FLAMENCO is an evocative word which conjures up a vivid and evocative picture in the mind and yet also eludes a precise definition. Most people think immediately of the clicking, purring, castanets; the strumming, throbbing guitars; the high, ululating voices; the imperious, imperative heel drumming; the whirling, eye - beguiling skirts and the proud, arched backs. The word
"Flamenco" entails an entire scene and experience, but defies dissection into one simple, comprehensive explanation. It evokes all the passion, excitement and atmosphere of a "juerga", an impromptu gathering of singers, dancers and guitarists to improvise examples of their unique art, but its descriptive quality is collective rather than singular.
FLAMENCO Song and Dance are part of the pattern and fabric of life in Spain. They epitomise in music and movement the full range of human emotion and experience, the joys and sorrows of Mans existence. And they do it in a way which is unrivalled for vibrant vitality and eloquent expression anywhere else in the world. They are best sampled in the gipsy caves of Andalucia where they are mistakenly supposed to have originated. However artists have carried their beauty, power and anguish to many parts of the world in the past two decades.
The original synthesis whence Flamenco evolved from the mists of antiquity, bringing it into Spain in the twelfth century and the fiery, volatile gipsies of Andalucía adopted and developed it as their own until it became virtually indistinguishable from their own heritage