Flamenco (Cultural Site 2)

One of the trips that CEA took the students on was to a theater to watch a traditional Spanish flamenco show.  Personally, I was excited to see this show because I was interested in seeing a legitimate part of Spanish culture that is world known.  The show lasted about one hour and was mesmerizing the entire time.  I wish it could have gone on for another hour or so.  The combination of the music and the way the dancers moved was something out of this world.

Flamenco is a genre of music and dance that has Andalusian origins and was revolutionized through Andalusian gypsies.  Flamenco consists of three key parts: the cante (song), toque (guitar playing), and the dance and palmas (handclaps).  These three key components are what give flamenco its distinct flavour.  Although flamenco originated in Spain, recently it has been gaining worldwide popularity and is being taught in many countries.  In Japan flamenco is popular that there are more academies there than in Spain.  On November 16, 2010, UNESCO declared flamenco one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.  Flamenco’s roots trace back to the 18^th century where the performers were professionals, as they are now.  In the past the dancers learned from other performers in the form of apprenticeships like the guilds of medieval Barcelona.  Today some artists are still self-taught but most undergo rigorous training in order to become professionals.  The same goes for the guitar players and singers, not only the dancers.  The dance portion of flamenco is known for its emotional intensity and proud carriage.  The dancers use an excessive amount of their arms as well as the stamping of their feet.  At the show we went to there were many solo performances which are more traditional, but there were also many group performances with between two and five dancers at a time.  Each of the dances are highly choreographed and they seem to tell a story.  One aspect I thought was interesting is that the dancers highly react to the audience.  If the audience is cheering loudly then the dancer will perform with more intensity and heart.  It is almost a give and take relationship between the audience and the dancer.