Flamenco en Japón

Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices, 2014

The indigenization and domestication of foreign (western) culture in Japan has, according to Koichi Iwabuchi, led to an increasing variety of ‘modes of indigenized modernities’. Flamenco dancing, I argue, presents one such mode. Since the 1980s, Japanese women have been appropriating and adapting flamenco, an assumed local, ‘authentic’ Spanish genre turned into a so-called world music/dance, to their cosmopolitan dreams. They have turned flamenco in Japan into modern dance. This case shows that the relocation of a global genre through cultural adaptation should never be taken as a mere act of imitation, since the embedding of the genre into a new sociocultural environment requires adjustments to both the pre-existing ways of learning in the new environment as well as to the new meanings the genre may have for its apprentices. This is so, even in a society as reputed for cultural imitation as Japan. In this case, it is exactly the local social developments concerning femininity and m...

Łódzkie Studia Etnograficzne, 2018

Contemporary vantage points on various types of flamenco differ vastly. This disparity is visible among flamenco aficionados, performers and while analyzing academic attitudes. The paper explores some of the recurring discrepancies in the scholarly flamenco disputes. It dwells on the role of the discussed genre in ethnic debates and its place in Spanish culture. The article also looks at the antagonism between traditional and contemporary or “pure” and commercial display of flamenco. These discussions are part of – as a dance scholar Michelle Heffner Hayes (2009: 4) phrases it – “conflicting narratives of flamenco’s history” and contribute to a complex and multifaceted image of this art form.

Draft for EMPOW, 2016

Common expressions such as “Music knows of no race” and “Dance is a universal language” can be partially agreed upon them, as they can communicate cross-culturally, however the question is how they are perceived and what do they communicate in a different context than the one where they have been originated. In the particular case of flamenco, this study focuses on the perceptions of students and teachers of two different schools in the canton of Ticino towards flamenco, and its potential as intercultural enabler. Main questions such as “Are the motivations of studying flamenco connected to an intercultural interest or vice versa does flamenco enhance an intercultural understanding and sensitiveness in those who dance it?” are explored in order to determine whether flamenco can play a significant role in intercultural communication and education. For this reason, a qualitative research has been conducted in two different schools through personal interviews to two teachers and a total of ten students. Results prove a possible linkage between perceptions of flamenco and intercultural interest/sensitiveness. Culturally-diverse dances such as flamenco can be used in intercultural education with the aim of getting to know cultures, beliefs, behaviors, and values of the context where these dances originated, and finally to reduce fixed images and stereotypes of other cultures and societies. Flamenco in this sense has all the qualities not only to enable individuals to profit from the physical activity, but also to develop intercultural understanding through the deepening of social, cultural, political, and ethical aspects of it within the individuals who practice it.

2020

This is a content-based course called Music in World Cultures. The course is meant to educate students on international music genres. This specific unit presents the flamenco dance. It is intended for adult learners of English with a B2 level on the CEFR scale. The goal of this unit is to inform students about the flamenco and to encourage them to think critically

2018

2006

4th IASPM biennial conference MEXICO ¡Que Viva la Música Popular, 2007

The last quarter of the twentieth century saw a re-definition of flamenco performance, which was mostly due to the use of musical instruments associated with other styles and to the appropriation of "non-flamenco" performance spaces and practices. The beginning of the twenty-first century has witnessed the continued modification of the tradition via new technology, which both creates and reflects new ways of playing, singing and dancing flamenco. Artists have continued to cross both physical and technological borders, collaborating with other musicians, acquiring other sounds, and developing new concepts of flamenco performance. Rather than analysing the contemporary flamenco scene in one particular context (Spain), in this paper I propose to examine the ways in which flamenco has fitted in to the wider world popular music scene. In order to do this I will focus on international festivals in which flamenco performers have collaborated with musicians from other cultural and/or musical backgrounds. The paper will present new fieldwork carried out in Spain and elsewhere and commentaries by flamenco musicians, sound technicians and agents. The light this sheds on developments in the contemporary flamenco scene will then be compared to theoretical work on technology taking place elsewhere in popular music studies.

X Congreso de la SIBE-Sociedad de Etnomusicología V Congreso de IASPM-España II Congreso de Músicas Populares del Mundo Hispano y Lusófono MÚSICA, CIUDADES, REDES: CREACIÓN MUSICAL E INTERACCIÓN SOCIAL, 2008

Conceptos como diaspora, displacement o motion son centrales en los discursos de la etnomusicología contemporánea. Los músicos flamencos a través de sus citas de viaje e historia son idóneos para aplicar dichos conceptos al analizar la redefinición del flamenco contemporáneo como género musical. Éstos nos ayudan a comprender la rica e híbrida escena inserta en la World Music y Popular Music a comienzos del siglo XXI. El flamenco contemporáneo se influencia e influencia a músicos que provienen de diversos contextos culturales, que enriquecen este particular género. El flamenco y sus artistas de proyección "uni-direccional" frecuentemente cruzan fronteras virtuales y colaboran con otros músicos asimilando otros conceptos que modifican su concepción epistemológica. Habiendo realizado trabajo de campo y análisis desde otro contexto cultural sobre músicos que continúan enriqueciendo el flamenco contemporáneo, en esta ponencia propongo contrastar sus comentarios con discursos recientes de los estudios de tecnología en la popular music.