[The Duchess]

Hi everyone!

I chose Flamenco as my subject on our Art History class. I would like to ask if you know any site that could give me complete history of Flamenco? (not Wikipedia, my professor won't honor it ) I am a total Flamenco fan and I would really love to talk about it in class. Hope you could help me!!

[Black Sheep]

If you look for the website for this fusion band 'India Lucia' there is a wealth of information about history of Flamenco. The web address is: INDIALUCIA - fusion of Flamenco and Indian Music

Look at the 'Information' section. I don't think there are any citations so your teacher might not like it... but find out who the Polish Flamenco guitarist is and use him as the source.

The other one could be Roberto Lorenz Flamenco page that Wiki drew most of their information from... Flamenco - Its origin and evolution

Also check out Adam del Monte's videos on 'Introduction to Flamenco' on YouTube. This is more about the music and techniques, but you could quote anything he say with confidence because he's an Associate Professor of Music at California University...

Perhaps you should post a link to your project here somewhere so we can have a look at it...

Good luck...

[Frontera]

Wow! The journey you are embarking upon is like a tree with thousands of branches. You want to climb the "entire tree" and are now just starting up the trunk. Even the best experts "flamencologist" can't agree even on a definition of the word flamenco. They can't agree on the roots and influences of flamenco. Many downplay the role of the gitano and gitana in flamenco.

Questions arise ... is flamenco dead? Is fusion flamenco really flamenco? What palos are real flamenco? What is the criteria required to make a song form flamenco?

Your journey will lead to discussions about Franco and the resulting political and religious influences on flamenco history. The poet Lorca emerges on the scene, etc.

Is solo guitar real flamenco in itself? Is guitar and dancing real flamenco? The question here is ... are vocals "cante" necessary to make a performance "real" flamenco? You will be surprised at all the opinions out there.

You will never find a "complete" history or any discussion about flamenco that doesn't spark debate. Your project is going to be difficult, but rewarding....

[Payul]

Frontera makes a good point here, everybody has his own points of fiew.
I was in the Camargue during the gitano pelgrimage, and was playing for fun with two of my frends on the streets.
Because of that, I was invited to play with several gipsy groups on a gipsy memorial funeral.
The party afterwards we played all together, mostly Rumba's ( gipsy king style).
In the flamenco world it is not considered as "real Flamenco" ( whatever that may be)
So, I played a solea, and asked the gipsy's if they could also play "real flamenco"........big mistake......"real flamenco?? this ís real flamenco!"
Wisely, I asked if they could play Faena, ( gipsy king instrumental) and all was peace again....

[Popz]

hey, I agree with Black Sheep, you should keep a link of your project here so that we could take a look at it. Not that I have so much to contribute to it, but isn't it handy to have a short history of Flamenco posted here? So that new members (like me), who doesn't know much about Flamenco would be more educated. I was quite impressed that some of the more knowledgeable members are very helpful and accommodating.....Kudos to you guys!!!!

[Stardust]

Flamenco is really a very diverse topic...I would suggest that you make an outline of the things about the History of Flamenco that you would like to include in your paper...that way, your ideas will have a structure and is better to understand...You can try visiting this site: Flamenco - Its origin and evolution

[The Duchess]

Thanks for the great reception guys! I wasn't expecting that I would receive a lot of help right away. Popz is right, people here are very accomodating...Anyways, I will try and use all the links and tips that you gave me. I will also post updates about the progress of my work. Any additional help to be posted will be greatly appreciated.

[gardenshed]

Some more or less imaginative musings on the past and future of flamenco.

Including what Picasso thought, and why Flamenco is the European Blues.