Palos flamencos: Alegrías

Get to know the flamenco forms

Alegrías

Bulerías

Cantiñas

Flamenco Forms
Alegrías
bySusana Navalón
Translated by Yasha Maccanico

(From alegre, happy, which, in turn, comes from Latin, alicer, alecris). It belongs to the same category as cantiñas. It was born as a cante (style of song) for dancing and is related to the old Cádiz jota. The dancing is characterised by its very marked escobillas (the section of the dance that includes the zapateado, a rhytmic combination of sounds made by stepping with the toe, sole and heel of the foot) and a peaceful part that is known as silencio (silence). Another of its traits is the traditional “tirititrán” which, according to Chano Lobato, was invented by Ignacio Espeleta during a party in which he forgot the lyrics.

It was Ignacio Espeleta who introduced the lead, or preparatory stage, that is most commonly used at present, the “Tirititrán tran, tran,...”

Dance

It is a cante festero (lit. festive style, a category of songs which tend to be loud and happy) that is suitable for dancing. It is characterised by its dynamism, grace and fluency. Both sexes can dance it, although it is better suited to women. The alegrías of Cádiz and Córdoba are the ones which stand out. The difference from other styles is that, apart from the steps that are typical of flamenco dancing, it also introduces the silencio, which is the part that is reserved for melodic guitar-playing in a minor key, made up of paseillos (ceremonial entrance or a series of steps, somewhat like a stroll) and marcajes (marking of lyrics), and which ends with a llamada (call). Since the times of the cafés cantantes (establishments serving drinks that staged performances of singing, playing and dancing, instrumental in spreading flamenco during their golden age in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century) where, among other great bailaoras, Juana La Macarrona, La Malena, Fernanda Antúnez, La Mejorana and Gabriel Ortega danced it, and up until the present, it is a style that every repertoire is almost obliged to include.
Both the singing and dancing have an identical meter to the soleá, although it is slightly lighter, with its guitar-playing giving it a livelier character:

123 456 78 910 11 12
and then start again.

The normal thing to do is to hand-clap, slightly off-beat, but always marking the accents.

Guitar

This style was born from the Cádiz jota and, like any other jota, the alegría is in a major key, as is the case for the whole range of cantiñas. Nonetheless, in the case of the alegrías, there is a scale change, when the silencio is introduced.
The basic keys are the following:
In the middle: LA – E seventh.
At the top: E – B
At the beginning there are five slow rasgueos (strums), with a moment´s pause and one or a few falsetas (variations, or melodic phrases interspersed between successions of chords), that lead into the escobilla (section featuring the zapateado) which continues until the bailaora gives the llamada (call, signal) for the cierre (finale). Afterwards, there is the paseíllo (ceremonial entrance or series of steps, somewhat like a stroll), accompanied by strumming that ends with the llamada and, once again, the escobilla and llamada to finish off the ida (final part of a dance) of the alegrías.

Since the times of the cafés cantantes, and up until the present, it is a style that almost all repertoires have been obliged to include.

Singing

It comes from the adoption in Cádiz of the jota from Aragón that used to be sung at the time of the War of Independence. According to tradition, it was the Cádiz cantaor Enrique Butrón who shaped its flamenco mould, and later it was Ignacio Espeleta who introduced the lead, or preparatory stage, that is most commonly used at present, the “Tirititrán tran, tran,...” which was made so popular by the Sevillian Manolo Vargas years later. Its outstanding performers, as far as singing is concerned, include Pericón de Cádiz, El Flecha de Cádiz, El Beni de Cádiz, El Chato de la Isla, Fosforito, La Perla de Cádiz, El Camarón de la Isla, Chano Lobato and Juanillo Villar, among others. It is a cante (style of song) involving coplas (poetic composition, in verse, used as lyrics) that are generally made up of four eight-syllable verses. Variations of different music following the same meter, known as juguetillos (little games), tend to be inserted among the coplas.