Flamenco 4 – Las Sevillanas: the beginning

Before we start, we should point out that Las Sevillanas are not a palo and are not, strictly speaking, Flamenco. But the history of how these Andalusian songs and dances came into being does reflect the history of popular folklore across the Iberian Peninsula and as Las Sevillanas are one of the art forms most readily associated with Andalusia and especially Seville and its Feria de Abril it seems appropriate to take a look.

THE ORIGINS
Las Sevillanas have their origin in several different cultures. There was a popular lyrical and dance form in 10th and 11th Century Al Andalus shared by the Muslim and Jewish communities known as Jarchas. Meanwhile, from the northernmost Celtic corners of the peninsula, the Celtic dances had followed the Reconquista down into Castille and La Mancha and by this time had evolved in the form known as Las Seguidillas. Different variations of these are danced and sung all over modern day Spain. With the conquest of Córdoba and Seville in the mid thirteenth century the fusion of the two forms was inevitable!

The Jarchas were poems set to music. Normally they were love songs written from the female point of view and and were often conversations between the beloved and her closest circle of female confidants. Here is an example as re-imagined by the film maker Carlos Saura in the theatrical follow up to his film Flamenco.

And here is the other part of the equation. A group dancing Seguidillas Manchegas, we can see that they are more formally structured and designed to be danced in pairs. Notice the use of castanets and that the accompaniment is not only played on the guitar, but the bandurria (a type of mandolin) as well.

LATER DEVELOPMENTS

The resulting fusion of styles was to undergo further changes. The influence of Ballet, Opera and Theatre in Madrid, Barcelona and Seville in the eighteenth century, led to other outside influences affecting the more popular folkloric styles. The dance, which by this time was known as Las Sevillanas, was no exception. With Felipe de Anjou on the throne in 1819, French dance masters were brought in to teach dances such as the minuet, academies were set up in the major cities and the Sevillanas Boleras were born. Here is an example from the Spanish Champions from 1998. Notice how slow this dance is and the wonderful costumes that are straight from the times of Goya and are known as goyescos.

And finally this week, it’s not all about guitars and taconeo, you know. Here is a slow paced example of Sevillanas Clásicas played on the piano and sung by Pareja Obregón. The dancers are far less energetic, but no less graceful than anything we’ve seen so far. The way one of them moves the Mantón de Manila (a shawl that came into Spanish culture during the time The Philippines were a colony) is both elegant and masterful.

Next week: Sevillanas in the present day (with a visit to the Feria de Abril).

Flamenco 3 – Fandangos de Huelva

BACKGROUND
Fandango, ¿donde has nacío
que to el mundo te conoce?
Yo nací en un rinconcillo
que Alosno tiene por nombre,
donde le dan el “dejillo”

The Fandango, a gentler, more melodic palo and a close relation of the Portuguese Fado, has its origins in Huelva, the westernmost province of Andalusia and the town of Alosno lays claim to the title of The Cradle of the Fandango. The verse above is from a popular Alosno Fandango which reiterates this claim:

Fandango, you are known by everyone
where were you born?
I was born in a little corner
by the name of Alosno
where they give it the accent and tone

The Fandango is sung in many parts of Andalusia, but as is the case with Las Alegrías and Cadiz, you cannot say Fandango without thinking of Huelva.

Here is a traditional sung Fandango from Perlita de Huelva, who we were lucky enough to see in Seville in ’92:

THE FORM
Again, we are dealing with a palo that started life as the accompaniment to dancing. The sung form, over time, became important in its own right. It is one of the oldest palos and there are written references to its existence as long ago as 1705. The verses are made up of 4 or 5 octosyllabic lines that on occasions become six as the last line is repeated. The time signature is predominantly 3/4. The dances associated with this palo are primarily performed in groups. There are variants, especially from central and eastern Andalusia that are danced by individual Bailaores or Bailaoras. These regional variations, Granaínas, Malagueñas, Verdiales, etc will get a post of their own at a later date. For now, we are staying in Huelva. Here is an example of the most popular form of Fandangos danced by a group. (Notice the men’s classic peasant attire – a clear reflection of the rural origins of this palo). An important part of any Feria is the Fino (or Dry Sherry) – looks like the cameraman may have had a drop or two!

And here’s a more stylish, Spanish Ballet, performance:

THE SUNG FANDANGO
Although the palo started life as a sung accompaniment to dance, it has developed a more serious and aflamencado style. The Cantaores of gypsy origin, such as Manolo Caracol, Porrina de Badajoz or Rafael Farina, produced Fandangos that can be considered Cante Jondo (more about this in a later post). [Cante Jondo is the form of Flamenco that is considered most serious and expresses deep sentiment – jondo having its origin in the word hondo, which means deep.]
Here’s an example from Porrina de Badajoz (a neighbouring province in Extremadura with a strong Flamenco tradition). Look who’s playing the guitar in this one! And look how young he is!

And now, to show how the traditions are kept alive by the younger, more modern artists here are two examples. The first is from Arcangel one of our favourite Cantaores from the current scene.

The second from Sandra Carrasco, who doesn’t really look that Flamenco, does she? Sings like the angels, though.

And to end, here is a modern interpretation of the dance from a Flamenco School.

Next week: Las Sevillanas from the beginning to the present day.

Flamenco 2 – Soleá, Soleares y Bulerías

SOLEÁ AND SOLEARES
This week we’re leaving Cadiz and heading initially for Seville. To the barrio of Triana on the banks of the River Guadalquivir. The form known as Soleá first appeared in this part of Seville and the invention and popularisation of the sung variant of this palo is generally attributed to La Andonda a gypsy Cantaora from Jerez in the province of Cadiz, who moved to Seville sometime in the first third of the nineteenth century. Despite having some rhythmic similarities with Las Alegrías , the Soleá is far slower and more somber. It is a palo that has much deeper gypsy roots than many others. Although it originated in Seville the Soleá is performed across the length and breadth of Andalusia and is often known as Soleares.

SOLEÁ CANTADA
The following is an example of Soleá in its sung form. Notice how the Cantaor (Camarón de la Isla – a veritable master and one of the best Flamenco cantaores of the twentieth century) warms up and tunes his voice repeating Lerelerele before launching into the lyrics. The guitarist is Tomatito, who managed an almost perfect understanding and symbiosis with Camarón. More of Tomatito later.

BAILE POR SOLEA (or SOLEARES)
In this palo there is a far greater difference between the sung form and the form that accompanies the dancing. It is widely thought that the palo started life as the accompaniment to dances in the “jaleos” or spontaneous sessions in places such as Jerez, Utrera and Lebrija. The beat can be truly frenetic (as high as 240 b.p.m.) and the time signatures, as with the Alegrías, are either 3/4 or 6/8 working around a basic 12 beat cycle. The rasgueado or rhythmic strumming that accompanies the palo is normally a combination of two chords – usually A and B-flat as follows A A [Bb] – – [Bb] A [A] A [A] – [A]. The term bulerías, which inevitably crops up when discussing this palo, has its roots in bulla or bullería meaning racket or bustle. It is generally accepted that the current pronunciation with a single L is a corruption of the original name. There is a theory that the term originates from the word “burla” or mocking but that one doesn’t wash with us!

Hopefully the following clip will go some way to demonstrating what we mean. It starts off sung and here the palmas (or hand claps) come into play, introducing the rhythm and providing a percussive element that is not so prominent in Las Alegrías. As the Bailaora (Eva la Yerbabuena – truly spectacular we hope you will agree) comes in the accompaniment grows steadily faster. She dances slowly at the start – notice the importance of the silhouette and the imagery drawn from the world of bullfighting – but eventually dances with such strength and passion that the taconeo becomes impossible to keep up with. (Highly recommend full screen viewing – apologies for the rather abrupt cut off at the end: it’s the most complete version of this that we’ve been able to find).

TRADITION
Here’s a curious clip. One of the most popular Bailaores these days is Farruquito. Here he is as a strip of a lad being taught to dance Soleá by his granddad the legendary Farruco, the patriarch of the Farruco clan. Farruco calls his son-in-law (Farruquito’s dad) in to sing the Soleá. The three generations together. That’s how flamenco is passed on and stays alive.

BULERÍA
Is a much freer form. The bulerías associated with the Soleá are known as Bulerías al Golpe. The form is one of the few that allows the guitarist certain freedom as they don’t always have to accompany the singer. Here is a very young Tomatito playing with form and having fun. The palmas are pretty damn good too!

Of course singing and dancing also play their part here. To round off this week’s post here is a splendid sample that also illustrates a couple of points we nearly forgot to make. Firstly that this form is the only one where the male dancer (Bailaor) is allowed to jump and secondly that this really is one of the most dynamic forms of all and attracts the youngsters even today! (Full screen recommended)

IMPROVISATION
Obviously, when dealing with palos that are defined by time signatures and octosyllabic metre when it comes to lyrics, it’s often difficult to know to what extent the artists are able to improvise. Here’s a clip where things get really loose. The Bailaora is clearly just doing what el duende is telling her to do and the singers are improvising, lyrically at least. There’s also some pretty free form percussion on the cajón or box. “What’s duende?” we hear you ask. Stay tuned, we’ll try to explain.

Next week: We’re off to Huelva: Fandangos and Fandanguillos.

Flamenco 1 – Las Alegrías

BACKGROUND
The different Flamenco palos cover a wide range of emotions and feelings: from the most dramatic, sad or romantic to the pure joy and hectic excitement of the fiesta! Las Alegrías are an example of the latter. Alegría means happiness and joy. Las Alegrías are sung, danced in groups or individually and can be performed both by the greatest figures of the flamenco world or by anyone with a smidgeon of arte either on the noblest of stages or the humblest of patios and tablaos at the ferias across Andalusia. Although Las Alegrías are sung throughout Andalusia, when one speaks of this palo, we can only think of Cadiz.

The style has its origins in the emigration from Aragón to the Cadiz area at the beginning of the nineteenth century during the Napoleonic Wars. The Aragoneses brought the Jota, the Gaditanos adopted the style and transformed it into what we now know as Alegrías.

ALEGRÍAS CANTADAS
Here’s an example from Chano Lobato along with a great selection of photos of the city and its charms. Welcome to “La Tacita de Plata” – the city is known as the “Little Silver Cup” because the buildings are white and shine like silver in the Andalusian sun as it reflects off the sea:

THE FORM
Las Alegrías start with the following four (or sometimes more!) line burst:
Tirititrán, tran , tran
Tirititrán, tran , tran
Tirititrán, tran, tran
Tirititrán, tran , tran
followed by verses of five eight syllable lines. The last two lines of each are then repeated as a chorus. They are rounded off with another short burst, known as the juguetillos. Little games (or wordplays) where the singer synthesises or adorns the message of the song.

THE CONTENT
These are songs that describe local customs, local traditions and use metaphor and allusion to express joy and very often they contain piropos – ingenious often flirtatious comments in praise of a place or (more often) a woman.

ALEGRIAS BAILADAS
The dance can be very structured, especially when danced as a group. Here is a master class from Carlos Saura’s film Flamenco:

When two real specialists of the genre get together things can be a little looser and spectacular. Notice that although they follow a strict pattern – singer (cantaor) and dancer (bailaora) together, followed by dancer alone, building up to singer and dancer together again – there is room for both to improvise. The terms cantaor and bailaora refer only to flamenco artists. (Earnestly recommend you watch on full screen and right to the end!)

Las Alegrías are one of the basic palos. We can see them as the trunk of a tree from which, lesser but no less beautiful branches grow. One of the most important branches to sprout from this particular tree are the Caracoles. They are in many ways a lighter version but they are no easier to sing. Here is an example from one of the most important singers of Caracoles, Gracia de Triana (recorded in 1964).

Next week: Soleá and Soleares

Palmas – first edit (More to come)

Without Mrs Maki’s inestimable help I couldn’t have put together this post on the art of Palmas Flamencas (Flamenco Handclaps).

Palmas are an essential part of the genre which along with taconeo (heel stamping) and cajón (intricate rhythms beaten with bare hands on a wooden box) provide the percussion to this ageless and timeless music. The palmero is not just someone who claps in time with the music. He or she is an essential part of it. Read more of this post