Category:Flamenco

Flamenco is a Spanish folk music from the region of Andalusia in Southern Spain, which includes singing, guitar playing, dancing and handclaps, which grew out in Andalusian and Romani music in 1774. Flamenco is often associated with the Romani people of Spain (Gitanos) and a number of famous flamenco artists are of this ethnicity. Flamenco was first recorded in the late 18th century but the genre underwent a dramatic development in the late 19th century.

In recent years flamenco has become popular all over the world and is taught in many countries: in Japan there are more academies than there are in Spain. On November 16, 2010 UNESCO declared flamenco one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

There are many assertions as to the use of the name flamenco as a musical term (summarized below) but no solid evidence for any of them. The word was not recorded as a musical and dance term until the late 18th century. Outside the musical context, the Spanish word flamenco can mean "flamingo" – referring to the bird, but originally meaning "flame-coloured" – but also "Flemish", i.e. someone or something related to Flanders. The (predominantly Flemish) courtiers of Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (Carlos I of Spain) were known for their colourful dresses and florid and exaggerated displays of courtesy, but also for their generally arrogant and boisterous behaviour. While no direct connection can be shown, the word flamenco came to be used for arrogant or flamboyant behaviour in general, which then may have come to be applied to the Gitano players and performers.

A theory proposed by Andalusian historian Blas Infante in his 1933 book Orígenes de lo Flamenco y Secreto del Cante Jondo' or "flahencon", meaning "collection of songs", suggests that the word flamenco comes from the Hispano-Arabic term fellah mengu, meaning "expelled peasant"; Infante argued that this term referred to the ethnic Andalusians of the Islamic faith, the Moriscos, who in order to avoid forced exile and religious persecution, joined with the Roma newcomers.

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