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In the worlds of music and dance national frontiers came down long before the European Union was ever thought of. Perhaps the earliest example of this is to be found in the art of flamenco, which has its roots in at least four different cultures. Musicologists generally agree that, although flamenco arose in Andalucia, in the south of Spain, it owes its distinctive character to a mixture of Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish and Gypsy influences. The argument about which of these influences was the most important will probably never be resolved.

Flamenco as we know it today, in its traditional combination of the three main elements of cante (singing), baile (dance) and toque (guitar), is less than two hundred years old. These three elements existed of course before, as established artistic traditions, long before they came together in the symbiosis in which they function in flamenco.

The cante is the soul and the heart of flamenco; with its raw, deeply personally expressive style and its mellismas, so strongly rooted in arabic music. The guitar was at first used purely to accompany the cante. However, its emancipation to a solo instrument came quickly and today it is appreciated the world over for its distinctive style and virtuosity.

One of the most striking characteristics of flamenco dance is its dramatically rhythmic nature. An accomplished flamenco dancer uses complex footwork techniques and actually personifies in her/himself at once a virtuoso percussionist and an expressive dancer. Less obvious is the fact that flamenco is the only european dance form in which it is the dancer who leads the music and not vice versa. The musicians in the ensemble must wholly adjust to the tempo, phrasing and dynamic changes that the dancer can totally improvise on the spur of the moment. This gives the flamenco dancer a freedom of expression which is hard to find in any other dance form.

Flamenco as an art form has been steadily gaining popularity world-wide. Its uncanny ability to touch and move audiences in almost every country around the globe is quite well known . Less well known is the fact that contemporary flamenco everywhere, including Spain, is more and more influenced by other cultures. This manifests itself in the artists, their music, their instruments, and in their dance.

http://roseangel.tripod.com.br/DanceFlamencaindex-2.html