Introduction to Flamenco

Syllabus

John Moore

This course will introduce the structure, history, and culture of flamenco - a highly structured music and dance form from Southern Spain (Andalucia). The course will integrate lectures, readings, music and video samples, and live performances to enable students to have a better understanding of this complex art form. At the conclusion of the course, students will have the opportunity to attend a local flamenco dinner show.

The course will be roughly structured around two topics: flamenco structure and flamenco history.

The Structure of Flamenco:

• Three flamenco arts:

        Cante (singing)
        Toque (guitar playing)
        Baile (dancing)

        plus, the role of jaleo (percussion, shouts, etc.)

• Flamenco venues:

            fiesta (private gatherings, personal and paid)
            cuadro (club performances)
            festival (larger-scale public performances)
            teatro (choreographed theatrical productions)

• The forms of flamenco:

            criteria for distinguishing the 50+ palos (forms):

            aire - cante jondo vs. cante chico
            compás (rhythmic patterns)
            melodies
            letras (verses)

The History of Flamenco

• Moors, Jews, Christians, and Gitanos - the post-reconquest cultural landscape
• The early origins of flamenco (1700s- mid 1800s)

            - Gitanista versus Antigitanista postions
            - Cante Gitano versus Cante Andaluz

• The emergence of commercial flamenco (mid-1800s)

            - Café Cantantes
            - Melding of cante gitano and cante andaluz
            - Flamenco guitar
            - Flamenco dance

• The Golden Age of flamenco (late 1800s)

            - Cante libre (Malagueñas, Fandangos, Cantes de Levante )
            - Bulerías
            - Cantes de Ida y Vuelta
            - Mellizo, Breva, Chacón, Torre, Los Pavones
            - Beginnings of solo flamenco guitar
            - Basic dance forms established

• The Opera Flamenca Period (1920s-1950s)

        - Opera Flamenca
        - Antigitanismo
        - Lorca, de Falla, and the Concuro in Granada
        - Theatrical dance companies
        - Concert flamenco guitar
        - Carmen Amaya

• Resurgence of Cante Gitano (1960s)

        - Mairenismo
        - Foreign aficionados, Diego del Gastor and Morón de la Frontera
        - Tourist Flamenco

• The Paco/Camarón Revolution (1970s-1980s)

        - Madrid as a flamenco melting-pot
        - The rise and fall of tablaos
        - the role of festivales

• Flamenco Nuevo (1980s-present)

        - Paco adopts a jazz format
        - Flamenco's popularity increases
        - Traditional flamenco in 'neo- café cantantes'
        - sevillanas discos
        - flamenco nuevo (Ketama, Gipsy Kings, Pata Negra, and others)

• Recurring issues

        - Gitano versus Andaluz
        - Tradition versus innovation
        - Elite versus popular appeal
        - Professional versus non-professional
        - Ever-increasing technical level

Requirements:

It is important to attend as many classes as possible. There will be a short quiz on flamenco forms on the third class (4/16). Students are encouraged to do a flamenco project - see me for details (if you are taking the course for credit, this is required, but should be fun)