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Last year, I went to seven flamenco performances in Madrid, Granada, and Seville. I got pretty obsessed. If you want a break from the doomscrolling, here's a bit about flamenco and why I love it.
Flamenco has four components, each an essential part of the overall mix:
Flamenco has four components, each an essential part of the overall mix:
1. Toque / Guitar: There were times watching flamenco performances where I literally laughed out loud about how good the guitarists were. The strumming is fast, intricate, and wild. But my favorite part is that the guitarists seem to obsessively watch the feet of the dancers.
2. Baile / Dance: Some dancers are men, but most are women. Flamenco dancing is all about empowerment — it's intense, assertive, and aggressive. It's sexy mostly in its ferocity. The footwork makes tapdancing look timid, and the hand motions are often mesmerizing or surprising.
3. Cante / Voice: The Iberian peninsula was ruled by the Muslim Moors for nearly a thousand years, and flamenco singing reminds me a lot of a call-to-prayer emanating from a mosque's minaret. Flamenco singing is soulful, haunting, and often even pained.
4. Jaleo: This is the hand-clapping, foot-stomping, and supportive (or jokey) shouts by the performers, usually directed at the dancer. Jaleo apparently means "hell-raising," which is a delightful concept. Flamenco clapping, in particular, is absolutely unreal.
Here's a random video of flamenco on the street in Granada. I love the way that the four elements come and go as the intensity waxes and wanes.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk; let's go to Spain and watch flamenco together when the pandemic ends.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk; let's go to Spain and watch flamenco together when the pandemic ends.
