the guitar) adding a fifth string to it, and set the foundations for the Andalusian nuba, the style of music in suite form still performed in North African countries.