Guide to palos Index

Remedios Amaya (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

A flamenco style in 2/4 and 4/4 time - the time signature that underlies the majority of musical styles around the world. As for flamenco tangos, some academics affirm that they originate from Cuba, thus (to paraphrase Enrique Morente) closing the ‘Africa-Cuba-Cadiz’ triangle. This would imply, then, that the flamenco style originated in Cadiz - thanks to those cross-cultural 'ida y vuelta' exchanges with the Caribbean isle, the music made the round trip, along with other styles like rumbas, guajiras and colombianas. And back home Enrique el Mellizo was the one who set the ball rolling. In addition, Triana and Granada (with the Malaga variant championed by El Piyayo) are also on the tangos map, and Andalucía's neighbor Extremadura also made fine contributions. Other legendary names who made the tango their own include Frijones from Jerez, Titi de Triana and, of course, cantaora La Niña de los Peines from Seville, who took her stage name from a tangos lyric. Together with the bulería, this is the upbeat ‘festero’ style par excellence. And thanks to its flexibility, it's become a centerpiece of so-called 'nuevo flamenco'. The dance style is said to originate at the same time, and nineteenth century texts speak of “baile de negros” as a synonym. Tangos are, then, a sensual dance style, with popular origins, made great by flamenco figures from the Seville school. On many occasions, vocalist and dancer are one and the same. It's not unusual to see cantaoras like Remedios Amaya, Esperanza Fernández, Aurora Vargas and La Macanita embellishing their own vocal performances of tangos with a few steps between verses.

Compás pattern: 1 2 3 4 / 1 2 3 4 / 1 2 3 4 / 1 2 3 4

Audio clip
	Estrella Morente: 'En lo alto del cerro'

Sample verse: