What is flamenco?
Flamenco is without any doubts one of the pillars of the Spanish culture, especially of the Andalusian one where its origins going back.
Although many would say that flamenco is a dance, it is so much more than that. It is a multicultural art expressed through the combination of music, singing, dancing, and particular rhythmic punctuation (for example, hand claps or shoe clacks).
Many sources refer to flamenco as a folk art, and if you’ve ever seen a flamenco show you would definitely agree with this definition.
This artistic and cultural expression has such a strong impact that in 2010 UNESCO declared flamenco “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”.
How many cultures influence flamenco?
As we have said, flamenco is a multicultural art. It is for sure deeply related to the gipsy culture but it is a synthesis of many more cultures; it involves also the Andalusian, the Jews, the Muslim and the African one.
Each component of this artistic expression comes from one of them; the rhythmicity is probably Moorish, the temperament and illustrative claw are Gypsy, the grace is Andalusian, and the shakes and passion are African.
At the beginning, flamenco was mainly singing; Moorish sounds, African rhythm, Jews songs and Andalusian popular songs. As time went by, also the dance and the use of the Spanish guitar became more and more important.
This cultural melting pot has been a direct consequence of the various cultural panorama that has always characterized Andalusia. However, researchers are still trying to understand exactly how many cultures have had an input in the making of flamenco.
When flamenco started?
The origin of flamenco is shrouded in mystery; being an art originally expressed by poor and oppressed, it was mainly orally transmitted. For this reason, it is difficult to have 100% reliable data.
Even about the name flamenco there is no certain information; there is a theory that says that the name comes from a particular Andalusian phrase: “fellah min gueir ard”, which means “peasant without land”.
Some believe that it originated in an Arab neighbourhood, others say a Christian neighbourhood, and others say it was perfected in a Gypsy neighbourhood… it is complicated to keep track of all the versions.
So, it comes to no surprise as to why flamenco is so hard to pinpoint in history.
Regarding to when flamenco originated, the first reports are of the XVIII century, but it can’t be ruled out that it can be so much older than that, around the XV – XVI century.
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