Flamenco Dance Culture

Flamenco is a folk art and culture from Iberia, or present day Spain. A genre that has been the musical outlet for the poor and the troubled, Flamenco is not merely a style of music, song or dance from Spain but rather a way of life that influences the daily activities of many individuals. The art of flamenco was intended to be an outward expression of an individual’s most profound emotions and the flamenco way of life. It was never intended to be a technical art performed with enduring precision yet without duende, a passion or feeling for flamenco. Flamenco has been passed on through oral tradition, which the individual artist uses as the basis for his own variations. What is mysterious of this beautiful art form is its origins. Where did …show more content…
There is also another element known as jaleo (hell rising) that is usually not stated. The cante, or song, could almost about anything: themes of death, anguish, love, humor, sometimes accompanied with a guitar. What would flamenco be without its passionate dance that involves intricate arm movement and loud foot stomping? Flamenco dancers, known as bailaores or bailaoras, are serious and passionate. A dancer will often stand motionless and free of expression for the first few moments of a song and eventually, as he or she begins to feel the music, the dancer will start with loud handclapping. Then, as emotion builds, the dancer will begin a passionate dance that involves fierce stomping, sometimes made louder with percussion attachments on the shoes, and graceful arm movements. Castanets are sometimes held in the hands for clicking, and folding fans are occasionally used for visual impact. Toque is the use of the guitar in a flamenco performance. Flamenco is played somewhat differently from classical guitar. Players use different posture, strumming patterns, and techniques. Jaleo roughly translated means “hell-rising” and involves the handclapping, foot stomping, and shouts of encouragement. The jaleo makes its appearance not only through the artist, but as well through the audience or anyone who has the urge to participate in it. The handclapping or palmas is an art itself, and although it may look easy, it is not, and the palmeros will weave intricate rhythms around the bases of the song, and in the tablaos, places where flamenco is performed, this is used in conjunction with the zapateado. The zapateado is the tap dance style of footwork, the dancers show piece where he will demonstrate his skill with his feet, and the noise created by this and the palmas will be ringing in your ears long after you have left the