Beyond compás: Stepping outside flamenco’s performance norms

Abstract

This article addresses how flamenco functions as both a noun and an adjective and the interplay between the two in the choreographic process. I use practice as research along with theory and historical analysis to further explore how, as dancer, I initially found and created meaning within the cuadro (a setting where a solo dancer performs with live musicians, typically consisting of a guitarist, singer and percussionists, and relying on shared knowledge of flamenco’s structures to accompany the dance and for the dancer to interpret the music). I then go on to explain how, as choreographer, improvisation outside the cuadro setting and even outside flamenco music opened new movement possibilities and ways to inform, deepen and step back into flamenco structures in my own work. I show how I created new choreography from combining movement knowledge and vocabulary from both inside and outside of the cuadro in choreographed flamenco performances for the theatre.