Flamenco, tap dance and Afro-Peruvian zapateo (part 1 of 2)

I've heard people who aren't dance junkies say, when watching flamenco dance for the first (or second or third) time, "Hey, it's a lot like tap dance."  If you think about all the footwork in flamenco, and think about the footwork in tap dance, there is some truth to that and while we're at it, we may as well throw in Afro-Peruvian zapateo (sometimes simply called Peruvian zapateo).

The footwork sections in flamenco, by the way, are called taconeo.

Being someone who has recently made a documentary about Afro-Peruvian music and dance, who's made videos about flamenco, who's produced a CD of flamenco singing, and who has performed flamenco as a soloist on stage, I started thinking about the similarities and the differences between these three dance forms.


 
Here's one of many cool videos of Afro-Peruvian zapateo you can find on YouTube.

The similarities:  all three use the feet as a percussion instrument, and the footwork is elaborate and rhythmically complicated -- and pretty impressive, when done by a master.

Then, there're the differences.  Lots of differences.

One is intention.  In tap dance, the intent is to amuse and the musical background is almost always upbeat.  The dancer's expression ranges from a smile to a smile to a blank face, but we in the audience know we're supposed to be having fun.



Here's a great selection of very fine tap dancing.

In Afro-Peruvian zapateo, as it is seen on stage, there is the same intent to please and to make the audience happy.  There is also an element of competitiveness to it, so you usually see more than one dancer and each one dances solo, at least for a while, letting the other dancer(s) watch.  Then the next dancer performs and tries to do something more complicated, etcetera.

The original and traditional Afro-Peruvian zapateo, however, is/was not competitive.  Instead, it's done to honor Christ and actually, two centuries ago, was done in order to communicate the dancer's feelings to Christ.  The Catholic religious aspect is preserved in Afro-Peruvian communities in coastal Peru, in something called the hatajo de negritos.


And some flamenco, showing not only taconeo but also in the second half, the interplay between singer, dancer, guitarist.

In flamenco, the intent is to express the emotions being created and expressed by the singer and the songs that are being sung.  Many of these songs are about suffering, loss, death, and pain.  Sure, some flamenco forms are upbeat and communicate happiness and a sense of having fun, but these are by no means in the majority.  Plus the intent is to express the inner feelings of the performer (dancer, singer, guitarist), not to provide pleasure to the audience.

And a flamenco dancer having fun.

 The idea is that by reaching deeply into yourself, you also touch a deep part of each individual in the audience.  

OUR NEXT POST will finish up this topic.