History of Flamenco

Andalucía is located in the southern part of Spain
and its capital city is Sevilla. The name Andalucía comes from the Arabic word Al-Andalus. During the time of Moorish reign Andalucía was the center power for the Arab nation. Besides Arab influences the region has also been influenced by the Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths and of course Christians.

Due to all the different peoples and civilizations that have called Andalucía home, it has become a melting pot for arts and culture. One of the most recognizable artistic features Andalucía has is that of the art of Flamenco. Flamenco was first mentioned in writing around the 18^th century, but most probably created long before then.

Flamenco is a style of music and dance that was created by the gypsies that lived in the region of Andalucía. The origin of Flamenco is very hard to pin point. Some historians believe that the musical aspects originated during the time of the Moorish occupation dating back to 711 A.D. When the Moors came to Spain they brought their instruments too, one of those instruments is the oud, the Arabic version of a guitar. The oud changed forms after it was brought to Spain, it was combined with elements of the European lute, more strings where added, and other aspects which have now become the traditional Flamenco guitar. Historians also believe that when Spain colonized the New World they returned with many Latin American influences, such as different forms of dance. All these forms mixed together and the Flamenco dance was born.

There are three basic parts to Flamenco, toque: guitar, cante: song and baile: dance. Toque, the first part of Flamenco, is the art of playing the guitar. The traditional Flamenco guitar is made of Spanish cypress and spruce; it’s lighter in weight and smaller in size to the classical guitar. All these elements make this special guitar sound a bit sharper than the classical guitar. The traditional Flamenco guitar also has a guard on the lower half called a golpeador, which protects the body of the guitar from the rhythmic taps that the guitarist does during a song. The Flamenco guitar is the only “true” instrument used when performing Flamenco. The other instrument is the voice or the cante.

Most true lovers of Flamenco believe that the soul of Flamenco is in the songs. The performers sing with so much emotion and usually on subjects all can relate to. Although most of the flamenco songs seem to be spontaneous, these songs follow strict musical and poetic rules. Cante Flamenco can be categorized into two themes, compas or libre. Compas follows a very strict rhythmic pattern and libre follows a free rhythm. Then there are the verses called coplas, which are usually concise poems. Cantes that use compas fit one of the following four patterns: solea, seguidilla, tango, and fandango. Within the solea group there are specific cantes called romances, solea por bulerias, and alegrias.

The final and the most memorable part of Flamenco is baile or dance. Flamenco dance is known for its emotional intensity, sound, and movement. The most authentic form of Flamenco is known as Flamenco Puro. This form of Flamenco is always preformed solo and is more improvised than choreographed. The dance consists of stomping ones feet, clapping ones hands, and extending ones arms while curving the wrists around ones body all in a rhythmic movement. The women wear traditional Flamenco dresses, some with bright colors and spots, and other times with muted colors even black, depending on the cante. The men usually wear slacks with a button down shirt and keep their “look” very simple. In traditional Flamenco young people are not considered mature enough to convey the soul of Flamenco and therefore there usually not very many young dancers. A Flamenco dancer usually does not hit their peek until their early thirties and will dance until their fifties or more.

Flamenco music, songs, and dance together create a wonderful combination of Spanish tradition. One that is a must see for any person traveling to the south of Spain.

Advocacy Journalism

Advocacy journalism is a genre of journalism that intentionally expresses a biased view point for a social or political purpose. A big problem with this kind of journalism is that it is printed in legitimate newspapers and magazines, seen on trustworthy news programs, and heard on genuine news radio programs, making the general audience believe these stories to be factual.

In Europe, as in other parts of the world, seems to fall victim to these issues. There are many reasons journalist turn to this kind of writing, but here are the official five P´s of advocacy journalism:

- Proprietary Companies: these are companies that may own stock in a newspaper, magazine, news program etc. and holds the money that pays the employees and so forth, so the journalist feel forced to write what the feelings of this particular company are.

- Politics: For many countries that government has a very strong hold over what is projected over the many waves of media. For this reason the media outlets must adhere to thoughts and feelings of the government in power.

- Publicity: Most magazines or newspapers etc. thrive on publicity and printing something that will bring publicity to their business seems worth it to them.

- Public Opinion: People want to read or hear what they believe in. They want to see their opinion realized in the media outlets, so these media outlets will print what they know the public will react to, favorably or unfavorably.

- Production: This allows media outlets to put information out into the hands of the people quickly and creates information that may not be completely accurate.

Advertisers can also harm their clients’ reputation by placing ads in conflicting news outlets. The public may assume that because the company places their ads within the newspaper of a very biased story that they too believe it to be that way. Therefore as advertisers we must be very careful to search for a trustworthy media outlet that conveys a non biased opinion.

Welcome Cocktail Party

These are some shots from the Welcome to Sevilla cocktail party. It was at the Hotel Doña Maria an amazing hotel set in the center of the plaza that the Catedral and the Giralda are located.

Tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando....Granada

Favorite city so far! The Alhambra was amazing, literally took my breath away! And we even got to see a Flamenco show. I took SO many pictures, here are a few of the hundreds (no joke) of photos I took.

Córdoba: Music and Fun

Córdoba is AMAZING! Beautiful, picturesque, and HOT, but well worth it. Here are some pictures and a video of my time in this awesome city!

An Afternoon at El Museo Nacional Del Prado

While visiting El Museo Nacional Del Prado on Sunday afternoon we were asked to look for some very important Andalusian artist whose art work resides in the museum. Those artist were; Francisco de Zurbarán, Diego Velázquez, and Bartolomé Murillo. Each of these artists created a wealth of amazing art pieces, but here are a few of my personal favorites and some background on the artists themselves.

Fransico de Zurbarán was born on November 7, 1589 and died on August 27, 1664. He was born in a small town in the province of Extremadura. He drew from a very early age, so his father decided to send him to Sevilla for three years to apprentice a painter. During his time as an apprentice he learned his craft very well and even surpassed many local artists with his art work. Because of that during the 1630s he was appointed painter to Rey Felipe IV. During that time Zurbarán left his mark on the world of art. He was primarily known for his religious paintings. The painting I chose as my favorite happens to be from the time before he was a royal painter. It is the “Visión de San Pedro Nolasco” completed in 1629. This painting depicts an angel coming to San Pedro Nolasco and showing him a vision of the city of Jerusalem. The reason I chose this picture was because I really like the way the clothes on both San Pedro and the angel have so much detail and also both their faces are very realistic. I also liked the fact that the figures are both very dominant and strong in the painting and that the vision is hazy and less detailed to give you the impression of a true vision.

Diego Velázquez was born on June 6, 1599 and dies on August 6, 1660. Velázquez was actually born in the city of Sevilla and showed his gift for art at an early age. Therefore he apprenticed under many painters for several years. By the 1620s he was a well known painter and was appointed as a painter in the court of Rey Felipe IV. Velázquez created several famous paintings in his lifetime, his most famous being the painting “Las Meninas”. Although that was his most famous painting, the painting I chose was “La Reina Doña Isabel de Francia a caballo”. This painted was completed in 1635. I chose this painting because although its theme is obvious, a simple portrait of the Queen, I really loved the way he painted her riding habit with such detail. One can almost see the texture of the fabric in the painting. I also like that Velázquez painted his subjects as the truly looked. So when I look at one of his paintings I feel like I’m looking and the true likeness of the subject, which to me is pretty extraordinary.

Bartolomé Murillo was born December 31, 1617 and died on April 3. 1682. Murillo was also born in the city of Sevilla and that is where he did most of his painting. Although he spent most of his life in Sevilla, he did travel to Madrid and became familiar with paintings by Velázquez while he was there. Murillo was best known for his religious works and was often compared to both Zurbarán and Velázquez. The painting I chose was “Inmaculada de Soult” completed in 1678 depicts the Virgin Mary on a cloud and surrounded by angels. The reason I choose this painting was because as Catholic who admires the Virgin Mary I just really loved the way this image of her looked. It has a very serene feeling to it. I imagine he may have depicted her on a cloud and looking up to give the feeling that she was in Heaven and maybe even looking up at God. I like that the angels all are little bit different and all around her mostly looking at here in awe. To me it was an extremely powerful painting.

I enjoyed the time at the museum so much and was glad to have been able to see not only these artists and their painting, but other artists and their work too. It was an incredible experience to walk through all the rooms and visit El Prado.

A History of Sevilla

The city of Sevilla was founded over 2,000 years ago and is located in south of Spain bordering the Guadalquivir River. It is also the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Sevilla is a city with a strong medieval, renaissance, and baroque heritage, but more than all those it has a very heavy Arabic influence which can still be seen in most of the cities famous monuments.

During the early years of Sevilla it was known as Hispalis and was occupied by the Phoenicians, the Greeks, and later the Carthaginians. In 205 B.C. the city was conquered by the Romans and served as a residential city much like the city of Italica, which is located just outside modern-day Sevilla. Sevilla even boasts remnants of a Roman aqueduct. The city remained under Roman rule for seven centuries until it was conquered by the Islamic Moors. The most influential culture in Sevilla’s history is that of the Moorish era. The city was conquered in 712 and was named Išbīliya, which is derived for the Roman name of Hispalis. After the Moors took over the Iberian Peninsula, Sevilla became an important center in Al-Andalus, or Moorish Spain. Sevilla was under Moorish rule from the 8th century until the 13th century. In 1248, during the time of the Reconquista, King Fernando III of Castile triumphed over the Moors and gained control of Sevilla. At this time the majority of Spain was reclaimed from the Moors and Spain was under the rule of one monarch. In 1492 Christopher Columbus began his expedition to the New World from the port of Sevilla, resulting in all goods imported from the New World to pass exclusively through the city. In the hundred years following Columbus’ voyage to the Americas, Sevilla became a very prosperous city with a population nearing the one million mark. In the late 16th century the city of Cadiz was also authorized as port of trade causing Sevilla to slow its growth. Sevilla remained an economically stable city from the 17th century until the 20th century, with normal population growth and increasing industrialization. In 1929 Sevilla hosted the Ibero-American Exhibition, which is when the famous Plaza de España was built depicting all the regions of Spain. Later on during the Spanish Civil War, Sevilla fell to General Francisco Franco in 1936. General Franco remained in power from 1936 until his death in November of 1975, when power was restored to King Juan Carlos. After Spain was returned to the Spanish Monarch, Sevilla like all of Spain began to heal from the harsh times of communist rule. In more recent history Sevilla hosted the Worlds Fair in 1992 (Expo ’92) and commemorated the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus.

Sevilla is home to many of the most beautiful and interesting monuments in Spain. One of those is the Cathedral of Sevilla, also known as Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede. After the Reconquista of Sevilla in 1248 the city began a process of reconversion to Christianity and most mosques where converted in to churches. The Cathedral is located on the site of the former great Moslem mosque. Construction on the cathedral began in July of 1401 and continued for four centuries. The cathedral is the largest place of worship in all of Spain and the third largest in the world. It was designed in late Gothic style and consists of five large naves, 80 chapels, and is filled with vast treasures. Many valuable painting, including works by Murillo, Valdés Leal, Zurbarán and many others are found inside the cathedral, but this isn’t the only reason this cathedral is so famous. The cathedral is also the final resting place of many famous people including Christopher Columbus and the patron saint of Sevilla King Fernando III. Since the cathedral was built on the location of the old mosque some elements were used for the new church, one of them being the Giralda Tower.

The Giralda tower is part of the Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede and serves as the cathedral’s bell tower, but during the Moorish era the Giralda tower was erected as a minaret. The tower stands 320 ft. tall and is one of the most important symbols in the city of Sevilla. The tower is made of brick and stone and embellished with Moorish art. The first two-thirds of the tower is part of the former minaret and the upper third is of Spanish Renaissance architecture. The statue at the very top of the tower called the Triumph of the Faith and moves in the wind which is how the tower gets its name. The top section of the tower is called the Lily Section which now houses the bell. To get to the top of The Giralda one must climb a ramp, not stairs. The tower was made with a ramp so a donkey could carry a man up to the top of tower to call out for prayer during the time the Moors were in control. From the top of the tower one can see the whole city of Sevilla.

Another beautiful landmark is the Alcázar of Sevilla. Originally a Moorish fort it later became a royal palace, King Fernando III and Queen Isabella lived here for some time and even welcomed home Christopher Columbus when he returned from the New World in the Alcázar. The upper levels are still in use by the royal family as the official Sevilla residence. The palace is one of the best remaining examples of mudéjar architecture which dates back to 1326 and over the years many past monarchs have added their own touches to the building. The Alcázar contains many different patios and rooms such as El Patio de las Doncellas which means The Courtyard of the Maidens, Los Baños de Doña María de Padilla which means Bath of Lady María de Padilla, Casa de Contratación which means The House of Trade, and many others. The palace also contains many gardens, fountains, reflecting pool, and famous art works.

Sevilla is a city rich in history, unique architecture, many different cultures, and traditions. It’s a city that is really worth learning about and visiting.