History of Spanish Dancing
The dramatic Paso Doble and fiery Flamenco of Spain are international dance sensations popularized by TV shows like "Dancing With the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance." Yet these styles of dance do not constitute all there is to know about the complex history of Spanish dances. Dating back to pagan celebrations, Spanish dances have a history that is as dynamic as the country's tumultuous past.
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Background
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For thousands of years, Spain, a peninsula surrounded by water on three sides, was known to the world as Iberia. Its first inhabitants were ancient tribes who created their own cultural identities, and established individual states of political, religious and social structures. The ethnic dances of these ancestral tribes contribute to the patchwork quilt of Spain's present day culture. Among Spain's 17 autonomous communities, the Basque Country, Galicia and Cataluña continue to enjoy and perform their folk dances. Foreign influences in Spanish dance include music and dance of the Celts who settled in Iberia around 500 B.C. It also includes the Moors who occupied the country for 700 years beginning in 711 A.D. The Moors left a considerable mark on the development of Spanish dance, according to Robin Rinaldi, author of "European Dances; Ireland, Poland and Spain." After the Castilian conquest of Spain, came the Gitano (gypsies) of Pakistan and India, and Jewish immigrants. Today, the folk and ethnic dances of these ancient peoples and the influence of newer immigrant cultures create the many-splendored world of Spanish dancing.
National Dance of Spain: Bolero
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Spain's national dance is the bolero, introduced by Sebastian Zerezo around 1780. Of Moroccan origin, it is danced solo or duo, with tambourines, castanets, guitar and the voices of the dancers as accompaniment. Maurice Ravel's classical masterpiece "Bolero" embodies the pounding beat and rhythm of this hypnotic dance.
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Folk and Ethnic Dances
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Early Spanish dances were based on themes of magic and on religious rituals celebrating nature and the seasons. For example, the Galicians dance with swords around poles to celebrate the coming of spring, according to Rinaldi. The Sorgin Dantza of the Basque Country is the dance of the witches recalling days of pagan worship.
Cataluña, Galicia, Basque Dances
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The Sardana is the folk dance of Cataluña. People hold hands and dance in a circle with very small, precise steps, and with their arms raised. More people join in to make the circle bigger, according to Romilly Turner, author of "Sardana Dancing--Catalan Cultural Dance." In Galicia, the tradition of dance and music has Celtic origins, and the Galician pipe is the most popular instrument. Couples dance in circles, with one couple presenting the steps for the rest of the dancers to follow. Basques are known for combat dances in which two rival parties dance bearing swords, sticks or arches. The dance is embellished with spectacular leaping by the male performers. The Basques also enjoy open circle dances, danced by a circle of men and women holding hands, or joined by handkerchiefs, who allow the specialist dancers, the dantzari, to perform intricate steps, according to Buber's Basque Pages.
Sacred Dances
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In the 1100s, the Roman Catholic Church, recognizing the Spanish people's zeal for dance, began to orchestrate solemn but lyrical dancing in the church, often as part of a Mass celebration. The Los Seises (the sixes) survives today in Toledo and Seville. The dance celebrates the Catholic holy days of Corpus Christi in June and the Immaculate Conception in December, according to Rinaldi.
Dances of the Common People
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The baile was a popular form of dancing by common people that emerged in the period of the twelfth and thirteenth century. It was a livelier and earthy dance of the common man versus the formalized danza of the aristocracy. Courtship dances began to emerge in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The oldest of these is the seguidillas, a courtship song and dance involving small springing steps and light foot stomps. It has a taunting manner and verses of the song are improvised on the spot. Seville had a variation called the sevillanas, also dubbed as "the mother of the Spanish dance," according to Rinaldi. The jota is a courtship dance that originated in Aragon; it is said to have been a fertility dance. Legend say it was brought to Aragon by a Moorish poet named Aben Jot.
Flamenco
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Flamenco is a hybrid of Moorish influences adapted by Christians and Jews, and later by the gypsies of Andalusia, who danced it in the 1700s, according to Rinaldi. From 1869 to 1910, flamenco flourished in numerous music cafés (cafés cantantes), according to AllAboutSpain.com. Guitar players accompanying the dancers gained a reputation for excellence. The dance is characterized by a trance-like state called duende, percussive footwork called zapateado and an intricate use of hands. Flamenco has gone through periods of popularity and periods of decline. Today flamenco is once again gaining worldwide favor.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit sharon_K, Courtesy of Creative Commons
