El flamenco como hecho escénicolas danzas tradicionales españolas en el origen de lo jondo

Résumé

This work is a review of the latest studies on the history of flamenco, glving special attention to what the author has named the New Theory of the Hlstory of Flamenco. The theory was origlnally circulated in the 1970s by Luis Lavaur, founder of the theory, and nowadays by Gerhard Steingress, Faustíno Núñez and Vergillos himself. Vergillos chrlstens the name, New Theory of the Hlstory of Flamenco, and summarizes that flamenco dance is an evolution of traditional Spanlsh dances, specifically those called, at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, national dances, Andaluslan dances, palillos dances or bolero dances. Toe maln contributlon of thls work, besldes systematizing the contributions of this theory, Is to propase a newfangled dlstlnction between bolero dances and the Bolero School. Offlcially, the Bolero School Is the Spanish national dances of the 18th century, which would have remained intact from then until today. Thls means, as we say at the offlclal leve!, that the Bolero School preceded flamenco, and except for sorne epldermal connectlons In the 19th century, it was completely separate from flamenco. Juan Verglllos propases In this work that the Bolero School is somethlng different from palillos dances, also called bolero dances. He preves that sorne of the choreography of the current Bolero School is from the end of the 20th century. He also offers other lines of evidence of the differentiation between the Bolero School and bolero dances. This clashes head-on with the theory that is taught today In offlcial dance conservatorles and that Is disseminated gerterally by Spanish institutlons. In fact, Vergillos' hypothesis, in llne with the theses of Lavaur, Stelngress and Núñez, is that flamenco Is a derlvatlon of the natlonal dances, classlcal Spanlsh dances, Andaluslan dances, and palillos dances, whlch were also called bolero dances, at the end of the 18thcentury and durlng the early 19th century. The change of nomenclature, from bolero dances to flamenco dances, takes place around 1850 due to the influence of the gitano fashlon, of a romantlc nature, whlch extends across Europe, as well as Spain, at the beglnnlng of the 19th century. In the 1840s and sos, In certain areas related to artlstlc bohemia, flamenco was synonymous with the gitano lifestyle or, rather, supporters ofit. Because of this assoclatlon, what untíl ttiat moment had been called national dances, became known as flamenco dances. Vergillos explalns that this name change dld not affect greatly the repertolre and technlques of dances, based on examination of texts of travelers, romantic authors, the press, books, Andaluslan theatrical works of music, and flamenco of the mid-nlneteenth centúry. Vergillos inserts flamenco dances, previously called boleros, in a traditlon of Spanish dances that begins In the Renaissance and the Baroque. His research traces this evolution until the beginning of the 20th century, when the separation between flamenco dancing and palillos dances was clearly established.