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The Gypsies

The Gypsies in Flamenco

The Gypsies are the main catalyst and dispersion cause of the flamenco culture through the middle ages. They started their continuous journey from the Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana (provinces in Northern India) in the 10th century, and being nomads, on their travel path – they left quite a significant cultural impact – wherever they went. Incredible detail is that on that journey – the Gypsies were better at the representation of the culture they adopted from the local population – than the local population themselves – almost wherever they went through…
The Gypsies started populating the Iberian peninsula while the Muslims or “Moors” from Northern Africa were on power (711 to 1492) in Southern Europe at the times… They were not welcome, especially because of their skin color, (the nobility was as white as possible, especially on the facial region and the torso, using sometimes even poisonous Mercury powder), so their repression has really early roots. Literally from the moment they came, their golden skin color was compared to the Southern “filth”, and therefore excluded from the cultural life of modern society. But after a few glasses of wine – they were the ones who were the rulers, you can imagine the world with no sound on every corner when the musical note sounded like magic. In that deaf-mute world, with not even a radio, let alone a whole the digital world of multimedia. Besides the fact that Romani people were on the margins of the society, (their art was valued after a few glasses of wine, only…) – THEY WERE THE ONES THAT WERE THE MAIN CARRIER FOR THE TRANSPASSING OF ALL GUITAR ANCIENT ART INTO THE MODERNITY. This is a full movie is about the Gypsys 1000 years journey to the west. The most western point they reached is Sevilla. While some of them “crossed the pond” ended up all the way to the U.S.A.

The turbulent end of the 15th century on the Iberian peninsula resulting in Christian conquests in 1492. Castilla and Toledo merged as the two of the greatest Christian superpowers, and they also made the most famous an official proclamation that expelled all Jews, Arabs, (moors or MOZ-Arabs). And of course all the Gypsies – from the Iberian newly formed Christian kingdom. Of course that a big number of that population stayed, just undercover, often changing their names and religion. Luckily, the ancient city from which the Moors ruled Southern Iberia, Granada, Andalucia – remained almost intact during the shifts of powers, so we have this medieval gem to admire – all up to this day. The repression that the gypsy nation is woven in the fabric of their existence. After the Christians came on power, the Gypsies were hiding in caves like the ones in Granada that exist like some communes, now more occupied by hippies than the repressed Gypsies, but never mind. They still carry the essential oppression to the capitalist, (before that a feudal) society, and with the fire and fight for freedom inside…
When the Classical Guitar emerged and started being accepted as a permanent part of the high society – the Gypsies adopted it immediately…! They started playing it as their own cultural heritage instrument, just as they’ve done for centuries. But with a big difference now. The “newly emerged” (beginning of the 19th century) flamenco guitar playing style with the rasqueo techniques, energy, rhythm, started following its own path and became what it is today. The music philosophy, with immense differences in styles, techniques, rhythms, melodies, now clearly distinguishable from the classical guitar…

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