The origins of flamenco

The origins of flamenco are lost in history. That does not stop the cognoscenti, a passionate, opinionated and nit-picking bunch, from spending much time disagreeing on them. The Romans were said to be fascinated by the dancing girls of Cádiz, though they predate flamenco and gypsies girls – by centuries. Records show gypsy dancers from Triana being hired for parties in the 1740s though they were also deemed as pre-flamenco. Early nineteen century travellers would watch fandangos being danced. Mi preferred version of the story is of a series of musical forms brought by the gypsies in their exodus from India and their slow crossing, over several centuries, of the Middle East and Europe. They crossed the Pyrenees into Spain in the fifteenth century. They were noted musicians whose services could be bought for weddings and celebrations. Spanish culture was itself a melting pot at the time, with Arab, and Jewish music adding to a stock of romances, traditional poetry, occasionally set to music. Flamenco, it seems, emerged from this stew over the centuries- appearing in a recognisable form in the early nineteenth century. The rhythms inherited from all sides, be they the metre of medieval poetry or the beat of Indian music, created what is , at times, an extraordinary difficult structure. It is not , and never has been, a purely gypsy music. Some of the best exponents have no gipsy blood at all in them. Gypsies, however, have always been at its centre.
From the book ‘Ghosts of Spain’ By Giles Tremet