Flamenco dance (baile) is a highly-expressive, Spanish dance form. The flamenco is a solo dance characterized by hand clapping, percussive footwork, and intricate hand, arm, and body movements. The dance is usually accompanied by a singer and guitar player.

southern Spain
Nobody really knows where the term “flamenco” originated, but all agree that the art form began in southern Spain—Andalusia and Murcia—but was also shaped by musicians and performers in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Europe.

Flamenco is made up of four elements, Cante (Voice), Baile (Dance), Toque (Guitar), and the Jaleo, which roughly translated means ‘hell raising’ and involves the handclapping, foot stomping, and shouts of encouragement.

The roots of flamenco, though somewhat mysterious, seem to lie in the Roma migration from Rajasthan (in northwest India) to Spain between the 9th and 14th centuries. These migrants brought with them musical instruments, such as tambourines, bells, and wooden castanets, and an extensive repertoire of songs and dances.

Flamenco is the bold and elegant fusion of singing, dancing, and music that has been passed down from generation to generation since the fifteenth century.

And what they have produced as a result is a fusion of Spanish and Arab traditions that is both interesting and inspirational. The Arab roots of flamenco run deep. Flamenco was born in these marches where Arabs, Jews, Christians and gitanos mixed freely.

In most dances, the dancers also speaks with their faces: frowning, smiling, showing seriousness, anger … It is the way artists have to reinforce the message, to feel and transmit so that the public also feels during their performance.

A jaleo is a chorus in flamenco in which dancers and the singer clap. Among common jaleo shouts to cheer on the singers, the guitarists or the dancers, are olé and así se canta or así se baila (“that’s the way to sing,” or “that’s the way to dance”).

Inspired by the gypsy culture of Andalusia, flamenco dancing evokes a passion and energy so unique that it continues to stand out as one of the most exciting art forms to witness today. The Spanish dance is nowadays recognized as a symbol of the nation’s identity and is performed and enjoyed throughout the world.

During Franco’s dictatorship, flamenco played a dual role: on one hand, it was adopted by the regimen as one of the representative pillars of Spanish culture; on the other, it embodied rebellion and was used to oppose the regime — flamenco protest songs were common throughout the ’60s.

Flamenco is not just about a style of music, it is a culture that has many different influences, but it remains unique. Its performers are continuing an ancient tradition that has been passed down to them from ancestors who were not artistes, and many had no intensions of ever becoming one.

The Valencia Flamenco Dancing Masterclass provides excellent photo opportunities, as our professional instructor always has a collection of shawls, castanets, hats and guitars on hand. So whatever you do, don’t forget your camera. The masterclass is also great exercise and the perfect warm-up for the authentic and passionate Valencia night out!

Flamenco (Spanish pronunciation: [flaˈmeŋko]) is a genre of Spanish music, song, and dance from Andalusia, in southern Spain, that includes cante (singing), toque (guitar playing), baile (dance) and palmas (handclaps). First mentioned in literature in 1774, the genre grew out of Andalusian and Romani music and dance styles.

Gitano flamenco performers regard the cante jondo as a form of prayer, and thus, in duende, the dancer communicates with both the audience and God.

A deeply musical dancer, after a 15- or 20-minute sequence, is said to fall into a duende, an intensely focused, trancelike state of transcendent emotion that Federico García Lorca in 1933 described as los sonidos negros (“the dark sounds”) invading the performer’s body.