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Spanish traditional dances (Click to select text)
Traditional Dances of spain Sevillanas Sevillanas is believed to be an old Castilian folk dance. It is a very popular dance for couples of all ages. You will see it danced frequently by Women wearing a long dress with frills, normally it has short-sleeves and it is two-coloured like a green dress with white frills. The Men wear black trousers and a white shirt with frills on the chest. During the summers, in all Andalusia great flamenco festivals are celebrated in which programmes of several hours of length are offered. Generally they are developed in open-air places. Throughout all the year, the only places we can attend flamenco spectacles are the 'tablaos' (they're like platforms). It exists numerous schools to learn 'sevillanas'. The first feria of the year is held in Seville during April and is certainly one of the largest, but in each small town in Andalusia rides itself on its own week long festivity. Young couples have the opportunity to dance, and the older people and children are there just to have fun. The whole family goes out together to enjoy the festivities, often until very late into the night. It is danced by series of four, each with a different dance, with a short interval between one and another. The most important movements are the walks and the end because the singing, the music and the dance stop together and the dancers stay in an elegant position due to the gallant dance. Sardana The Sardana is a Communal dance intimately bound up with Catalan national consciousness. It is danced by men and women who join hands alternately in a closed circle. As they dance to the music of tenores and tabales which are shawms and small drums, their faces remain solemn and dignified. The basic pattern of the sardana is a series of long and short steps; the precise combination is determined by the leader, who signals the steps with a hand squeeze that is passed around the circle. The music is first slow, then rapid. The sardana developed in the 19th century from the contrapás, a similar dance with a broken circle. The origins of the sardana, a typical Catalan dance, are very difficult to establish. The oldest document where the word appears is from 1573 and was written by the bishop of Girona. In it he forbids the minstrels to sing and dance the Sardana. Around the year 1700 "cerdana" or "sardana" were words to refer to certain dances which people did not know how to dance. The sardana celebrates the group: its ring is a symbol of brotherhood, of mutual interdependence, of democracy. Participation is very important in the sardana, anyone who decides entry must be admitted, regardless of dancing ability or lack of acquaintance with the group. As we approach the end of the century, the sardana is struggling to maintain its relevance within a modern Catalan society. Several organisations are working to save the sardana from the indifference expressed by a sector of Catalan society and find its place in contemporary Catalonia. Jota The Jota is a traditional Spanish courtship dance, and so are the songs associated with it. The jota is most closely associated with northern Spain, specifically the region of Aragón. In this dance, couples face each other and always begin with the same opening step. The man chooses and executes one of 40 established steps and the woman repeats his step in the opposite direction. The dancers traditionally wear flat, rope-soled shoes and accompany their steps with the music of castanets and tambourines. The movements consist of light jumps and kicks to the side, the front, and the back, with a break in the middle of the dance called the estribillo. The music is often complemented with songs known as coplas, which sometimes deal with love and life, but as often are noted for their robust humor. The singing can be improvised, with participants at the dance taking up verses of four or seven eight-syllable lines. The jota is said to have been taken from the Spanish region of Valencia to Aragón by an exiled Moorish poet of the 12th century, Aben Jota. It may have begun as a dance performed at funerals and called canari, evolving later into a dance of love. The jota is danced throughout Spain, including the Basque provinces. It was taken by Spanish settlers to Mexico, where it has evolved into the exotic jarana scarf dance. Fandango The Fandango is a exuberant Spanish courtship dance and a genre of Spanish folk song. The dance, probably of Moorish origin, was popular in Europe in the 18th century and survives in the 20th century as a folk dance in Spain, Portugal, southern France, and Latin America. Usually danced by couples, it begins slowly, with the rhythm marked by castanets, clapping of hands, snapping of fingers, and the stamping of feet; the speed gradually increases. Occasionally there is a sudden pause in the music, and the dancers stand rigid until the music resumes. The dance is an expression of passion, and the partners tease, challenge, and pursue each other with steps and gestures. In another version, the fandango is danced by two men as a contest of skill. The first dancer sets the rhythm and steps, the second picks up the step and elaborates. As song, the fandango consists of coplas, improvised satirical, religious, or romantic verses, sung to melodies improvised according to set rules. Fandangos can be sung to accompany the dance or as solos. As a dance and as a genre of song, the fandango exists both within and outside of the flamenco, or Andalusian Gypsy, tradition. The dance is closely related to the jota.
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