Have you ever listened to flamenco or flamingo music? Have you ever seen live flamenco dancing? If you haven’t, you should do it some time. It is a very magic, deep and marvellous experience that you shouldn’t miss. As you probably know, flamenco dancing is one of the most famous features people usually identify with Spain. Flamenco or flamingo music and dancing is something very complex that few people can explain. Even if many people think flamenco or flamingo music is very popular in Spain, the truth is that it is mainly a thing from Andalucia (Southern Spain) and most Spaniards neither listen to flamenco music nor can dance flamenco.
Whether you like it or not, there’s no doubt that flamenco or flamingo music is a cultural richness and something worth knowing. Flamenco music can be happy but it can also be very sad and deep. In any case, it has many subgenres, which are classified according to their origin, mood (fiesta or serious cante), situation or rythm. It is said that this type of music is the result of a combination of both arabic and gipsy features, but nothing is sure, even not today.
Even though in the past most writers and intellectuals didn’t like flamenco, now everybody agrees that is is something to protect and be proud of. In the 70’s, some flamenco guitar players (like Paco de Lucía) and some flamenco singers or cantaores (like Camarón) made a big renovation in flamenco music and they even mixed it with other musical types, like bossa nova, jazz or rock music. Also, flamenco dancers or bailaores, like Joaquín Cortés, have become world-wide famous thanks to their talent and inspiration when dancing.
To get you acquinted with it, here’s an activity that will help you learn some basic Spanish vocabulary related to flamenco music and dancing:
To finish, here’s an amazing video of both Camaron (singing) and Paco de Lucía (at the guitar) singing a famous beautiful flamenco song. Enjoy!
If you enjoyed listening to flamenco, maybe you’d love to discover more about Spain. You can try one of our online Spanish lessons or, even better, one of our Spanish culture lessons (clases de cultura española e hispanoamericana), a different way to learn Spanish combining the use of the language with some cultural facts (sociocultural features, cinema, history, cooking and, of course, Spanish slang and catch expressions). This will help you understand better Spanish culture and, therefore, improve your oral skills next time you travel to Spanish. Click here to book your trial class!