Flamenco originated in Andalusia under the influence of the cultures of peoples who over centuries have coexisted in that territory – Arabs, Jews, Christians and Gypsies. Also, echoes of African culture had reached the southern shores of the Iberian Peninsula, combining the African rhythms with those of Andalusia.

The first documented mention of flamenco was in Andalusia in 1780. By that time flamenco’s melodic structure and style were already defined and, therefore, this time is generally accepted as the start of its existence.

What made flamenco accepted by general public was the appearance of special coffee houses, café cantante, featuring various flamenco performers. First such coffee house was opened in Seville in 1842. The others followed, and by 1870’s many “café cantante” were established in the towns of Seville, Cadiz, Juarez de la Frontera, Puerto de Santa Maria, Malaga, Granada, Cartagena, La Union…

The transformation of flamenco into a spectator show did not leave its artistic quality and the purity of style unaffected. Every performer’s repertoir was getting contaminated with alien forms and, during the first years of the XX century, café cantante began to decline. Flamenco was looking for new forms of expression and found them on the stages of theaters and improvised stages of bullfight arenas.

The talk about flamenco renaissance began in 1922 when at the initiative of the composer Manuel de Falie and Federico Garcia Lorca there was organized in Granada a canto hondo festival (Concurso de Cante Jondo). The objective was to collect the original melodies of cante jondo, to discover new talents and to rekindle interest in this ancient art.

Flamenco is a very special world, which has not only its traditions but as well its language. ABANICO: A right-handed flamenco guitar technique where nearly all the strings are pressed in a downward motion with the little, ring, middle and index finger, in this order.

BABEO: Labial vibration that intervenes the phoneme ‘b’ with the last vocal of the previous word repeating the previous syllable that some interpreters practice when singing.

CABAL: When the flamenco aficionado is very knowledgeable of the songs, recognizes and clarifies the different styles, easily perceives the successes and failures of the singer, and listens to the song without any other purpose than to enjoy its aesthetic and emotional values.

DE VERDAD: Term that is applied to the flamenco singer who reunites the essential conditions in order to qualify it as excellent, such as spontaneity, sincerity and inspiration.

ECO: Ensemble of sounds with evident flamenco characteristics that can be attributed to a determined voice.

FALSETA: Melodic phrase or embellishment that the guitar player executes between copla and copla or before the song; that is when the singer is quiet, thus giving loose reign to personal inspiration.

GANGUEO: Guttural vibrato that is appreciated in the interpretation of certain songs when the singer tends to transform into ‘j’ the final ‘s’ of certain words.

HACER SON: Accompanying a song or a dance with palmas (clapping), golpes (hits or taps) or pitos (finger-snapping); when referring to the song it refers to arranging and marking the proper rhythm of each style.

JALEAR: Encouraging and accompanying the flamenco interpreters with palmas, gestures and different expressions.

LARGO: The flamenco interpreter that is very knowledgeable of the style or styles that develop, especially one who has mastered an ample repertoire of styles.

MACHO: Generally, three verses that are added to certain flamenco songs to enhance them with a more alive feeling, it has become a type of corroboration of the song. Also refers to the castañet that is positioned on the left hand.

NATURAL: Type of voice used to interpret flamenco songs, it is manly and hoarse and arises from the chest.

OLE: A shout or exclamation that expresses enthusiasm during a flamenco performance. This shout can accompany applauses adding encouragement to the specific singer or interpreter. In another sense, the OLE was an Andalusian dance of the XVIII century originating from the gypsy dances.

PALMAS: Clapping that accompanies flamenco song and dance, rhythmic to each style, that is realized by clapping with the fingers of one hand in the palm of the other or striking the two palms together. Playing las palmas is an art in itself, that is more difficult than it might seem, for having to mark the measured sound.

QUEJÍO: A song formed by an extensively prolonged ay or with several successive ayes that are inserted at the beginning, the middle, or at the end of the song, although always independent of the lyrics, it brings to the song a most dramatic accentuation that is very pronounced.