“SEVILLANAS”A folk dance from Spain

A. THE SEVILLE DANCE, “SEVILLANAS”:

TIME, DANCE, VERSES, TOPICS.

The “sevillanas”

is a kind of Spanish folk music and

dance, typically

Andalusian .

1.TIME

It has a ¾ time and so it has three parts. The FIRST ONE is STRONG and the following two are SOFT. A complete sevillanas has 43 bars.

We might represent the scheme of the time of the sevillanas this simple way:

1 2 3

If we count its parts, the stress always falls in the first one, and then we will hear:

• One, two, three.• One, two, three.• One, two, three.

The students can learn this time following these steps:

First we would ask them to clap three times. They have to practise all together until they do it at the same time.

This exercise could be a little boring, so we can change the clapping into bangs on the table, clapping on the leg, or stumping the feet.

• Then, they can stress only on the first clap.

Do this exercises for some minutes in groups, and all together again. It's difficult to maintain

the tempo, the speed, because the students usually go faster and faster.

• When they have learnt the time and tempo we can practise it with the music. It´s important that the teacher indicates clearly the moment to start the clapping.

How can we do it?

With a movement of the hand, saying “one,

two, three”, or doing the clapping before the students, for example.

Another important moment in the sevillanas is the end: they have to finish together. The teacher can say “one, two, three”, and the students understand “three” is for their last clap.

2. DANCEThe movements of this dance essentially use the arms, the

hands and fingers, the legs and the feet.

In pairs looking at each other, the dance is based in rounds, crossings and some movements in front of the partner.

The sevillanas have four parts inside, separated from each other by some seconds in which the people are waiting for the next part only clapping.

In this “waiting” we can listen to the music and clap with an elegant “flamenco” pose.

3. VERSESThe verses of the sevillanas are formed by a verse and a

chorus, like this:VERSE: It has a four lines with seven / fives syllables• Line 1: 7 syllables• Line 2: 5 syllables • Line 3: 7 syllables• Line 4: 5 syllables

CHORUS: It has three lines with seven/ five syllables.• Line 1: 5 syllables• Line 2: 7 syllables• Line 3: 5 syllables

4. TOPICS OF THE SONGS

• The culture of Andalusia and the typical style of life of Andalusian people• The “romerías”, specially “Rocío´s romería”• Love

• The fair of Seville, the city of Seville and its people.

B. FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS IN ANDALUSIA

Spring and Summer festivals: In the centre of the town. People can eat, drink beer, wine and different soft drinks. The celebrations also include

performances of professional dance academies, modern music bands and traditional folk music and dancing.

“Romerías”In Andalusia, these are religious celebrations in the countryside to commemorate the saints. For one day people eat together the food they have brought from

home or they have a barbecue, “paella”...

Many people wear flamenco dresses and they sing to the Virgin or dance sevillanas. The

most famous one is the”Romería of the Rocío”, that is celebrated in Huelva.

C. THE CLOTHES OF FLAMENCO

Nowadays the clothes and complements of

flamenco have become an important

part of fashion in Spain. There are very good designers who

make wonderful dresses.

“Sevillanas dance”

Created by Lucía Parrado

IES Almenara

Comenius Regio Project