German Art
Getting a Better Appreciation of Flamenco as a Cultural Performance
Music is seen as a principal form of art whose medium is sound; there are factors such as pitch, melody, harmony, rhythm and tempo. Music has a vital role in many country’s culture; it has been utilized for entertainment, religious expression, and a lot more.
Music has an essential contribution in the history of all countries, including Spain; the Roman culture has been its primary influence for hundreds of years and it also paved the way for the introduction of Ancient Greek music. Spain’s music is generally heavily influenced by Roman and Greek music and later on by other influences brought about by the Visigoths, Jews, and Moors who have interacted with the locals of Spain. Much of Spain’s music were influenced by these cultures and you can really have a deeper appreciation for this if you will study their language and culture more; you can find internet resources for this on websites such as Rocket Spanish and the likes. Rocket Spanish can help you learn the Spanish language as it employs various study methods for a very effective learning experience.
Flamenco, which is extracted from Spain is famous world wide and is believed to be widely known in all regions of Spain. Many people even believe that Flamenco is Spain’s national dance, which couldn’t be away from the truth. Flamenco was not a music or dance style that was massively famous or even accepted in Spain.
Probably one of the main reasons why Flamenco was not so known is that it is said to to be acquired by Andalusia by the gypsies which have never really been a known company to people all over the world. The style of Flamenco that originated from Andalusia is popular for its complex and fast passages, and the dance is described by audible footwork similar to tap dancing. Flamenco also signifies the complex music and tradition of Spain; still, looking for the main origin of Flamenco remains a mystery until today.
The reason why Flamenco’s ancestry is still very much unknown is that the area it originated from was one of the poorest regions in Spain that time; not only that, the dance form of Flamenco was thought to be heavily influenced by Gypsy music. A different finding states that Flamenco is a fusion of gypsy dance and the descendants of Moorish music during the 8th century up to the 17th century; still, there are various groups that believe that more than the gypsy and Moorish influence, musical influences coming from India, Egypt and the Byzantine church also played a major role in shaping Flamenco. Since Flamenco is being practiced by the poor, upper class society and historians did not exert much energy in recording and studying it, thus very little written records can be known about it. Add to that the information that since the lower classes were mostly had a lack of literacy, most of the history and practice of Flamenco was passed on through oral tradition; it’s passed on from generation to generation so it’s only natural that it has changed a lot from its original form which is forever lost to historians of this generation.
Regardless of the discrimination that Flamenco and its history went through, it still made quite an impression on other cultures. So much so that until the present generation, many people study and perform this musical and dance technique all over the world.
The Art of Germany – A Divided Land 1/4
Tags: art, blog, design, german art, german articles, german articles grammar, german artillery, german artists, inspiration, photography
This entry was posted on Saturday, December 31st, 2005 at 8:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.