Analyze a Baile: Seguiriyas
I wasn’t going to analyze another baile this month, but I had such a positive response to last month’s blog and I saw this seguiriyas and I just had to share.
A seguiriyas is a palo in the cante jondo or deep song category of flamenco. It is often referred to as the grandfather of flamenco. Flamencopolis has tons of information on the seguiriyas if you want to delve deeper. One theory on the origins of seguiriyas is that they originated from what in the early 19th century were called playeras, not to be confused with beach-goers—but mourners, women hired to sing dirges.
The following is thought to be one of the oldest known letras.
No soy de esta tierra,
Ni en ella nací;
La fortunilla rodando, rodando,
Me ha traído aquí
I am not from this land,
I wasn’t born from here;
Fortune, going round, round
brought me here.
But back to the DANCE! Seguiriya is a composite metric counted in 12. I like to count it in five 1 * 2 * 3 * * 4 * * 5 * . The asterisks being intermediary pulses. My flamenco teacher La Presy told me out hearts beat in seguiriyas. Seguiriyas sung alone is compas libre- it free meter singing. It is one of the hardest forms to dance.
My suggestion is to read through the list below and see if you can notice the highlights when you watch the dance, the first, second or even third time. Of course, I could nerd out for hours over this piece, but I gave a short list below. Whether you are an aspiring dancer or afficionado, watching and listening is the best path to your journey of understanding.
Her costume. I LOVE her costume. Seguiriyas is cante jondo. It is deep song. It is a plea or cry to the Universe to explain the human experience. The lyrics are dark, tragic, soul wrenching (see this months newsletter for more on cante for seguiriyas). The dance, the costume and the mood need to reflect that mood. Wearing pink or a less somber outfit would conflict with the espiritu of the baile. Monica is also wearing pants which is awesome for a female dancer because skirts hide a lot. Pants make your technique very evident.
2. She is so immersed in her dance and her experience that she is vocalizing within the rhythm as emphasis to her steps and syncopation of the palo. I love seeing a dancer completely in the “zone” as athletes might put it. She is so present and confident.
3. Can you spot where she motions to the guitarist to make a choreographic shift in the structure? It happens twice but the easiest to spot is at 1:53 where she turns and motions with her right hand to tell the guitarist to begin a faster strumming pattern so she can do her closing. Flamenco choreography is led by the dancer IN THE MOMENT. She is leading the group and that happens in many different ways, some as straight forward as turning to the singer or guitarist and mouthing something or making a motion with one’s hand, like we can spot here.
4. At the very end of the piece she takes her jacket off and begins to torear or to move like a bullfighter. It is important to remember that there are very strong cultural connections between bullfighting and flamenco. The shared roots are demonstrated here on stage.