A - Z Challenge: FLAMENCO

SPAIN

For me, the best part about flamenco is it's authenticity.  Unlike the bullfights, it's not a spectacle put on to attract tourists.  No, flamenco is deeply entrenched in Spain's culture.  That means that most everyone, especially in Andalucía, can sing or dance flamenco, at least to a certain extent.  It's not exclusive to the professionals.  If you're in Spain long enough, chances are you'll come across someone singing flamenco at the top of his lungs as he walks down the street.

Flamenco dancers in Sevilla, Spain

Walking through Sevilla, you'll find dozens of dress shops.  These dresses are pricey.  The cheapest you'll find is 75 euro (about $100), and that's the absolute cheapest.  For many girls, they get a new dress every year, which they adorn with flowers and ribbons, and will don during the week of Feria, a celebration based on flamenco, which happens to begin two weeks from now.  All night the people of Sevilla gather in casetas, personal tents set up on designated fairgrounds, where they dance flamenco 'til dawn.  Not to impress anyone, but just for fun.  For tradition.

Feria in Sevilla.  This is in two weeks.

WRITING

Many Spanish romantic writers, such as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, incorporated flamenco into their writing.  They referred to is as the poesía popular, or the popular poetry, and drew on its themes and rhythms to compose short stories and poems that reflected Spanish pop culture.  To them, flamenco was a source of endless inspiration:  it embodied passion, beauty, and pain in its potent vocals and intense movements.

Here's a video of some flamenco:

Stumbling into Inspiration

On Saturday, some friends and I ventured to Cordoba, a smallish city about an hour from Sevilla.  Since we were only there a day, we visited all the usual tourist sights:  the Mezquita, the Puente, the Arab Baths, etc.  While those were great, the most memorable parts of the trip were unplanned, as is usually the case.  I love adventure, so I was thrilled to stumble into some amazing experiences.

Check out this mill.  It dates back to the Romans, and though the wheel has been replaced, the base is all original.  How cool is that?  And if you look to the right, you can see the famous bridge in the background.

It seems that very few people get this close to the mill.  Most view it from a street above (it's to the left), but we decided to venture down some old stairs into the "wilderness."  It wasn't far from those stairs, but by the time we reached it, our shoes were caked with mud, the bottoms of our jeans soaked through.  Oh well.  Definitely worth it.

But not nearly as cool as what we stumbled upon a few hours later…

A medieval gypsy market!  If you've seen Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (I still haven't gotten around to reading the book, so I can't speak for that), then you'll know the Festival of Fools.  It was pretty much like that.  The colors, the food, the costumes!  Since we're in Spain, a lot of the people are actually gypsies.  Not like a Renaissance Faire back in the States.

One of the stalls was selling herbs with special purposes.  You know, to cure certain illnesses, relieve stress, clear the mind, etc.  There were hundreds of them!  Had I more time, I definitely would have liked to research.  Since historical fiction is one of my favorite genres to write, I'm often scribbling about old medicines.

Just look at these masks!  They're gorgeous.  I've never written about a masquerade, but I've always wanted to.  And whenever my writer friends bounce ideas off me, and they mention a dance or ball of some sort, I always encourage the masquerade.  Hmm…I wonder if I can work a masquerade into my WIP ;)

Ah, the bird.  Not just a bird.  A peregrine falcon who was keeping company with other falcons and a few owls.  I got especially excited when I saw her because the MC of my current WIP has a pet falcon just like this one!  Of course, I took two dozen photos of her.  That's called research :)








What about you?  Have you ever accidentally stumbled upon inspiration or spur-of-the-moment research?