The Sevillanas Dance

The sevillana is a set of four separate dances that form the core of a folk dance in Spain usually performed at ferias or market festivals, wedding ceremonies, and other Spanish social events. As a type of Spanish dance, it made to the dictionary of the Spanish language in 1884 after a long period of non-recognition by the Royal Spanish Academy. It first emerged as a separate and distinct form in the latter part of 18th century and as a variant of seguidillas, a form of Spanish song. In the 19th century, it became part of Escuela Bolera, an approach to the formal study of various regional Spanish dances, and of the repertoire for flamenco, another dance style in Spain.

Sevillana is the only dance in Spain that is learned by non-dancers but is now performed as a partner dance at the annual Feria de Abril in Seville, in flamenco and other dance concerts or in tablaos or venues for flamenco shows, and dance competitions in Spain and other parts of the world. It has become so popular especially among couples of all ages, that each town in Andalusia also holds weeklong ferias similar to Seville. The feria week provides a man and his girl friend to court each other with the man asking her to dance the sevillana with him.

The four sets of the dance cover the primera, segunda, tercera and cuarta levels, each of which consists of three verses or coplas. The first copla uses the paso de sevillana, which is a basic step, followed by the second and third coplas which start with a connecting step of one pasada and another of paso de sevillana, and then by verse step. A sevillana dancer knows that the coplas have individual steps that incorporate certain moves in a flamenco dance and the mainstream form like ballet. The dance style can be evident in a couple dancing face-to-face to sevillana music in a three-fourths beat. This music that accompanies the dancers is simple unlike the song accompanying the dance which has various lyrics and themes. Originally the song described the town folk's daily life but also conveyed criticisms and humorous tales and anecdotes. Through the centuries, song themes were developed about love, religion, festivals and even Biblical stories to go with the dance.

Learning how to dance the Sevillanas is not as hard as some people may think. All they have to do is memorize certain dance steps which are performed three times per movement and repeated five times in succession. The steps also alternate between the start on the left and right feet for five 6-beat music bars. Each of the two succeeding steps has the dancer stepping to the left, tapping her right toe at the back of her left foot and the left toe to face the right foot. You can also memorize dance steps by practicing the dance to a melody of your choice, or watching someone else do the dancing. You can simplify your dance practice by getting the order of the movements and the dance rhythm. Better still record the steps which you can memorize easily. Remember that when you start learning Sevillanas, you also start learning flamenco because a certain level is easier to reach it and it provides many possible occasions for its training and practice.

Source: http://www.artipot.com/articles/1435902/the-sevillanas-dance.htm

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