Saturday, February 6, 2010

Spain - Folk Dances, La Muneira & El Fandango 2009


The Muñeira and the Fandango are issued within the Popular Dance series devoted to the folklore of Spain.

La Muñeira
The word Muñeira etymologically comes from the Galician muiño (mill) and it is the most characteristic dance from Galicia. It is of an uncertain origin and some authors find its origin as far as the pre roman dances, whilst others consider it to be in the festivals that took place in the mills whilst peasants waited for their flour. The dance has different steps throughout the various regions and begins with a row of men and a row of women facing each other. The man performs with strong and impetuous movements the turns and pirouettes with his arms up high whilst the woman performs with slow, timid movements and her arms down. It has at least two main parts: the punto, which has many variations depending on the dancers’ skill and the volta or wheel dancers perform changing positions. The dance is accompanied by bagpipe music, bass drums and tambourines. The best known amongst the different varieties are the tocadas, the cantadas, the acordadas and the no acordadas. The most popular being the muñeira do espantallo, inspired in a scarecrow.
Dating back to the end of the XVIII century, the Fandango is considered as one of the most popular dances in Spain. It is very common in Andalucía where it has experienced a process of aflamencamiento; that is, changes that are undergone as a result of the influence of flamenco. Malaga with its verdiales and Huelva are the two provinces where it is most popular. With certain variations it is performed in the Balearic Islands, Levante , Basque Country, Murcia (very popular in Jumilla and Yecla) and in Castille were the best known are the fandangos charros of Salamanca. This popular dance is also performed in the Philippines since colonial times.

El Fandango
The malagueñas, rondeñas, granadinas, verdiales and murcianas all come from the fandango, and all are usually accompanied by guitar music, castanets and sometimes by a violin. Steps can be interpreted by one or two couples with castanets that follow the beat with smooth undulations. The woman’s movements are soft and flexible and she keeps the beat with her shoes clicking on the floor.
The stamps are issue with a vignette of no postal value depicting steps of each dance.

1 comment:

  1. They are great stamps. I have some Spanish stamps and really like the style. I will be looking to get some more.

    ReplyDelete