Espana+-+Dances

=**Flamenco-**=  Below is a video of a Flamenco dance. media type="youtube" key="xqxJMCQxb_Q" width="420" height="315"
 * Flamenco ** is a genre of [|Spanish music], song, and dance from [|Andalusia] , which is in southern [|Spain]. It is noted for its energetic and staccato style. It grew from [|Andalusian] and [|Romani] music and dance styles. Flamenco was discovered from books in 1774.

During the 20th century, flamenco dancing was very popular at the weddings of gypsies. During this time period, the dance was a lot less formed, meaning it was more freely danced. However, classic flamenco is very similar to ballet.

In recent years, flamenco has become popular all over the world and is taught in many countries. In Japan, flamenco is so popular that there are more academies than in Spain.

The Spanish word Flamenco means [|flamingo]. The dance resembles the form of the elegant bird. The flamingo is not only native to Southern Spain, but can be found all along the migratory routes of the [|Romani people], across Moorish North Africa, and even to their origin in [|India].

** Baile- **
// El baile flamenco // is known for its emotional intensity, proud carriage, expressive use of the arms and rhythmic stamping of the feet. As with any dance form, many different styles of flamenco have developed.

** Famous Flamenco Dancers- **
Encarnacion Lopez Julvez was a famous flamenco dancer who was originally from Argentina. Her nickname, because of this, was La Argentinita. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the year 1895 and then she moved to Spain in 1905 with her parents, who came to Argentina from Spain. From the early age of 9, La Argentinita was dancing and she became the prima ballerina for the Madrid Opera company. La Argentinita did not begin to learn Flamenco until later in life, when her father passed away. It is believed that she learned flamenco after her father was deceased out of respect to him and his Spanish traditions. La Argentinita performed in Paris, after learning flamenco, and danced at the Moulin Rouge, when she was in Paris. She later went to North America, Central America, and South America on six different tours she went on to perform flamenco dancing. The renowned guitar player Carlos Montoya often played flamenco music for her when she danced. However, La Argentinita tragically passed away in 1945, when she was about 46-years-old. She will be remembered forever because of her major contribution to flamenco dancing.

Vicente Escudero introduced male flamenco dancing and made it fairly popular. He was born in 1887 and lived a much longer life than La Argentinita because he lived to be 93-years-old. As a result of his flamenco dancing, Vicente was involved in the film industry in Spain and also in the United States of America. In addition to dancing, Vicente was an author and a painter. He, too, made a major contribution to flamenco dancing because without him the world would never have seen male flamenco dancing. A picture of La Argentinita dancing is above. Below is a picture of Vicente Escudero dancing the flamenco.

Bibliography: 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamenco#Baile_.28dance.29 2. @http://dance.lovetoknow.com/Famous_Flamenco_Dancers 3. @http://www.spainisculture.com/en/artistas_creadores/la_argentinita.html

** Clothes for Flamenco Dancing **

 * Females Flamenco Outfits- **
 * Traditional Female Flamenco Outfits: When traditionally Flamenco dancing, Females typically wear very long dresses that at least touch their ankles. It is key to their dancing that their dresses are very long. Other times they wear skirts that must have ruffles and are flowing. Not only are their skirts flowing, but their dresses must also be. This is also important to their dances.
 * Modern Female Flamenco Outfits: Student modern-day flamenco dancers typically wear shawls and the same type of ruffled skirts that traditional flamenco dancers wear. Dancers that are no longer students can also wear these as their outfits, but they usually wear "Smooth Jersey Dresses"-Wikipedia in the first link under bibliography.

Male Flamenco Outfits-

 * Male flamenco dancers typically dress-up outfits, but sometimes men go a bit more casual. This includes tuxedos, rather casual pants, and rather causal shirts.


 * Bibliography:
 * 1) http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_do_flamenco_dancers_wear

Below is a picture of a female flamenco dancer wearing flamenco clothes. She is wearing modern clothes, which it known from her shawl.



Below is a picture of a male flamenco dancer, who is wearing typical flamenco clothing.

Photos Bibliography: 1. https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRQ6ZVpzDo8i8AGvE9_JxLY8aLlT2R3V85cMfSj6oey9K_-LewunQ 2. http://www.swiga.com/blog/upload/201011120230557106.jpg

Flamenco Dancing Fun facts:
1. Most likely the word flamenco comes from the words fellah mengu, which are words from the Spanish and Arabic languages. 2. The definition of fellah mengu is "Expelled People". 3. Flamenco dancing used to be performed only in secret. 4. It became a professional dance later in the 18th century. 5. Flamenco is not only from the Spanish culture; it is also Andalusian, Arabic, and many other cultures.

Bibliography: 1. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/flamenco-dance-facts-about-flamenco-dancing-in-spain.html

=Flamenco dancing is not the only type of Spanish dance!=

Paso Doble
Paso doble is another type of Spanish dance. The words "Paso Doble" translate to "Two Step." The dance tells tales of Bull Fighting, which is another tradition native to Spain. This dance is performed with both a man and a woman. It is a very energetic dance. The man usually dances as the bullfighter and the woman is usually the cape in the performance. In order to portray a bull, the man dance partner keeps his chest up with his head down, but he looks forward. Acting as the cape, the woman "Swishes and swirls around him" (according to the source cited below). This dance is very unique in the way that most of the dance motions that move t he dancers forward are performed by using the heel to move forward. In most dances, the toe is utilized to move the dancers forward. In the 1930's, wealthy people in Paris enjoyed this dance. For this reason, many of the steps performed in this dance have French names.

Below is a Paso Doble video.

Bolero
This is another ballroom style dance performed with a man and a woman. It is Spain's national dance, which makes it very important and unique. Bolero is danced very slowly and it tells a love story. This dance is known for its slow, large movement to the side, which is supposed to b = = e performed perfectly in time to the music. After this step, fast little steps to the front or back are performed because the music becomes faster. It was essentially a substitution for the famous Fandango dance.

Below is a video of two dancers performing the Bolero.

=media type="youtube" key="Tw6AvZk0jSk" width="420" height="315"=

Fandango
Fandango is performed with a male and a female. As before noted, it weakened in popularity once the Bolero grew in fame. It is also similar to the Seguidilla dance. This dance is both of Spanish and Portuguese origin. It is typically very upbeat and cheerful. However, it grows in speed. It is commonly danced with the background of guitar music.

Below is a picture of two dancers performing the Fandango.

Bibliograhy: 1. http://www.ehow.com/list_6145434_types-spanish-dancing.html

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4. http://www.google.com/imgres?safe=active&biw=1024&bih=475&tbm=isch&tbnid=U_JoPhYn3GDwiM:&imgrefurl=http://www.worldartswest.org/main/edf_performer.asp%3Fi%3D19&docid=o2sRJSb04z52hM&imgurl=http://www.worldartswest.org/Assets/performances/C_EDF_120225_Ensambles_189-267_V2_5x7.jpg&w=2100&h=1324&ei=-zCRUfijCrLK0AGx0IDQAg&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:82,s:0,i:338&iact=rc&dur=637&page=7&tbnh=165&tbnw=227&start=72&ndsp=12&tx=105&ty=86