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Overview 12-beat rhythm Alegría Sevillanas steps New Sevillanas Page Palmas
Flamenco is the music of the Andalucian gypsies. Poor nomads from India and frequently ostracised throughout history, they developed independently of the other Spanish peoples. Consequently their music and dance is unique and is an eclectic mix of styles gathered from their wanderings, Indian, Arabic, Jewish, Andalucian folk. The music is based around the song, with accompaniment usually by guitar. For percussion they used anything that came to hand, such as hand-clapping (palmas), finger snapping (picas), a box they were sitting on used as a drum (cajón), and footwork (zapateados). The dance therefore evolved round the song. Some songs were light and happy (cante chica), others sombre and dark (cante jondo), all fired with emotion. There are a limited number of types or categories or forms of song or dance (palos). Each palo has its own particular rhythm (or compás) with its own name. So if someone says they are going to dance, for example, an alegría, the name is instantly recognisable to the flamenco guitarist and he would know exactly the speed, the rhythm, and the structure of the dance, and even the musical chord sequences to use. Within each palo the variety of song, music, and dance is of course infinite, but it is all loosely or strictly based on the basic rhythm and musical structure of the compás.
A distinctive feature of flamenco rhythms is the 12-beat rhythm. Our culture is used to music based round 4 or 8 beats. This is also used in flamenco, in rhythms such as Tangos, Tientos and Tarantas. But the 12-beat rhythm gives flamenco its distinctive flavour and is alien to the normal European ear. The 12-beat rhythm is used in dances such as Alegria, Solea and Buleria. The rhythm consists of 2 threes followed by 3 twos. It is counted with the accent on the end of each group of beats, i.e. on 3, 6, 8, 10 and 12 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Try clapping or stamping that rhythm over and over to get used to it. Very often the phrasing of the dance begins on beat 12, which makes the timing - 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 When a dance phrase ends it is usually on beat 10. A call, or "llamada" is a piece of attention-gaining footwork 1, 2, or 3 compáses long which indicates to the guitarist that something is about to happen, such as the verse is about to start, or end. The call usually starts on beat 1 and ends on beat 10. A good way of learning the rhythms or compás is by listening to
the music. Original Future Sounds do a huge series of CD's called "Solo
Compás" in every rhythm you can think of, which are especially for learning
the music, rhythms and palmas. These can be purchased at www.ofssevilla.com They are good for practising dance too!! The dances take their names from the rhythm that they use and within that rhythm the choreography may be of infinite variety. Alegría means "joy" or "happiness" in Spanish, so the dance is light-hearted and moderately paced. An Alegría is in 12-beat rhythm and has a recognisable structure: LETRA or verse or song SILENCIO or slow section ESCOBILLA or footwork section leading into BULERÍA, a faster dance in the same 12-beat rhythm, often danced in a throw-away or jokey manner. The structure is never set in stone, so the choreographer can play about with it, add bits, take bits away, move them around to suit himself. But the basic rhythm and spirit of the dance remains more or less the same.
Palmas or hand-clapping is like a percussion instrument in itself. It is performed in 2 distinct ways - loud or soft. Loud palmas is made by slapping the slightly cupped palm of your left hand with the middle 3 fingers of your right hand, finding the "sweet spot", so that it makes an effortlessly loud and sharp sound. Soft palmas is made by cupping both hands and fingers round each other, to make a dull muted sound. "Contra palmas" is made by 2 people. One holds the beat and claps meticulously in time or "straight", while the other person claps in the space between each beat or on the "off-beat". This needs a lot of practice to do well and is difficult to do fast, but can sound spectacular when performed at speed. Each rhythmic form has its own basic palmas rhythm shown in red as follows. (White beats are rest beats). TANGOS in 4 time: 1 2 and 3 4
RUMBA in 4 time: 1 2 and 3 4
ALEGRIA in 12-beat rhythm: 1 + 2 3 4 + 5 6 7 + 8 9 + 10 11 12
SOLEA in 12-beat rhythm: 1 + 2 3 4 + 5 6 7 + 8 9 + 10 11 + 12
SOLEA POR BULERIA in 12-beat rhythm 1 + 2 3 4 5 6 7 + 8 9 + 10 11 12
N.B. For the complete steps with timing see our Sevillanas page. Sevillanas may be counted in many different ways - beginners count as below:- First copla (verse) 5 Sevillanas steps: (1)R forward (2)L (3)tap R at L instep (4)back R (5)tap L at R instep (6)kick L & circle it to place it behind R L forward R tap L at R instep back L tap R at L instep kick R & circle it to place it behind L R forward L tap R at L instep back R tap L at R instep kick L & circle it to place it behind R L forward R tap L at R instep back L tap R at L instep kick R & circle it to place it behind L R forward L tap R at L instep back R tap L at R instep kick L & circle it to place it behind R Pasada: L R lift left knee L R (face opposite direction) L 1 Sevillanas step: R forward L tap R at L instep back R tap L at R instep kick L & circle it to place it behind R 4 Grapevine steps: L behind R to side L in front R point R behind L to side R in front L point L behind R to side L in front R point R behind L to side R in front L point Pasada: L R lift left knee L R (face opposite direction) L 1 Sevillanas step: R forward L tap R at L instep back R tap L at R instep kick L & circle it to place it behind R 4 Pasadas: L R lift left knee L R (face opposite direction) L R L lift right knee R L (face opposite direction) R L R lift left knee L R (face opposite direction) L R L lift right knee R L (face opposite direction) R Ending: L R across wait L across Turn R L |
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