Before leaving for Spain, I thought of flamenco as a dance form with exuberant arm motions and loud, stomping feet. However, when I arrived in Córdoba, I quickly learned that flamenco is so much more than that.
First of all, flamenco is not just a dance, it is also a type of music, usually comprising a singer and a guitar player. I also learned that flamenco was born among the gitanos, or gypsies. When the gitanos arrived in Andalusia from Rajasthan (northern India) between the 9th-14th centuries, they encountered both the Sephardic Jews and the Moors. The mixing of these three rich cultures helped produce what we now know as flamenco. This history, plus the way that flamenco allows performers to express deep feelings such as love, betrayal, sadness and hope, contribute to the way that this dance form continues to represents Andalusian identity.
My flamenco education began one evening with my roommate, Chelo. She showed me a variety of videos, explaining each dance and song and what they represented. One of the videos was of her niece, who was performing the dance typical in their pueblo dressed in their traditional long clothing.
