Interconnectivity: the Dance of Andalusia

The “colorful history of oriental dance” notes that between 800-900 C.E. it is believed that a second migratory route left the Punjabi region of India down to and across North Africa (including Egypt) and up into Southern Spain—Andalusia—through the Straights of Gibraltar. These people are believed to be members of the “Untouchables,” a group within the Indian caste system comprised of animal traders and trainers, acrobats, dancers, musicians, palmists and metalworkers. This faction, known as “Cale,” has been far more difficult to verify and trace due to the great similarity of appearance and lifestyle to the indigenous peoples along the route.

During this migration process, the flamenco dance developed. This dance is accompanied by a particular style of flamenco music. The strongest influences evident in the evolution of Flamenco singing and music can be traced from:

• Punjabi singing of India
• Persian Zyriab song form
• Classical Andalusian Orchestras of the Islamic Empire
• Jewish Synagogue Chants
• Mozarabic forms such as Zarchyas and Zambra
• Arabic Zayal which themselves are the foundation for Fandangos
• Andalusian regional folk forms
• Western African influences via the slaves of the New World Caribbean, Central and South American colonies. These include Rumba, Garotin, Guajiras, Columbianas, etc.

It is evident here that Andalusia was not only a seat of interreligious living between Jews, Christians, and Muslims, but also many other cultures and religions, and these cultures and religions influenced flamenco music and dance. This is also evident in flamenco dance forms, namely the very strong resemblance to East Indian dance is seen in the Katak, NianiPuri, Kathakal and Bharatanatyam forms. Elements such as the deep-seated plea, outturned leg position, sharp angles of the body and arms, splayed fingers, rapid barrel turns and, most certainly, the percussive foot movements are all evident in flamenco dance. This dance, in 2/4 time, combined elements of Andalusian folk dance with Arabic elements, such as finger cymbals, tambourines and atypical theatrical costuming.

Additionally, the “colorful history of oriental dance” has maintained that the “gypsies have no true religious beliefs,” and no music of their own, so successfully have they taken on the flavor of each culture where they have lived. However, in reality their entire culture centers around shamanistic beliefs in the spirits that dwell in nature, a distinct remnant of Central Asian shamanistic beliefs. Gypsies believe that certain demons and spirits hold sway over each individual's daily life. For example the Gypsy artist must wait and hope for his personal "duende" or demon, to enter into him and flood him with inspiration before achieving true artistry, even when he/she must perform to eat. Thus, the entertainment of Gadjo becomes a game of fooling the uninformed that the spirit has entered the performer even when it has not. This deep emotion helped create in Andalusia the "cante jondo" or deep song, which contrasts to the lighter "canto flamenco.” Flamenco dance styling has a distinct similarity to classical Persian dance, as well as modern Central Asian dance, in the distinctive use of arms and the high body center. Whereas modern Arabic dance centers its moves in the abdomen and keeps the arms mostly at shoulder level, both Flamenco and Persian dance center the weight in the chest and use the maximum amount of space above the head to perform graceful and effect arm and hand movements.

Gypsy dancing is never "just to be dancing,” comments Gypsiologist Barbara Sellers. "Instead it seems to be part of an immense and significant non-verbal vocabulary of Gypsy communication and behavior. It is at the heart of an essential transformation, a transcended state, an escape from the reality of their daily lives to a more satisfying state of mind". This is especially important to remember because “oriental dance” is consistently related to both religion and eroticism in various contexts.

Search for the Divine Dance in Andalusia...Continued...

My search for the divine dance of Andalusia continues…

In addition to Iris Stewart’s research, Wendy Buonaventura also chronicles the history of so-called “belly dancing,” noting that this style of dance travels from India into the Middle East and as far as Spain. This dance form was spread through the travels of “gypsies” where, in the case of Andalusia, the “belly” dance evolved into flamenco. Buonaventura aptly notes that the flamenco also “includes the manipulation of veils, thrusting hips and a rapid stamping close the ground, which again creates a subtle shimmy. In flamenco, though, the shimmy is hardly noticeable, for our attention is fixed on the dancer’s proud arms and dramatic stamping feet.”[1]

According to Habiba Studios: Dances of the Near East, the Andalusian dancer is known as “jariya,” or slave girls who performed in the noble houses of Andalusian Spain and throughout the Arab world. Jariya is based on the classical music and dance that originated in Andalusian Spain and traveled to North Africa when the Arabs were expelled. The dance emphasizes the elegant arm and hand movements of the court dancer. Again, the serpentine arm movements are echoed, as in “belly” dance and flamenco.

Furthermore, though not in academic discourse, travel guides advertise flamenco as the dance of Andalusia. Bob Martin notes that flamenco blends influences, the earliest of which came from Hindu dances, the threnodies of Greek mourners and the mimes of Imperial Rome.[2]

It is ostensible that the commonly known “belly” dance has sacred origins stemming from fertility, birthing, and goddess worship, illustrating the connections to sacred sexuality. It is also clear that “belly” dancing paved the way for flamenco in Andalusia, possibly incorporating some of these sacred gestures into the dance form. The question I now have is: Does flamenco have sacred ties today and how are these sacred origins manifested in the dances of Andalusia? Is the Andalusian dance viewed differently by Jews, Christians, and Muslims? Why or why not?

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[1] Wendy Buonaventura, Belly Dancing: The Serpent and the Sphinx (London: Virago Press, 1983), 6.

[2] Bob Martin, “Flamenco: The Dance of Andalusia,” [accessed October 13, 2007 at http://www.inquisitivetraveler.com/pages/artlib/flamenco.html

Searching for the Divine Dance in Andalusia...

I am currently taking an online course on Andalusia: Jewish, Christian, Muslim Dialogue with Dr. Ibrahim Farajaje at GTU’s SKSM, a Unitarian Universalist school. One of the assignments is to blog about the course materials, my reactions, and how I can use a hermeneutic of Andalusia in a particular area of focus. As this is my first time taking an online course, and blogging is still fairly new for me, I begin with slight reservation due to the fear that I am doing it all incorrectly…

So, with that said, I believe I shall identify my area of focus. Broadly speaking, my focus is “sacred” dance as a form of interreligious dialogue. The more I research, the more this will narrow. As I have written and researched substantially regarding dance as a form of interreligious dialogue between these three monotheistic religions, I shall attempt to focus on the dances that are and were present in Andalusia, Spain.

When first thinking of these religious traditions, I assume that Jewish circle dance and forms of “liturgical” (for lack of a better word in this instance) Christian dance were present, potentially accompanied with Muslim whirling and “belly” dance. These are merely hypotheses as I begin. I am certain that flamenco was present to some extent and the sacred components of this dance form (if there are any) are what I am in the beginning phases of exploring.

Interestingly, Iris Stewart highlights flamenco as an “other belly dance tradition”[1] after she details the sacred goddess origins of the “belly dance,” paying careful attention to the role of the womb and birthing process in connection with this dance form. Stewart notes that flamenco incorporates some of the serpentine arm patterns and hip rotations seen in various versions of belly dance. She explains that this stems from a variety of sources, including Hindu Romany, who settled in the caves of Sacromonte and mixed with the Mozarab, a community of Arab/Berber Moores, Jews, and Iberians in the 8^th-9^th centuries CE. They brought these dance combinations, mixed with Arabic melodic themes, to ANDALUSIA, incorporating many traditional characteristics of Spanish dancing. Further, the Houara tribe in Morocco perform a dance today that is rumored to be the mother of flamenco.

These are merely the beginnings of insights and meager research. However, I find it fascinating that a brief section of a chapter on what Stewart titles “womandance” (commonly known as belly dance) manages to quantify so many complexities addressed in the many readings regarding Moores, Arabs, Berbers, Jews, and Morocco. Again, it is reiterated that there is not a monolithic approach to history—be that history of a geographical location, group of people, religious group/s, or even a dance form. Each are far more interconnected and complex than they appear on the surface.

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[1] Iris Stewart, Sacred Woman, Sacred Dance (Rochester: Inner Traditions, 2000), 90. All subsequent references in this blog stem from Stewart’s work.