The traditional performance form of flamenco is very special. The small stage is very close to the audience, and singers, dancers and musicians perform passionately on the same stage. Some encyclopedias say that flamenco is the music and dance of the Andalusian Gypsies in Spain. Others say it originated from the Arabs and Gypsies of the Andalusian region, perhaps with elements of Jewish folk song and dance. Other scholars believe that flamenco song and dance originated from religious chants of Byzantium and India.
Regarding the word flamenco, it is said that it is related to the flamingo (flamenco) of the same name, and the dancer’s dance is similar to that bird: it is said that it is related to the Flemish people, and the Spanish flamenco also refers to “Flemish”, after the end of the Spanish “Restoration Movement”, a large number of Flemish people came to settle in Andalusia; there is also a saying that this word comes from the Iberian Peninsula Arabic word fellah-mengu, meaning It is “landless Moorish peasant”, which means “peasant’s song” in Moroccan Arabic. And the pronunciation is very similar to the Spanish flamenco (flamenco), and the meaning of the word is also close to the definition of the word “gypsy”.
I think the third argument is more convincing. Because the art form of flamenco has the characteristics of fusion of Eastern and Western cultures. In addition, the Moors who once lived at the bottom of the society, like the Gypsies, were marginalized due to their difficulty in integrating into the mainstream society, and they gradually integrated with the Gypsies group. From this, we can better understand that flamenco usually expresses sadness, nostalgia, love and other themes.
There should be a lot of people doing flamenco research in Spain, but not many people who do long-term in-depth research. The exception is Dr. Alfredo Arebola, director of the Flamenco Research Unit at the University of Malaga. At the end of 2009, Dr. Arebola published his 27th monograph on flamenco studies, “Flamenco in the Poems of García Roca”, which was well received. He studies the inextricable links between famous writers and their works and flamenco art, thus supporting the historical and cultural origin of flamenco. He also published 36 flamenco albums. At the beginning of this year, the jury of the first International Flamenco Competition awarded him the Gold Award for Outstanding Contribution, in recognition of his dedication to flamenco art research and his unremitting efforts for many years.
Dr. Arebola was born in Granada, Andalusia, the birthplace of flamenco. He began to learn to sing flamenco from a very young age, because flamenco singing and dancing are an indispensable form of celebration during family gatherings, holidays, weddings and other festive occasions. Later, he participated in flamenco performances as a singer while studying for further studies, during which he came into contact with some veritable flamenco artists, which made a qualitative leap in his understanding of flamenco and truly understood flamenco. The essence of artistic beauty. In recent years, Dr. Arebola has won almost all the major awards related to flamenco. A reporter asked: “Can you make a living by performing flamenco?” He admitted that despite his research achievements and many awards, flamenco performances and research still cannot bring him lucrative benefits. income. But he loves the art and doesn’t care how much it can pay him back. Fortunately, as a Ph.D. in Linguistics, he was able to work as a teacher at the university, teaching courses in Greek, Latin, philosophy, and literature.
Dr. Arebola said that the art of flamenco is unique. It uses the perfect combination of dancing, singing and guitar playing to interpret human life and express people’s joys, sorrows and sorrows. There is still a lot to do in flamenco research, and many questions remain unanswered. For example, he disagrees with the claim that flamenco originated from the gypsies at the bottom of society, but the basis has not been found. He said that he will continue to persevere and have no regrets.
