Bulerías…. the Holy Grail of Flamenco

I can’t tell you *how* many times I hear students lamenting how they want to be able to go out and do a little pata’a por Bulerías (that means a little dance, a little something.) But to go out and dance por fiesta (meaning, at a party) or fin de fiesta (at the end of show) takes a bit of knowledge of the compás (rhythm), the cante (singing), and the overall structure of Bulerías por Fiesta.

But before I go into that, let’s clear up a few things about what Bulerías is all about. It’s a fast 12 count rhythm and it usually finishes off other 12 count dances such as Solea, Solea por Bulerias and Alegrias. But then Bulerías por fiesta is a style of dance that’s all improvised, fluid and fun. It can occur at the end of a show, when the dancers and even the musicians or other flamenco audience members come out and do a little improvised dance.

There are rules and no rules as long as you understand the structure and the cante. When I teach my students, I keep a tight structure to Bulerias, acknowledging that the singer will always sing a particular way for each dancer in this show.

So, the structure would look like:

• entrada (entrance) of the dancer
• llamada (call)- the dancer does an accented move to tell the singer to sing
• letra (singing verse)- the singer sings a simple letra that the student can follow
• desplante (a different llamada)- this can also be called a llamada. It usually is towards the end of a letra or sometimes used everywhere! It’s noticeable by the first strong accents of 1-2-3!
• llamada to the corner of the stage- this signals the singer that the dancer is ready to leave the stage
• estribillo (chorus)- singer sings the dancer off the stage

But in “real” life, the flow of the cante is much more open. The dancer has so many more options. The singer may stretch out the lyrics over a number of compases so the dancer has to be able to learn how to *listen* and be able to *hear* where the singer is resolving.

Also, even though Bulerías is in 12, many times it goes into phrases of 6, so that it seems there’s a compás of 12 with an “extra” 6. There are also different styles of Bulerías- de Jerez, de Utrera, etc.

But what’s more important when you’re learning how to dance a general Bulerías, is being able to LISTEN to the cante and FEEL the transitions as well as understand the general structure-

• walk in and do a llamada OR walk in during the letra
• dane the letra with the transitions using a few marcajes in your repertoire- perhaps a desplante/llamada
• finish by doing a desplante to the corner to start the estribillo

What? I know. But it just takes a lot of practice listening and watching. And you can practice here!

Here are a few wonderful videos of Bulerías por fiesta with a few notes of things to look for. Can you see them? Can you find your own?

Singer sings a letra at :44. Dancer does a llamada to call for the estribillo at :55. Of course, there’s more and more and more…..

Blanca del Rey starts dancing letra at 2:12. Does a desplante at 2:21. Estribillo at 2:50.

The dancer just walks out when the singer starts singing the letra at 3:28. Deplante at 4:04. Desplante to the corner at 4:18. Estribillo at 4:22.

MY FAVORITE BULERIAS DANCE EVER! Singer begins the letra and Angelita eases into dancing it. Desplante at 1:55. Estribillo at 2:02.

Got it? Tell me what you think!