Spanish Dancing Overview

Spanish Dancing can be divided into three main styles or categories:-  Flamenco, Classical and Regional.

Flamenco:-  Let us set the scene.  At  tablao or flamenco night-club somewhere on the Costa del Sol, appears a dark-haired, dark-skinned young woman in a tight dress with a flamenco train who hammers out fast and exciting rhythms of Zapateado (footwork). Behind her sits “Cuadro Flamenco” which means Flamenco Picture. This is a name given to the flamenco scenes, where the guitarists and singers sit behind the dancer/s.  There are also members of the cuadro flamenco clapping, while shouting words of encouragement to the performers.

However appealing this image may be, it is one-dimensional: The art of flamenco derives from complex social, cultural and historical process from the 15^th century to the present. Where does flamenco dancing originate? With the gypsies, who arrived in Spain around the 1400 from India. They were the Sudra tribe from North India.

The word flamenco, which applies to the song, dance and guitar, did not come into use until the 19^th century and there were various theories regarding it’s meaning and origin. The most likely theory, however. is that flamenco is a derivative of “flamma”, meaning “flame”, and that it was used to describe the fiery and flashy gypsy character and, by extension, their music and dance.

The 1^st recorded references to the gypsies in Spain dates from 1447, when they were reported to be in Barcelona, though it seems likely that another group had arrived in the south of Spain well before that date, having originally migrated from India to different parts of Europe, Africa and Asia around AD1000. In any case, it was in the south of Spain, with it’s attractive terrain and climate that in the course of time the gypsies as a whole settled, and given the name of gitanos.

Escuela Bolera:  Meaning School of Classical Spanish Dancing. These dances are a form of classical ballet technique and first appeared in the middle of the 18^th century and became extremely popular, possessing not only the refinement and elegance of the Court but also the best academic dancing of this period. The bolero in particular was danced in numerous forms : for couples, groups or as a solo.

According to the Italian dancing master Margi, the Spaniards learnt to dance in the Italian manner, adding to it their own jumped and beaten steps to the sound of castanets.  This was the great Spanish contribution to eighteenth-century classical technique. These dances required a long academic training, a highly developed understanding of music and great skill in playing the castanets.

During the nineteenth century, dances of the Escuela Bolera became extremely popular in Europe, performed by well-known ballerinas, many of whom went to Spain especially to learn them.

Regional:  Briefly, the Basque dances and Jotas come from the North, the Fandangos from the South, the Seguidillas from the Centre and West and the Sardanas from the East. These dances are performed mostly by groups or couples and are danced by the ordinary people and are a popular feature of the open air festivals.

The style varies tremendously according to the region. For example, the dances from the East are graceful, tranquil and of restrained expression; while those from the North are vigorous, almost rough in style, with a number of steps of elevation, the men vying with each other to see who can jump the highest. Dances from the South are frequently individual, with the woman making sinuous and provocative movements, while the man shows his strength and virility, stamping upon the ground with his feet instead of leaping above it.

Spain is probably one of the richest countries in regional dances – Catalunia alone is said to have over three hundred.