"The art form developed over several centuries from Gypsy, Moorish, Andalusian, and other roots. Flamenco music and dance became popular in the early 19th century as café entertainment.
Canto (“song”) is the core of flamenco, and like baile (“dance”), it has three forms: grande or hondo (“grand” or “deep”), intense, profound songs, tragic in tone, and imbued with duende, the transformation of the musician by the depth of the emotion; intermedio (“intermediate”), moderately serious, the music sometimes Oriental-sounding; and pequeño (“small”), light songs of exuberance, love, and nature."
Flamenco is danced around the world--here is silk dress from
Japan
Would love to see this dress in action!
Madrid Span dress 1970-1980
Madrid, 1965--bought to New Mexico to wear at
New Mexico venues and the first year of the
New Mexico Festival Flamenco International
Variety of costumes worn by men and women
This is one of the costumes that Maria Benitez would
wear in her exciting dances--A native New Mexican, Benítez is best known for the work of the company she and her husband Cecilio founded and direct, Teatro Flamenco.
I love the detail on the dresses
especially the crocheted collar
Just imagine the sway of this skirt--
Feria Dress, Seville, Spain, 2011
The small shawl is cotton dated 2014 from Seville also
Towards the middle of the nineteenth century, various agricultural fairs took place around the city of Seville and many gypsy farmers wives began attending these fairs wearing handmade dresses which they had crafted from old, everyday clothes. They were often adorned with ruffles and frills in order to make the simple fabrics more beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.
During the Seville Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, members and representatives of high society attended the event wearing the traje de Sevillana (pronounced tra-hey), and thus, the dress received its first official recognition.
From that time, the popularity of the dress began to spread outside the borders of the region, eventually becoming a truly distinctive element of Andalusian culture. Maintaining its most recognisable features (fitting, cut, and accessories), the dress has accompanied the evolution of the regional flamenco tradition and has spread even further, both nationally and internationally.
The mantón or shawl is the most spectacular part of the Flamenco costume. The shawls’ vibrant colors and exuberant designs exude the culture of Andalusia and give an extra outlet to your interpretative potential: In your hands, the mantón opens new vistas of sensational dance movement.
The Spanish mantón is actually a square piece of cloth, hand-embroidered through and through by women who live in Seville and have over 50 years of experience in crafting hand-made shawls. All of the Flamencista Shawl Collection is made from the finest materials available. All of the shawls, the product of exquisite haute-couture craftsmanship, are hand-sewn and hand-embroidered in the capital of Andalusia.
In 1808 the invasion of Spain by Napoleon's forces
prompted anti French sentiment. The resistance to all things French led
to an enthusiasm for regional Spanish folk culture.
Traditional dress, once considered the purview of farmers and
peasants, became the fashion among the elites of urban society.
This same style of dress became the style worn for village
fiestas and was eventually adopted for the stage.
Handed down from generation to generation, flamenco was
originally performed within families or communities or
Gitano (Spanish Romany) origin in southern Spain.
