Bolero (dance)

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bolero
Type: Stage dance , ballroom dancing , ballroom dancing , ballroom dancing
List of dances
Antonio Cabral Bejarano: Bolero Dancer, 1842

The bolero is a Spanish dance in ¾ time that was “developed in the last third of the 18th century by dance masters from various Spanish dances.” In addition to the Seguidillas manchegas, this also includes fandango , polo and chacona. In addition, elements from ballet and court dances were adapted, especially for the movement vocabulary of the legs and feet.

It is usually danced by two people with castanets and traditionally accompanied by guitar , cister and other folkloric instruments such as bagpipes, drums and tambourines.

The bolero achieved world fame through the orchestral piece of the same name by Maurice Ravel .

Unrelated to the Spanish Bolero is the Cuban bolero , the most in 2 / 4 - or 4 / 4 is listed -Metrum.

The Escuela Bolera

The bolero gave its name to a whole genre of dance forms: the escuela bolera , the bolero school. In Spain it is also known under the name Escuela de palillos , the castanets school. It includes steps and movements of both Spanish stage dance and those of folk dances that evolved into artistic dances. These include the Bolero in the narrower sense, the Seguidillas boleras and some gas, the Fandango, the Jaleo from Jerez , the Cachucha , the Panadero , the Macarena , the Malagueña , the soleá of Arcas and others.

The performances of this school are what are typically called Spanish dance these days. They are characterized by castanets, extroverted movements with an emphasis on the use of the arms, and the recurring use of contratiempos . Their techniques are now part of the basic repertoire of professional Spanish ballet and flamenco dancers.

history

The bolero as a stage dance

At the end of the 18th century, some Spanish dance maestros first dealt with folk dances without prejudice. The custom developed to perform such dances on the theater stage. However, this was not done for general goodwill. In 1790 Caspar Melchor de Jovellanos wrote:

«¿Qué otra cosa son nuestros bailes que una miserable imitación de las libres e indecentes danzas de la ínfima plebe? Otras naciones traen a danzar sobre las tablas los dioses e las ninfas; nosotros, los manolos y las verduleras. »

“What else are our dances but a miserable imitation of the revealing and indecent dances of the common mob? Other nations bring the gods and nymphs to the stage; we the street boys and market women. "

The dances were adapted to the needs of the scenic performance and new forms were invented. This is how the bolero came about. One of the first sources where it is mentioned is a tonadilla from 1791 by Blas de Laserna:

"Vale más en el día / saber bolero / que agricultura, industria, / ciencia y comercio."

"Nowadays it's more / to be able to Bolero / than agriculture, trade / economy and trade."

It may have been invented around 1780 by Sebastián Corezo, who was a respected dancer at the time. Other authors name Antón Bolicho from Seville as the inventor. He, Bolicho, was also known under the name Bolero, hence the name of the dance. In 1820, Antonio Cairón called the bolero identical to the Seguidilla manchega.

At the beginning of the 19th century, artistic figures were invented in quick succession: the taconeo , the paso marcial , the puntas , the vuelta perdida , the trenzados , jumps and capers and many other figures. Sometimes the difficult and risky figures and jumps culminated in absurd exaggeration, so that the idea was more like a gymnastics exercise than a dance. Requejo from Murcia probably created a set of rules for the bolero around 1800 . By 1820 a more moderate view had prevailed, and the bolero was performed on the stages with less acrobatics and at a moderate pace. The emphasis now was on technical perfection, poise and elegance. It was exemplified in the so-called bien parado : the elegant pose in which the dancer had to pause motionless at the end of each part. The bolero had thus developed from a folk dance to a dance for professional performances. As such, he enjoyed great esteem and popularity throughout the 19th century.

The popular bolero

Regardless of the virtuosity that the bolero demanded of professional dancers, the people of Andalusia and other parts of Spain took it over. It adapted its figures and movements to its own needs. The twists and turns of the then popular playwrights Juan Ignacio González del Castillo and Ramón de la Cruz as well as numerous travel reports attest to his popularity. In 1830, Washington Irving described a rural festival of music and dance, where fandango and bolero were danced. Ten years later, the Russian publicist Vasily Botkin reported on a similar festival in Madrid. In 1860 the French writer Jean-Charles Davillier wrote : "The Andalusians are so passionate about the Seguidillas boleras that they perform them everywhere". A decade later, however, this passion seems to have subsided , because in 1876 the politician Julián Zugasti y Sáenz wrote that the bolero was no longer as popular as it was in earlier years, when almost nothing else was danced.

There are a number of regional characteristics, for example:

literature

  • Christiane Karl: Bolero . In: Annette Hartmann, Monika Woitas (ed.): The great dance lexicon . Laaber, 2016, p. 110ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Christiane Karl: Bolero . In: Annette Hartmann, Monika Woitas (ed.): The great dance lexicon . Laaber 2016, p. 110 .
  2. ↑ a b José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I. Signatura Ediciones de Andalucía, Sevilla 2010, ISBN 978-84-96210-70-7 , p. 158-159 .
  3. ↑ a b José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, 2010, p. 137 .
  4. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, 2010, p. 145 .
  5. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, 2010, p. 138 .
  6. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, 2010, p. 139 .
  7. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, 2010, p. 140 .
  8. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, 2010, p. 140-141 .
  9. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, 2010, p. 141 .
  10. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, 2010, p. 144-145 .
  11. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, 2010, p. 152 .
  12. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, 2010, p. 153 .
  13. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, 2010, p. 154 .
  14. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, 2010, p. 155 .
  15. ↑ Rocío Espada: La danza española. Su aprendizaje y conservación . Ed .: Ministerio de Educación y Cultura. Librerias Deportivas Esteban Sanz, Madrid 2010, ISBN 978-84-85977-65-9 , p. 125 (Spanish, limited preview in Google Book search).