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Revels-Bey Music.Study Guide Rhythm Kings: Moorish Influence In Music/Latin Jazz (rev 6/08)

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Rhythm Kings

Afro-Cuban Latin-Jazz

ContentsOverviewAfrican, Hispanic and Jazz Heritage MonthMoorish SpainForms of Music and DanceQuotes about the Roots of Rhythm..Pg 6Student ActivitiesPg 7Dance Introduction....Pg 13AppendixA: Analyzing Secondary Sources:HowDo Modern Historians Assess the Significance of the Moors In Spain?........Pg 25StudentHandout: AndalusianPoetry ....Pg 28


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HISTORY OF LATIN MUSIC

LEARNING STANDARDS:1 Creating, Performing, and Participation in the Arts:

Students will actively engage in the processes that constitute creation and performance in thearts, dance, music, theatre and visual arts, and participate in various roles in the arts.

2. Knowing and Using Arts Materials and Resources:Students will be knowledgeable about and make use of the materials and resources availablefor participation in the arts in various roles.

3. Responding to and Analyzing Various Works of Art:Students will respond critically to a variety of works in the arts, connecting the individualwork to other works and to other aspects of human endeavor and thought.

4. Understanding the Cultural Contributions of the Arts:Students will develop an understanding of the personal and cultural forces that shape artisticcommunication and how the arts in turn shape the diverse cultures of past and presentsociety.

The history of the Moorish empire prior to Spain extends from the ancientMoabites, and extends across the great Atlantic into north, south andCentral American thus the Moorish domination of the seas. It is importantto point out that as time goes on what is now known as Latin America ishighly influenced by European colonization and the slave trade with Africa.Currently, Latin America, the countries of the Western Hemisphere southof the United States, include the Caribbean Islands,Mexico, Central and South America and contain anamalgamation of cultural influences, namely European,The Moors, Mexican, and other African tribes. Europecontributed the religions two main languages, Spanishand Portuguese. Much of the native Moorish culture,

which was in place before the arrival of the Spaniards and ChristopherColumbus, was suppressed due to forced assimilation; the rest wascombined with the arrival of slaves and other cultures in the 16th century.Through this rich cultural mix, a distinct Moorish or commonly referred to as Afro-Caribbeanculture has emerged.

The element in Moorish, African & Caribbean music that manyfind most distinctive, is its rhythms are derived from Moorish, andother Africans via the slave trade (1550-1880), which is believed tohave brought an estimated two million people of Moorish descent,while in fact the Moors had domination and inhabitation for over2000 years in what is now know as the west into the CaribbeanIslands. Unlike the Moors of North American and some that wereenslaved, who in 1776 were forbidden from playing drums (except for areas such as NewOrleans Congo Square), Caribbean slaves were liberally allowed to play their drums, which ofcourse were not only for recreation and entertainment, but used as a means ofcommunicating. These were considered talking drums, carrying current, as well as timelessmessages; message of history, struggle, and unspeakable joy. All this was accomplishedthrough the replaying of these traditional Moorish and African rhythms, sung on a drum.


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During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries these rhythms spread,developed, and canonized throughout the Caribbean, around the sametime that another American art form was beginning its conception. ThisNorth American art form was also going to contain a rich cultural mix.It would incorporate blues intonation, African drums and rhythms,Indian cymbals, European instruments, harmony, and musical formswith a syncopated beat namely jazz.

Every country and every island in the Caribbean developed its own unique musical culture, beit folk idioms or a national conservatory styles. Four countries, namely Cuba, Brazil,Argentina, and Mexico have had the most significant influences on music in the United States(Cuba having the most enduring). These influences included Latin rhythms and/or dancesthat infatuated the United States, like the habanera, bolero (Cuba),samba, bossa nova(Brazil), tango (Argentina), and mariachi (Mexico).

As these rhythmic structures and their dances canonized, they began effecting music makingeverywhere, from the concert hall, to the New Orleans Street parade, to Broadway and TinPan Alley. As goods including people, were traded through the convenient and busy port ofNew Orleans, Louisiana, musically inclined workers on Caribbean ships were afforded theopportunity to exchange new rhythms, dances, and songs with the various Creole and Africandancers and musicians at public performance spaces ice Congo Square. It didnt take long forcomposers to begin writing Latin-influenced works. For example, American Louis MoreauGottschalk (1829-1869), who hailed from Louisiana, and studied composition in France withAaron Coplands teacher Nadia Boulanger, toured Cuba in 1857 performing his Latin-influenced works. Some of the most famous compositions of this nature include George Bizetshababera from his opera Carmen (1875); Scott Joplins Mexican serenade, Solace (1902);Maurice Ravels Rapsodie Espagnole (1907), and his Bolero (1928), Jelly Roll Morton, thefamed New Orleans jazz composer and pianist, spoke to Alan Lomax of the Library ofCongress on the importance, even in the earlier days of jazz (the end of the nineteenthcentury) of the jazz musician being able to work with the Spanish tinge. He said, In fact, ifyou cant manage to put tinges of Spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the rightseasoning, I call it, for jazz.

What is Latin Music?

Latin music is a popular art form developed invarious Latin American countries, mainly Cuba,and is unique for the type of rhythmic structures itbuilds upon. It is vocal and instrumental music,originally derived from African religiousceremonies, however viewed today primarily as dance music. Itsstrongest characteristic, however, is its rhythm, which is highlysyncopated (when the various rhythms being played at one time,create counterpoint against each other in exciting cross rhythms).

It is traditionally played by native percussion and string instruments, namely the timbales,congas, bongo, guitar, and the tres (nine-string Cuban guitar). Over time, the piano replacedthe guitar as the choral instrument, while the bass, woodwinds, trumpets and trombones wereadded to play melodies and riffs (repetitions of sound). Most Latin music is based on arhythmic pattern known as the clave. Clave is the basic building block of all Cuban music,


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and is a 3-2 (occasionally 2-3) rhythmic pattern. Claves are also the name for the two sticksthat play this 3-2 (clave) pattern.

Latin music generally uses a three form with (1) a long introductory verse, followed (2) by amontuno section where the band plays a vamp (a two- or three chord progression), buildingintensity with devices like the mambo (where members of the front line play contrasting riffs)before (3) returning back to the verse and closing out the selection, generally with some typeof coda (a short predetermined way of ending a piece; like a postscript at the end of letters).Some important characteristics of Latin music are:

Clave: a syncopated rhythmic pattern played with two sticks, around which everything in theband revolves.

Call And Response Inspiraciones: a musical exchange between two voices inspiratons,improvised phrase by lead vocalist or instrumentalist.

Bajo-Tumbao-bass: repeated rhythmic pattern for the bass or conga based on the clave.

Hispanic Heritage Month

Celebrated annually in October, highlights diverse Hispanic communities and culturaltraditions of the Caribbean.

These vital arts forms are rooted in the Caribbean, but many are still practiced inneighborhoods in the New Jersey and New York metropolitan area.

Some of the forms of music and dance.

Cuba- When Christopher Columbus landed on the north coast of Cuba in 1492, he wrote thathe had never seen anything so beautiful However, the Spanish colonists were lessenthusiastic toward the indigenous Arawak and Siboney peoples. As in Puerto Rico, overworkand disease from the colonists led to the decline in size of the native populations. As a result,the Spanish brought enslaved Africans to work in the sugar plantations. Most of them camefrom the West Coast of Africa- Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon and the Congo. They brought theirown traditions and beliefs to Cuba. This African heritage intermingled with Hispanictraditions to create todays Cuban cultural tapestry, including Santeria, an Afro-Cubanreligion that fuses many African gods with Catholic saints. In Santeria, Chango, the spirit ofwar, is associated with Santa Barbara, and Oshun is associated with the Virgen de la Caridaddel Cobre, the patron saint of Cuba.

In the late 19th century, Cubans grew increasingly restless as Spanish subjects. Uprisingsoccurred frequently, and finally, in 1902, Cuba became independent. When Fidel CastrosSocialist government came to power in 1959, nightclubs, radio stations and record companieswere replaced by state-run institutions. Today, the Cuban government has eased itsrestrictions, and musicians are able to record and travel overseas, but creative developmentcan still be curtailed by government sanctions.

Palo is a religious rhythm from Cuba that has roots in the Congo of Africa. It pays respect tothe ancestors, calling for their assistance in endeavors of the present. The use of the drum,like many of their African forebears did, is uses as a powerful instruments of communication


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with the Great Spirit.

The ceremonial palo rhythm begins with a prayer, asks the Great Spirit to protect thecommunity and to provide the strength to choose between good and evil.

Dominican Republic- As in Puerto Rico and Cuba, contemporary Dominican cultureCombines Spanish and African components. Santo Domingo, the present capital of theDominican Republic, was the first Spanish colony in the Americas, but colonists abandonedthe island after they discovered Mexico and Peru. France took this opportunity to establishitself on the western island, enslaved those of Moorish descent and brought in enslavedAfricans to assist in sugar cane cultivation.The Moors and Africans revolted, however and in 1804, Haiti became as a self-designatedrepublic again in the "New World."

Haiti occupied the whole island from 1822-44, in an attempt to liberate the entire island fromEuropean rule. Dominicans called back Spanish forces to help remove the African French-speaking Haitian invaders. Unlike Puerto Rico and Cuba, which mark their independencefrom Spain, the Dominican Republic celebrates its independence from Haiti, which took placeon February 27, 1844.

The Moorish-African and Hispanic influences in the Dominican Republic can be found inregions of the island. Hispanic in the central mountains, while on the coast Moorish.

Merengue may be the most popular dance today, but was not so untill after the 1930's.Before than it was rejected by the elite. When Rafael Trujillo came to power in the 30's as adictator for the next 30 years, he promoted the dance to commercial and internationalpopularity. At first, merengue was played in the rural countryside on stringed instruments,including guitar, violin, banduria, a lute as well as the Tambora, a Dominican drum, and theguiro. Like the Puerto Rican Bomba, merengue shows the mixture of influences in Dominicanculture. Merengue springs from a combination of Spanish, native and African roots: thedrums reflect African influences, the guiro comes from indigenous roots, while the singingstyle and accompanying dance for couples comes from European traditions. In the late 1800s,the merengue sound evolved. Commercial trade brought the accordion to the DominicanRepublic from Germany, and it replaced the string instruments in many merengue bands. Thetypical merengue band has continued to change through this century and may now includeelectric bass, accordion, conga drums, and even saxophone.

Puerto Rico- The original inhabitants of Puerto Rico were the Arawak peoples, known asTaino, who lived by hunting, fishing, and farming. When Spanish explorers came to PuertoRico in the early 1500s, they forced the Taino greatly reduced the size of the nativepopulation. The shortage of labor led the Spanish colonizers to bring large numbers ofAfricans to Puerto Rico to work as slaves. Slavery was less extensive in Puerto Rico than inother Caribbean countries, but the influence of African cultural traditions can be seen inmany aspects of Puerto Rican culture, including particular forms of music and dance, likeBomba and plena. In the mid-1800s, many Puerto Ricans began to press for independencefrom Spain. Some of these pro-independence nationalist were expelled from the island. Manymigrated to the United States. Puerto Rico remained a Spanish colony until the end of theSpanish-American War in 1898, when it became a territory of the United States. In 1917,Puerto Ricans became us citizens, and in 1952, Puerto Rico became a self-governingCommonwealth. Today, there is much debate over the islands political future. Some people


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think Puerto Rico should become independent from the United States; some believe it shouldbecome the 51st state; and still others think the island should remain a Commonwealth.

Bomba is a style of music and dance that originated in the 1600s in the coastal areas ofPuerto Rico, where enslaved Africans lived on plantations. Bomba dances took place outdoorsfor entertainment, or to celebrate harvest, weddings, wakes and other family events.

Bomba brought people together to make music and dance, and to celebrate with food anddrink. In Bomba, a dancer approaches the Bomba drums and creates an improvisation, apiquette.

The drummer watches the dancers carefully, and uses her or his drum to respondrhythmically to the moves each dancer makes. The drummer and the dancers talk to eachother through music and movement, instead of words.

Plena, a Puerto Rican musical form that evolved in the early 1900s, is closely associated withBomba. In the barrios of Ponce, a southern town in Puerto Rico, Bomba combined with othermusical influences to form plena.

Like Bomba, plena is music for dancing but plenta uses less percussion than Bomba. In plena,the lyrics are important. Plena is sometimes referred to as a sung newspaper because thesongs chronicle everyday events in the community.

Plena songs often include news, gossip, and commentary on local events. Plena isaccompanied by a pandereta, a hand-held frame drum like a tambourine, and a scraper.

Quotes About The Roots of RhythmSpain, Castanets, Troubadours

Miguel Garcia El CoyoteOn this afternoon, standing here in the field, and without being a fine literary poet, Id like totell the world, with my songs and my traditions, with the rhyme I create. Immersed in deepfeeling, at the foot of this hill, I ask the people of Spain to remember where suffering lies. WeTroubadours, the voice of the people. We are improvisers who have an ingenious muse, andthe prose is respected, that all the world, should know that what the minstrel does the fineliterary poet can never do.

Song:Ay, beneath this mountain-You will find freshness in our songs-May the world take into itsheart-The source of culture-Which are the Alpujarras mountains of Spain. The Alpujarrashave glory, they spread a carpet for their brothers-and he who sings this story-has callouseson his hands-and carries flowers in his memory. Ay, fine and Christian songs. The traditionsthat resound in these hills, are the same traditions that so many people took to the lands ofAmerica.

Questions: (1) What is a and how do the Troubadours relate in our lives to day.What form of music? (2) Make a story or rhyme based on your school or family.


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Music as Medicine

Cuba & Rumba. These are the origins of the Rumba. It came from the slaves who werebrought to Cuba. Since the slaves were granted Sunday as a day of rest, on those Sundaysthey celebrated their drum and the rhythm. Cubans & Spaniards made the rhythm because itcame from the African but blended with Flamencas & together formed a whole and out camethe Cuban Rumba. The Rumba is a Cuban tradition that goes back to our slave ancestors. It ispassed on from generation to generation. The youngest child copied the oldest, and so heinherited it. Its like when one inherits a lot of money. It gets passed on to the child, right?This is also an inheritance you see, because this is a rhythm that is mostly know in Cuba.

Dance: This lame guy came along and tried to dance, but he cant.As the music enters his body, he starts to straighten up.He stands straight and taller, and finally his lameness disappears.The music is a kind of medicine

Food.The blend of Africans and Spanish. Black peas, and white rice, its a Creole food, a mixedculture, white rice and black peas, thats Cuban How do you like it? Rich and tasty! Strong!Everything is strong here. The coffee, the cane syrup, the cane, ourselves! Everything in life!

Questions: (1) How does medicine and music relate? Form groups to form a nonverbal form of combing to different elements(happy sad)(up-down)(was to makelive better, in helping others) What forms of music male you reflect on a personalcondition.(2) Make a story or rhyme based on your school or family.

Composers and DanceMusicians take the elements which come from the people and give them a technical polish.

The people of Cuba are like most people, they create the national styles..Im a people man. Imake music for the people so they can dance and enjoy themselves. I dont compose for aselect elite, or is my music only for listening. Ive always devoted myself to music that peoplelike, that invites them to have a good time.


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Student Activities

Ask your students what kindof music they listen to.Where do they hear music?On the radio? Visiting olderrelatives? Do they heardifferent music in differentsituations or specificholidays?

Have students share anddiscuss the various kinds ofmusic they hear and whenthis music is heard orperformed.

Assemble a list of styles ofmusic.

Ask if there are any studentswith Caribbean roots in yourclass. Which Caribbeancountries are mostrepresented and leastrepresented? Ask studentsto consider why certaincommunities migrate morethan others. Discuss thefactors, e.g. political,economic, familial, that leadmigration.

What does tradition mean?Traditions can encompassmany things, such aschildren rhymes, familyrecipes, holiday customs, andfamily stories.

Ask students to list some oftheir family traditions. Listthe range of traditions thatyour students practice.

Can songs and dances tellstories? Have the classname of songs that tellstories about historicalevents, work, or familyhistory. What other storiesappear in songs that your

students know?

Encourage them to listen tothe lyrics of songs and watchthe dances carefully tounderstand the stories in thesongs, and the meaning inthe movements.

Students should plan a tripto the Caribbean to studytraditional music and dance.With the help of a map, theycan decide what countries tovisit. What kind of musicwill they hear in eachcountry? Students mightresearch other aspects oftraditional Caribbeanculture as well, such as rootsof Jamaican reggae andtraditional Caribbean reggaeand traditional food fromCuba. What tools will theyneed for their research?Encourage them to thinkabout how and where theywill learn about traditionalmusic and dance. Shouldthey bring a tape recorder?A camera? A sketch pad?Bug repellent?

Each student should preparea list of countries he or shehopes to learn about, as wellas a list of materials thatwill be needed.

Maracas are often used inCaribbean music. Studentscan make as instrumentsimilar to a maraca usingthe following directions:

Materials: Plastic egg-shaped stocking containers,dried bean or rice, roundpopsicle sticks or woodendowels, masking tape, and

paint.(Optional: newsprint, flour,and water for paper-mache.)

Directions: Fill the containerhalf full with dried beans orrice. Close container andseal with tape. Poke a smallhole in the top of thecontainer, leaving enoughsticking out for the handle.Attach the handle to thecontainer with tape, andcover over any gaps aroundthe hole, so that no beans orrice can escape when thecontainer is shaken. Paintthe maraca as is, or cover itwith paper mache and paintit after it dries.

To make papier mache.Make a paste by mixing cupof flour, a large spoonful ofsalt, and 1 cup of warmwater. Tear newspaper intostrips. Spread paste on onearea of your maraca. Lay astrip of newspaper on thepasty area, then spread morepaste over the strip. Overlapa second strip on the first,and spread more paste ontop of the second. Continuein this fashion until theentire head and part of thehandle is covered with atleast four layers of paper andpaste. Let the maraca drycompletely and then paint.

Note: Maracas can also bemade by covering blown-upballoons with papier-mache.Make sure the paper macheis thick enough to carry theweight of the beans and rice.

Revels-Bey Music Study guide The Rhythm Kings: Moorish Influence In Music/Latin Jazz

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Student Activity: Music

Iko Iko Lyrics: Traditiona Music: TraditionalAccording to Dr John in the liner notes to his 1972 album "Gumbo":"The song was written and recorded back in the early 1950s by a New Orleans singer namedJames Crawford who worked under the name of Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters. It was recordedin the 1960s by the Dixie Cups for Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller's Red Bird label, but the formatwe're following here is Sugar Boy's original. Also in the group were Professor Longhair on piano,Jake Myles, Big Boy Myles, Irv Bannister on guitar, and Eugene 'Bones' Jones on drums. Thegroup was also known as the Chipaka Shaweez. The song was originally called 'Jockamo,' and ithas a lot of Creole patois in it. Jockamo means 'jester' in the old myth."

The lyrics from Sugar Boy Crawford's version are:Iko, ikoIko iko an dayJock-a-mo feelo an dan dayJock-a-mo feena nay

My spy boy met your spy boySitting by the BayouMy spy boy told your spy boyI'm gonna set your flag on fiyo

ChorusTalking 'boutHey now, hey nowIko iko an dayJock-a-mo feelo an dan dayJock-a-mo feena nay

Look at my queen all dressed in redIko iko an dayI bet you five dollars she kill you deadJock-a-mo feena nay

[chorus]

Iko, ikoIko iko an dayI'm having my fun on the Mardi Gras dayJock-a-mo feena nay[chorus]

The Dixie Cups' version is fairly similar:My grandma and your grandmaWere sitting by the fireMy granma told your grandma

I'm gonna set your flag on fire

ChorusTalking 'boutHey now (hey now)Hey now (hey now)Iko iko on dayJockomo feeno ah na nayJockomo feena nay

Look at my king all dressed in redIko iko on dayI'll bet you five dollars he'll kill you deadJockamo feena nay

[chorus]

My flag boy and your flag boySitting by the fireMy flag boy told your flag boyI'm gonna set your flag on fire

[chorus]

See that guy all dressed in greenIko iko on dayHe's not a man, he's a loving machineJockamo feena nay

[chorus][chorus]Jockamo feena nayJockamo feena nay

Revels-Bey Music .... Rhythm Kings

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Merengue

Emerged in the mid-1800s in the Dominican Republic. At first, merengue wasplayed in the rural countryside on stringed instruments, including guitar, violin,banduria, a lute as well as the Tambora, a Dominican drum, and the guiro. Like thePuerto Rican Bomba, merengue shows the mixture of influences in Dominicanculture. Merengue springs from a combination of Spanish, native and African roots:the drums reflect African influences, the guiro comes from indigenous roots, whilethe singing style and accompanying dance for couples comes from Europeantraditions. In the late 1800s, the merengue sound evolved.

Commercial trade brought the accordion to the Dominican Republic from Germany,and it replaced the string instruments in many merengue bands.

The typical merengue band has continued to change through this century and maynow include electric bass, accordion, conga drums, and even saxophone.

Compadre Pedro Juan- Luis Alberti

1. Compadre Peto Juan bai le el ja le OCompadre Peto Juan que es ta sa broso.A quella ni na delos o josne gros que tie ne elcuer po flexi ble bai le leven pa el lita o

2.Compadre Peto Juan sa que su da maCompadre Peto Juan que es ta sa broso.

Se a ca bar a el me ren gue y si no noan da con cui dao se que dara co mope ri co a tra pao

Chorus:Bai-le !.Bai-le !.Bai-le !.Bai-le !.Bai-le !.Bai-le !.

Special Note: Comapadre (their is no directtranslation, it is the word designated to meanco-father when a friend or a relative is thedesignated person to be the second parent when achild is baptized m the Hispanic culture)

Song:Compadre Pedro Juan dance the "jaleo"Compadre Pedro Juan take out your lady.Compadre Pedro Juan it is delightful(referring to the dance),

Go dance with that girl with the blackeyes who has a flexible body

Dance now Compadre Pedro Juanbecause if you don't,

the Merengue will end and you'll staylike a trapped bird.

Dance Compadre Pedro Juan,Dance Compadre Pedro Juan..,


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Flamenco

Flamenco is an individualistic, yet structured folk art from Andaluca, Spainwhich is often improvised and spontaneous. The song, dance and guitar are blendedtogether by the rhythms of southern Spain.

Apart from the Indian and Jewish influences, the Moors made an immensecontribution to the moulding of the form and content of the flamenco song of today,which is not surprising since they ruled Spain for seven centuries. Yet flamenco inits present form is only some two hundred years old.

The source of flamenco lies in its singing tradition, so the singer's role is veryimportant. The flamenco guitar was used originally as an instrument ofaccompaniment.

Today solo flamenco guitar has developed as a separate art and attempts to blend 0with jazz, blues, rock and pop music.

Flamenco dance is by nature oriental, so differs fundamentally from other wellestablished European dance forms.

Complex rhythmic patterns are created by a sophisticated footwork technique, so theflamenco dancer wears special shoes or boots with dozens of nails driven to the solesand heels. The ladies wear long coustumes often with many frills and practice forhours, their elegant arm and hand movements, the upper body must emphasis graceand posture.

Cha-cha-ch

A rhythmic style derived from the early Cuban danzn-mambo, created by violinistEnrique Jorrn (who named the style upon hearing the scraping sounds ofdancers'feet). The cha-cha-ch eventually became a separate musical style from thedanzn.

Besame MuchoKiss Me A LotKiss me, kiss me a lot.Like if this night would be the last one together,Kiss me, kiss me a lot'cause I'm scared to lose you again.I want to hold you very close and seemyself m your eyes,Think That tomorrow I will be very farfrom you.Kiss me, kiss me a lotLike if this night would be the last one together,Kiss me, kiss me a lot'cause Im scared to lose you again.


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Suggested Reading:

Chase,Gilbert,The Music of Spain, New York: Dover,1959Geijerstam,Claes af., Popular Music in Mexico, Albuquerque: University New Mexico Press1977Grenet, Emilio, Popular Cuban Music, Havana: Ministry of Education, 1939Hague, Eleanor, Latin American Music, Santa Ana, Cal. Fine Arts Press,1934Roberts, John Storm, The Latin Tinge, Oxford University Press 1979Slonimsky, Nicholas, Music of Latin America, New York, Crowell, 1945Van Sertima, Ivan, Golden Age of the Moor, New Brunswick, NJ, Transaction Publishers,1992Lane-Poole, Stanley, The Story of The Moors In Span, Baltimore, MD, Black Classic Press1990


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Dance: A Introduction

Flamenco

Mambo, Salsa and Cha Chapage 17

Merengue.page 21


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Flamenco - An Introduction

Flamenco is an individualistic, yet structured folk artfrom Andalusia, which is often improvised andspontaneous. The song, dance and guitar are blendedtogether by the passionate rhythms of southern Spainwhich is flamenco's geographical birthplace.

Gypsies say it's in the blood, but Spain's famous poet andwriter Fredrico Garcia Lorca, called flamenco one of thegreatest inventions of the Spanish people. Some dare todisagree. Yet the tragic lyrics and tones of flamencoclearly reflect the sufferings of the gypsy people.Flamenco is an individualistic, yet structured folk art fromAndaluca, which is often improvised and spontaneous.The song, dance and guitar are blended together by thepassionate rhythms of southern Spain which is flamenco'sgeographical birthplace.

It is thought that the gypsies who ended up in Andalucatravelled from India and Pakistan acquiring the name"gitano" from Egiptano, the old Spanish word forEgyptian.

Apart from the Indian and Jewish influences, the Moors made animmense contribution to the moulding of the form and content of theflamenco song of today, which is not surprising since they ruled Spainfor seven centuries. Yet flamenco in its present form is only some twohundred years old.

The source of flamenco lies in itssinging tradition, so the singer's role isvery important. The flamenco guitar wasused originally as an instrument of

accompaniment. Today solo flamenco guitar has developed as aseparate art. Whilst some purists disapprove of the fashionableattempts to blend flamenco with jazz, blues, rock and pop music,it is no wonder that so many young people embrace itwholeheartedly.

Apart from songs delivered from different regions such as fandangos from Huelva, Alegrias fromCadiz, there are broadly speaking two main styles in Flamenco: the "jondo" - profound andserious, the cry of people oppressed for many centuries; and the "chico" - happy, light and oftenhumorous. The song "el cante" is most important as it is considered to be the source which givesinspiration to the guitar playing "el toque" and the dance "el baile".

Flamenco dance is by nature oriental, so differs fundamentally fromother well established European dance forms. Complex rhythmicpatterns are created by a sophisticated footwork technique, so theflamenco dancer wears special shoes or boots with dozens of nailsdriven to the soles and heels. The ladies wear long coustumes oftenwith many frills and practice for hours, their elegant arm and handmovements, the upper body must emphasis grace and posture.


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In much of the more serious flamenco, there is a release of pent up hatred of persecution andoften an evocation of death (particularly in "Seguiriyas"). The dancers job will be to project themood of the song within the strict time signature, but not interpret the meaning of the song withspecific gestures, as would the Indian Katak dancer.

Perhaps the best way to become familiar with the complexities of flamenco singing andsentiment, is by going to a "tablao" (flamenco show), a flamenco club (pea) or to one of thecountless festivals that are organised every summer. The Sacromonte gypsy caves at Granada,though very tourist-orientated, provide an unforgettable experience and there are many flamencomeetings and associations (peas) throughout the region.

Together with Corpus Christi, Granada is said to hold the oldest flamenco festival in Andaluca.In summer for example, there are singing contests in many towns, such as in Estepona,Fuengirola and Rincn de la Victoria, or Carchelejo, Vilches and Linares, and the "GazpachoAndaluz" at Morn and the "Muestra de Cante" at La Lnea. Some of the most importantfestival events are held in September, such as those of Adra, Villanueva del Arzobispo and theVel de la Fuensanta in Crdoba; at the time of the famous Goyesca bullfights, Ronda holds a"Festival de Cante Grande" for real connoisseurs. The "Fiesta de laBuleria" at Jerez (Bulera isa type of dance and song), the "Potaje" of Utrera and "La Caracol" at Lebrija are some of theimportant occasions of gypsy "cante". Cdiz hosts "Los Jueves Flamencos" (flamencoThursdays) overlooking the bay throughout each summer. And every other year, the most famousfigures of flamenco are heard in Sevilla at the "Bienal del Arte Flamenco". Crdoba also hostsa prestigious national flamenco competition. Pictures from the Sanlucar Summer FlamencoSanlucar de la Barrameda, Cadiz - song and dance competition June-July 2002 in the Plaza de laVictoria in the Teatro Municipal.

Sanlucar Summer Flamenco

This year's winner of the dance competition is Jesica Brea from Jerez de la Frontera A youngdancer with a great future, Jesica brought the house down with her Solea. She exhibited amaturity uncommon in someone so young. Impeccable comps, complete control of her group inaccompaniment, elegant feminine postures, as well as strong rhythmic footwork in the catharsisof the Bulera, so typical of Jerez

Simon Zolan 1995

the sixteen year old dancerChari Sanchez Candon

the only maledancer to presenthimself: Fco.Garcia Bermudez(his firstappearance in apubliccompetition.)

Maria Andrades dancedAlegrias with the largestgroup to accompany herin the competition,including a flautist andpercussionist, two singersand three handclappers.

Maria Moreno Perez She is the youngest contestant at only 15years of age. She won the second prize


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Background to Mambo, Salsa and Cha Cha By Paul F.CliffordThere is a lot of misinformation on the internet about thestory behind Mambo, Cha Cha and Salsa. Most notablythat the music and dances originated in Cuba and migratedto New York and then to the rest of the world. In a lot ofways this is true but the story of the creation of the musicand the dances is a little more complicated than thissimplistic history.

An often omitted point, is the impact of Puerto Rican migration to New Yorkthroughout the 20th century (particularly in the 1940s and 1950s) and the Cubanmigration (especially in the the 1960s) and the merging of their homeland musicwith the jazz of the Afro-Americans which contributed significantly to thedevelopment of Salsa music and the making of it popular throughout the world. Theroots of much of the music might be traced back to Cuba but as a form of populardance and music the Mambo, Cha Cha and Salsa are North American innovationsborn from Latin migration to North America (particularly New York) and an inter-mixing of musical styles from many parts of the world (especially jazz).

The history of Latin music and dance which became popular throughout Europe andthe Americas in the 20th century dates back to the 18th century. However, in Cubathese musics underwent a transformation in the 19th century which made themunique and although there may have been contributions from other parts of theCaribbean, Cuba is seen as its birth place.

By the middle of the 19th century Cuba had become the cultural center of theHispanic world and the most economically prosperous of the Spanish colonies.Within this context several events contributed significantly to the development of auniquely Hispanic style of music - the British occupation of Cuba (1762-63) whichled the Spanish government to remove the restrictions it enforced to prevent it'scolonies from freely trading and associating amongst themselves; the Haitian slaveuprising (1791-1804) which caused the French and Spanish plantation owners onthe island of Hispanola to flee to Cuba; the establishment of sugar plantations bythe emigres; the increased need for slaves (86% of slaves were imported after 1790);the traditional willingness of the West Africans to sell their enemies into slavery;the 1812 uprising to overthrow slavery in Cuba, the abolition of slavery in Cuba in1886 and finally the USA's military occupation of Cuba from 1898 to 1904.

However, the most significant event that allowed the music and dance to developoccurred at the beginning of the 19th century when the Spanish authorities allowedthe slaves to establish "Cabillolos" (councils) which initially were based on groups by"African nation". This allowed the slaves to preserve and merge their traditions withthe Spanish and French influences they encountered! From this time forward themusic and dance has been developed, redeveloped and innovated upon giving usDanzon, then Son and then Mambo, Cha Cha and today Salsa.

Mambo, the music, as we know it dates to about 1938 when Oresta Lopez composeda danzon he called the "Mambo". He combined danzon with African rhythms fromthe street. The dancing itself came out of rehearsals where couples improvised steps


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to the new beat. In the 1950s, Mambo was popularized as a specific musical genrewhen Perez Prado began to market his music under the name "mambo" - he was thefirst and many others followed. Prado took his music to New York via Mexico andbasically commercialized the music by changing it to suit his "white" audience. Ifyou listen to Prado's music and compare it to other Cuban artists of the day you'llfind it contains a lot of influences outside of the Cuban tradition and to my mind islacking something - emotion. Still, it must be recognized that it was he who firstpopularized the music in North America and Europe.

As Mambo music and dance developed, musicians experimented with new beats andtempos, the Mambo underwent subtle changes. Triple Mambo was created (get ahold of Bei Mir Bist Du Schon/La Furiosa by Jack Costanzo & Don Swain and you'llget an idea of how fast a cha cha can be!). This new dance used Cuban side steps.The scraping and shuffling of the feet in these steps produce a sound, that soundslike "Cha Cha Cha". Arthur Murray (of Dance Studio fame), simplified the dance bydropping off a Cha and inventing the 1, 2, 3, Cha Cha - he thought the modified stepwould be easier to learn. Once Arthur Murray converted it, so it was easier to learn,the Cha Cha became slower and more methodical.

The liner notes to Don Swan's 1950s album "Mucho Cha Cha Cha" says - The ChaCha Cha is a derivative of two Latin American dances; the Puerto Rican Danzonetteand the Cuban Danzon. However, the Cha Cha Cha distinguishes itself from all theother Latin dances by a vocal trademark; namely voices singing in unison with novibrato. This new dance craze was created and introduced in the United States byMinon Mondajar in 1949...Tempo wise the Cha Cha Cha is diversified, savory andinviting in its various forms...Bolero Cha Cha Cha, Mambo Cha Cha Cha, DanzonCha Cha Cha and perhaps even a Samba Cha Cha Cha...brass, strings or reeds areused melodically and in rhythms against a solid Latin rhythm section with voices inunison predominating throughout."

The charanga orchestras in Cuba were quick to catch on and intrepret and refine thenew styles of music developing in North America. In 1951 Cuban violinists EnriqueJorrin developed a beat with a medium rhythm that was very recognisable and nottoo frenetic. His idea was, that music be created so anyone could dance to it. With adefining beat and Arthur Murray's simplified steps, Cha Cha with its characteristichiccup on the fourth beat, became an enormously popular night club dancethroughout the 1950s and up until the 1960s when it was dethroned by thepachanga and then the boogaloo (see Ricky Martin's 1999 video clip for Livin' LaVida Loca). Around this time, the DJs in the Latin Night Clubs would sing out salsa,salsa. Spice it up! Spice it up! The Salsa became the vogue. Salsa the dance is toMambo, what Rock'a'Billy is to Rock'n'Roll. Salsa tends to be faster and moredramatic than Mambo, with the result that an extra step (a tap) was added to theMambo to stop the dancer from moving off the beat.

The African rhythms in Cuban music came from the Yoruba, Congo and other WestAfrican people, who were transported to the Caribbean as slaves. They used them tocall forth various gods. Cabillolos still exist in Cuba to keep alive various rhythmsfor over 200 different African gods. Mambo means "conversation with the gods" andin Cuba designates a sacred song of the Congos. The Congos absorbed a variety of


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foreign influences and the mambo drum rhythm became a cocktail of Bantu, Spanishand Yoruba. Coupled with Western Jazz, this beat provided the basis for thecreation of the Mambo and then the Cha Cha and Salsa.

In Haiti, the "Mambo" is a voodoo priestess, who serves the villagers as counselor,healer, exorcist, soothsayer, spiritual adviser, and organizer of public entertainment.Master the dance and you'll find yourself in "conversation with the gods".

Considering the Mambo's origins and the fact that it can be performed in a mosterotic and sensual manner, it is understandable that in parts of Cuba, Mambo isreferred to as the "diabolo", the devil's dance. However, we can put that down to thepeoples prudery rather than anything substantial. Well, lets face it, done to theextreme, the Mambo, Cha and Salsa aren't for the faint hearted!There is some debate whether Salsa and Mambo are the same dance. However, if weget technical, we could argue that Bolero, Rumba, Son, Mambo, Salsa, Cumbia andothers often appear to be the same dance. The fact is that in modern music eachdance often includes musical segments from other dances and so, one dance borrowsmoves from another. Eventually the moves merge - so each dance often appears tohave vaguely similar timings and steps, but in a pure piece, the mood of the music,the rhythm, the tempo and the dance technique for each is different. So, don't letpeople confuse you with technicalities! Each of these dances has a uniqueness of it'sown! You might be able to transfer many moves from one dance to another, but thereare many instances, where the tempo suggests footwork and moves that just don'twork anywhere but in that one dance.

Cha Cha is a reinvention of the Mambo, and there are many musical arrangementsthat beg for both dances to be performed in the same piece of music. Sometimes, it isa Cha Cha piece that has a Mambo interlude and sometimes it is a Mambo piecewith a Cha Cha interlude. So it is really worth while knowing how to do both! Thesame can be said for Mambo and Salsa. The biggest difference between Mambo andSalsa is that, rarely can you Salsa to contemporary North American Music. Incontrast, there are lots of tracks that beg you to do the Mambo!

Despite it's African resonance, the mambo can be traced back to an unexpectedsource, English country dance, which in the 17th century became the contredanse atthe French court and later the contradanza in Spain. In the 18th century thecontradanza reached Cuba where it was known as danza and became the nationaldance. In the 19th century, with the arrival of planters and their slaves who fledfrom Haiti after it became independent, a particularly spicy syncopation called thecinquillo was added to the danza (tango derived from the contradanza also has thiscinquillo).

Through this time, the Native African Folk Rumba which is essentially a sexpantomime danced extremely fast with exaggerated hip movements, was mergedinto the contradanza to form Son and by the end of the 19th century the formality ofthe contradanza was replaced by freer, more spontaneous dancing. This new kind ofmusic was known as danzon.


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Danzon became the dance of wealthy Cuban Society. Son was popular amongst themiddle class and Rumba, well the American's popularised it by turning it into amodified version of Son. The Danzon through creative imagination and musicalinnovation gave birth to Mambo and later Salsa.

The danzon had several sections, one of which was a lively coda which musicianssoon got in the habit of improvising. It was played by brass bands or tipicas, whichgave way in the 1920s to lighter combos known as charangas. These featured violins,sometimes a cello, a piano, a guiro (a grooved calabash scraped with a comb), aclarinet, a flute, a bass and double drums adapted from European military drums.

Charangas, notably that of the flautist Antonio Arcano, flourished in the late 1930's.In 1938, Arcano's cellist, Orestes Lopez, composed a danzon he called "Mambo," andin the coda Arcano introduced elements from the Son, a lively musical genre fromCuba's Oriente province. As a signal to band members that they could start theirsolos, Arcano would call out, "Mil veces mambo!" ("A thousand times mambo!"). Inthe Latin American music known as salsa, the mambo is a theme that is played inunison by the rhythm section and serves as a transition between two improvisedpassages.

In 1959 Fidel Castro's revolutionary forces took control of Cuba and many composersand musicians fled to America. In New York, the music of Cuba became inextricablymixed with the musical variations of Puerto Rico and American popular music. Newstyles of music, by new types of groups hit the Latin Club scene. New instrumentswere introduced and new sounds produced, giving a wild new interpretation of theMambo. Trombones found a place besides trumpets, making the sound more brassy.The traditional instruments were relegated to supporting the rhythm sections. Themusic was wild and classy and extremely popular. Then, with the advent of theBeatles in the 1960s, the bubble burst and the popularity of Latin Music declinedthroughout North America and Europe. Something had to be done to revitaliseinterest in Latin Music! So, in the early 1970s, Fania records needing a way topromote their artists and music, started to think about the problem. They needed aname for their product. Something that captured the markets attention! "Salsa" wasborn!

Development of the music and dance continues but is no longer restricted to thecreative talents of musicians from the Caribbean, Miami or New York. New bandsand musical variations have origins in Colombia, Europe, Australia and Japan.

Mambo, Cha Cha and Salsa are referred to as Latin Street Dancers simply becausein their "non-ballroom" forms there is no formalization in these dances. After youhave mastered the basic moves (see my articles), you are free to invent moves thatmatch the music. So there is no right or wrong way to dance these dances and thereare only two rules - have fun and keep to the rhythm!

Mambo, and Cha Cha

In the late 1940s, Havana, Cuba, was one of the most popular resorts for NorthAmericans, especially those residing along the east coast. The most famousAmerican dance bands as well as the many outstanding latin bands native to Cuba


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played at the city's casinos. Some of these orchestras tried combining the AmericanJAZZ beat with the Cuban RUMBA rhythm; The result was a new rhythm called theMAMBO.

A dance was developed to the new mambo rhythm, danced to the off beat ratherthan the traditional downbeat. For this reason, the dance was popular mainly withdancers thoroughly familiar with complex Afro-Cuban music. However, among themany figures of the mambo was one called the "chatch", which involved three quickchanges of weight preceded by two slow steps. By the early 1950s, this figure haddeveloped into a new dance comprised of many simple variations on the basicfootwork. The dance acquired the name CHA-CHA ; its characteristic three-stepchange of weight carried the identifying verbal definition, "cha-cha-cha".

The cha-cha inherited much of its styling from its parent dances, the rumba and themambo. Like most latin dances, it is done with the feet remaining close to the floor.The dancers' hips are relaxed to allow free movement in the pelvic section. Theupper body shifts over the supporting foot, as steps are taken.

Cha Cha

When the English dance teacher Pierre Lavelle visited Cuba in 1952, he realisedthat sometimes the Rumba was danced with extra beats. When he returned toBritain, he started teaching these steps as a separate dance (Lavelle, 1975, 2). Thename could have been derived from the Spanish 'Chacha' meaning 'nursemaid', or'chachar' meaning 'to chew coca leaves' (Smith, 1971, 161), or from 'char' meaning"tea' (Taylor, 1958, 150), or most likely from the fast and cheerful'Cuban dance: theGuaracha (Ellfeldt, 1974,59). This dance has been popular in Europe from before theturn of the century. For example it is listed on the program of the FinishingAssembly in 1898 of Dancie Neill at Coupar Angus in Scotland (Hood, 1980, 102).

It has also been suggested that the name Cha Cha is derived onomatipeically fromthe sound of the feet in the chasse which is included in many of the steps (Sadie,1980, 5/86).

In 1954, the dance was described as a "Mambo with a guiro rhythm" (Burchfield,1976, I/473). A guiro is a musical instrument consisting of a dried gourd rubbed by aserrated stick (Burchfield, 1976, I/1318).

The Mambo originated in Haiti, and was introduced to the West in 1948 by Prado(Burchfield, 1976, II/809). The word "Mambo" is the name of a Voodoo priestess inthe religion brought by the Negroes from Africa (Ellfeldt, 1974, 86). Thus the ChaCha had its origins in the religious ritual dances of West Africa. There are threeforms of Mambo: single, double, and triple. The triple has five (!) steps to a bar, andthis is the version that evolved into the Cha Cha (Rust, 1969, 105) (Sadie, 1980,100).

The "Cha Cha" is danced currently at about 120 beats per minute. The steps aretaken on the beats, with a strong hip movement as the knee straightens on the halfbeats in between. The weight is kept well forward, with forward steps taken toe-flat,and with minimal torso movement. The chasse on 4&1 is used to emphasise the step


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on beat 1, which may be held a moment longer than the other steps to match theemphasis of the beat in the music.

Two views on the origins of Merengueby Carmen Vazquez

The origin of this dance, according to the Dominicansthemselves, from a program shown on TV "SANTODOMINGO INVITA". Merengue is a combination of twodances, the African and the French Minuet, from the late1700's - early 1800's. The African slaves saw the ballroomdances in the Big Houses and when they had their ownfestivities started mimicking the "masters' dances". But theEuropeans dances were not fun, they were very boring and

staid, so over time, the slaves added a special upbeat (provided by the drums), thiswas a slight skip or a hop. The original Merengue was not danced by individualcouples, but was a circle dance, each man and woman faced each other and holdinghands - at arm's length. They did not hold each other closely and the originalmovements of this dance were only the shaking of the shoulders and swift movementof the feet. There was no blatant movement of the hips like there is today, as nativeAfrican dances do not move the hips. In fact, African dances, as well as otherIndigenous dances throughout the world, consist of complicated steps and armmovements. Tribal dancing does not have "primitive" sexual shaking of the hips, thisis only done in Hollywood movies.So, the origin of the Merengue is very similar to that of the "Cake Walk" dance of theAmerican South.

Merengueby Lori Heikkila

The Merengue is the national dance of the Dominican Republic, and also to someextent, of Haiti, the neighbour sharing the island. There are two popular versions ofthe of the origin of the Dominican national dance, the Merengue. One story allegesthe dance originated with slaves who were

chained together and, of necessity, were forced to drag one leg as they cut sugar to thebeat of drums. The second story alleges that a great hero was wounded in the leg duringone of the many revolutions in the Dominican Republic. A party of villagers welcomedhim home with a victory celebration and, out of sympathy, everyone dancing felt obligedto limp and drag one foot. Merengue has existed since the early years of the DominicanRepublic (in Haiti, a similar dance is called the Meringue). It is possible the dance tookits name from the confection made of sugar and egg whites because of the light andfrothy character of the dance or because of its short, precise rhythms. By the middle ofthe nineteenth century, the Merengue was very popular in the Dominican Republic. Notonly is it used on every dancing occasion in the Republic, but it is very popularthroughout the Caribbean and South American, and is one of the standard LatinAmerican dances. There is a lot of variety in Merengue music. Tempos vary a great dealand the Dominicans enjoy a sharp quickening in pace towards the latter part of thedance. The most favored routine at the clubs and restaurants that run a dance floor is aslow Bolero, breaking into a Merengue, which becomes akin to a bright, fast Jive in itsclosing stages. The ballroom Merengue is slower and has a modified hip action.

Revels-Bey Music..Rhythm Kings Study guide (rev 2/03)

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The Merengue was introduced in the United States in the New York area. However, itdid not become well known until several years later. Ideally suited to the small,crowded dance floors, it is a dance that is easy to learn and essentially a "fun" dance.

NOTES

Revels-Bey Music..Rhythm Kings Study guide (rev 2/03)

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AppendixA: AnalyzingSecondarySources: HowDoModernHistoriansAssess theSignificance of Moors In Spain?

Susan Douglass Cities of Light

Overview:This activity sums up the points made in Cities of Light about the lasting importance ofMoorish Moslem Spain to world history and Western civilization. It provides quotations fromseveral recent works on the issues of tolerant coexistence in al-Andalus, and on the contribution toEuropean culture of this period and this society. The quotations also explore the difficulties andpossibilities of tolerance among cultural groups then and today.

Objectives:Students will

Analyze synthesizing statements about al-Andalus and its contribution toworld and European history from recent works of cultural, political andliterary history.

Assess the role of Islamic Spain and some of the Christian kingdomsas places where knowledge was prized and explain the roles of Jewish,Christian and Moslem scholars in its development and transfer toEurope.

Draw inferences between past and present using the example of al-Andalus.

Materials: Cities of Light Student Handout 13a: What Do Modern Historians Say about the Importance of

Islamic Spain in World History? Activity Sheet 13b: Experts in Cities of Light Sum Up the Importance of

Islamic Spain to the World Today

Time: 1-2 class periods (plus homework if desired), or as an assessment tool

Procedure:1. Distribute Student Handout: What Do Modern Historians Say about the Importance

of Islamic Spain for World History? The class may be divided into groups to analyzeeach passage, or individual passages can be assigned for homework, with a paragraphexplaining the meaning of the quotations. This could serve as preparation for a classdiscussion on the significance of Islamic Spain and its contribution to world historyin the eyes of modern historians. The quotations can be used as prompts forculminating essay questions.

2. Distribute Student Handout 13b, which contains quotes from the experts featured inthe documentary Cities of Light. These quotations summarize and reflect on thelegacy of Islamic Spain, its mixture of tolerance and intolerance, and the lastinglessons and contributions to the world. Divide students into groups to discuss andthen share with the group, or use the quotations as writing prompts. Finally,students are assigned to be an expert and write their own opinion in the form of amemorable quotation in the final space on the page.

Revels-Bey Music Study Guide: The Rhythm Kings Moorish Influence inMusic

StudentHandout: AndalusianPoetry by Susan Douglas

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What Do Modern Writers Say about the Importance of Moors inSpain for World History? Student Handout 13a

Francis and Joseph Gies in the book Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel (1994):One of the Middle Ages most important creations, the medical school, was founded atSalerno in the eleventh century, when by no coincidence the earliest cultural contacts withIslam occurred... [then] ...It was the Muslim-Assisted translation of Aristotle followed byGalen, Euclid, Ptolemy and other Greek authorities and their integration into theuniversity curriculum that created what historians have called the scientific Renaissanceof the 12th century. Certainly the completion of the double, sometimes triple translation(Greek into Arabic, Arabic into Latin, often with ... Spanish ...) is one of the most fruitfulscholarly enterprises ever undertaken. Two chief sources of translation were Spain andSicily, regions where Arab, European, and Jewish scholars freely mingled. In Spain themain center was Toledo, where Archbishop Raymond established a college specifically formaking Arab knowledge available to Europe. Scholars flocked [there]...By 1200 virtually theentire scientific corpus of Aristotle was available in Latin, along with works by other Greekand Arab authors on medicine, optics, catoptrics (mirror theory), geometry, astronomy,astrology, zoology, psychology, and mechanics.1

Richard Fletcher in the book Moorish Spain (1992): The plain fact is that between712 and 1492, Muslim and Christian communities lived side by side in the IberianPeninsula... sharing a land, learning from one another, trading, intermarrying,misunderstanding, squabbling, fighting generally sharing in all the incidents that go tofurnish the ups and downs of coexistence... The most fortunate beneficiaries of thiscoexistence were neither Christian nor Muslim Spaniards but the uncouth barbariansbeyond the Pyrenees. The creative role of Muslim Spain in the shaping of Europeanintellectual culture is still not widely enough appreciated. Apart from anything else, it is amost remarkable story. The scientific and philosophical learning of Greek and Persianantiquity was inherited by the Arabs in the Middle East. Translated, codified, elaborated byArabic scholars, the corpus was diffused throughout the culturally unified world of classicalIslam... until it reached the limits of the known world in the west. And there, in Spain, it wasdiscovered by the scholars of the Christian west, translated into Latin mainly between1150 and 1250, and channeled off to irrigate the dry pastures of European intellectuallife... Europes lead in resourcefulness and creativity, the vital factor in the history of worldfor the six centuries preceding our own, was founded in large part on intelligent grasping atopportunities offered by the civilization of Islam; and that proffer came through Spain....There was yet another way in which the encounter of Christian and Muslim inmedieval Spain has powerfully affected later and distant human experience. MedievalSpaniards and Portuguese worked out by trial and error ways in which to administer largetracts of newly conquered territory and to govern their inhabitants. Thus, when anoverseas empire was acquired in the sixteenth century, models and precedents existed forthe guidance of those whose task it was to rule it. In this as in so much else there was littlethat was new about the so-called early modern period of the sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies. Colonial Mexico and Peru and Brazil were medieval Andalusia writ large. Muchthat is central to the experience of Latin America follows from this. 2

Norman Daniels in the book The Arabs and Medieval Europe (1979): What the 12thcentury translators had set out to do was achieved with complete success. Europerecovered all that it had lost in the philosophical and scientific fields at the end of theclassical age; and it received this body

1 Francis and Joseph Gies, Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel (New York: Harper Collins, 1994), pp. 159- 160.2 Richard Fletcher, Moorish Spain (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1992), p. 8, 6.



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Of knowledge in a form which had been improved by centuries of Arab work on it....Although we have seen that Europe would have recovered its lost store of learningdirectly from the Greek, if it had not done so first from the Arabic, it is still true that itcame through Arabic.. .The real importance of the restoration of learning was that Europeonce again shared with its co-heirs of antiquity this whole vast area of knowledge andskills. In other ways Europe and the Arabs would begin to diverge.. .when that happenedthey remained linked in learning longer than in any other way.3

Rosa Maria Menocal in the book Ornament of the World (2002): [Accordingto] F. Scott Fitzgeralds wonderful formula... the test of a first-rate intelligence is theability to hold two opposed ideals in the mind at the same time. In its moments of greatestachievement, medieval culture positively thrived on holding at least two and often manymore, contrary ideas at the same time. This was the chapter of Europes culture whenJews, Christians, and Muslims lived side by side and, despite their intractable differencesand enduring hostilities, nourished a complex culture of tolerance... This only sometimesincluded guarantees of religious freedoms comparable to what we would expect in a moderntolerant state; rather, it found expression in often unconscious acceptance... could bepositive and productive... .The very heart of culture as a series of contradictions lay in al-Andalus...It was there that the profoundly Arabized Jews rediscovered and reinventedHebrew; there that Christians embraced nearly every aspect of Arabic stylefrom theintellectual style of philosophy to the architectural style of mosquesnot only whileliving in Islamic dominions, but especially after wresting political control from them... therethat men of unshakable faith, like Abelard and Maimonides and Averroes, saw nocontradiction in pursuing the truth, whether philosophical or scientific, or religious, acrossconfessional lines....It was an approach to life and its artistic and intellectual and evenreligious pursuits that was contested by so manyas it is todayand violently so attimesas it is todayand yet powerful and shaping nevertheless, for hundreds of years.4

Discussion Questions:

1. According to the Gies statement, where did most of the transfer of scientificknowledge from take place, when, and why was it significant that these translationstook place?

2. Cite three ways in which Richard Fletcher believes that Moors in Spain affected themodern world. How does he characterize the relationship among diverse groupsliving in medieval Spain?

3. Who are Europes co-heirs of antiquity? Why does Daniels think it is importantthat Europe and Islam had this body of knowledge in common?

4. Why does Rosa Maria Menocal think that difference and contradictions arecreative? How did al-Andalus provide an example of this creativity in diversity?

5. How and why does Menocal compare the contradictions and creativity of a tolerantapproach to life and culture in medieval and in our modern societies? What does shefind similar to both times?

3 Norman Daniels, The Arabs and Medieval Europe (London: Longman, Librarie du Liban, 1979), p. 30 1-302.4 Maria Rosa Menocal, The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture ofTolerance in Muslim Spain (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2002), pp. 10-12.



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Experts in Cities of Light Sum Up the Importance of Islamic Spain to theWorld Today

Feisal Abdul Rauf:... the reconquest of Spain by the Catholics and by the Christians created very much a senseof loss and even until today Muslims who visit Andalusia, Cordoba and Granada andSeville, feel this nostalgia, feel the sense of loss.

Ahmad Dallal:When there is diversity, there is by definition friction. But of course, if you eliminatediversity and everyone would be the same. There would be no friction, but there would beno creativity that results from that tension....Raymond Scheindlin:So, a kind of a rough and ready togetherness came about, not an ideological tolerance, but apractical kind of tolerance...Dede Fairchild Ruggles:I think that were fascinated by Islamic Spain because we project into it our own desires fora world where Jews, Christians and Muslims all kind of got along, more or less got along....And when you look at that and its wishful thinking- you wish that in the modern worldrelationships were easier.Chris Lowney:...just think of what medieval Spain gave to Europe. We have this technology for makingpaper. We have this irrigation technology...We have these medical ideas and all of thesethings came about only because cultures interacted and borrowed from each other... and wesee that to a greater or lesser extent, people have to find a way to live together, find a wayforward, despite some of the contradictions they feel, despite the fact that, you know, yourbelief is heretical in my eyes, but we're still here together in this city and we may haveshared values and we're going to find a way to make this work for the good of our ownchildren and families....

You are the expert. Now write what YOU think is important about Moors in Spain:



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Overview:This lesson provides an opportunity for students to engage with various examples ofAndalusian poetry related to the history of the Moors in Spain, giving them theopportunity to experience the literature of that time and place, and to engage with arich primary source that illuminates a way of life.

Levels: middle grades 6-8, high school and general audiencesObjectives: students will: Identify some topics on which Andalusian poets expressed themselves. Identify some purposes for which poems were written, recited or sung. Compare and contrast different forms of poetry from al-Andalus. Analyze how descriptive language in Andalusian poetry reveals information

aboutlife in al-Andalus and how it illuminates peoples responses to historicalevents.

Cite some possible influences of Andalusian poetry on other cultures.

Time: One two class periods

Materials:Student Handout 10a: CategorizingPoetry Student Handout 10b:Andalusian PoetryNotebook paper for reading responsesOverhead projector film & marker, or whiteboard

Procedure:1. Distribute Student Handouts 10a and 10b and allow time for students to

skim all of the poems (10-20 minutes). The first engagement with the group ofpoems will be to categorize the poems in several ways (length, topic, style),writing the numbers of each type of poem they identify in the appropriateboxes.

2. Using the categories and corresponding poem numbers, students will workindividually or in pairs, trios, or small groups to select poems to explore throughthe activities that follow. Each student or group will select one poem from each ofthe categories on the chart into which the students have sorted the poems on thegraphic organizer. Knowing that students may select only the shorter poems,the selections have been sorted into Groups A, B. C, and D, so that the teachercan ask students to include one of the longer poems in responding to thequestions. Discuss the results of group or individual work.

3. Finally, following the directions on the student worksheet, assign students ashomework or class work to try their own hand at a poem similar to those theyhave studied. Spend a class session on a Poetry Jam, in which students sharetheir poems.

Revels-Bey Music Study Guide: The Rhythm Kings Moorish Influence in MusicStudentHandout: AndalusianPoetry by Susan Douglas

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Student Handout 10a: Categorizing and Exploring PoemsDirections:

1. Skim through the group of poems in the Andalusian Poetry handout in 15minutes or so. You are not reading them through, but taking a quick look attheir characteristics on the chart below.

2. Write the numbers (#) of the poems that fit that category in thecorresponding boxes in the chart below. Poems may fit in more than one. Afteryou are finished, you will use these categories and your selections to exploresome examples of Andalusian poetry in depth.

3. Choose one poem from each category, and answer the questions about thatcategory in the blank forms. Be sure also to choose at least one longer poem. Beready to share your answers and ideas with the class.

4. Poetry Jam: Try your own hand at writing a 5-line or 10-line poem (or longerif you feel like it!) on one of the topics or goals below. Try to model your poemon one of the poems you have studied. When you are finished, share with theclass. If you want to recite it as a song, or with rhythmic accompaniment, thatwill be even better.

Characteristics Poem Numbers Poem Numbers Poem Numbers PoemNumbers

PoemNumbers

What is the topicof the poem?

Daily Life Historical events Religious ideas About people Long poems

Goal: What is thepoet trying to do?

Describe a scene Tell a story Bring outstrongfeelings inthe audience

Give advice Short poems

Daily life poems1. What human activity or activities are described? Is it work or leisure?2. What clues does the poem give to the way people lived in al-Andalus long ago?3. What man-made objects are mentioned in the poem?4. What inventions do they describe?

Historical events1. Are the events described in the poem real or fictional, or both?2. Are the events in the poets recent past or the distant past, or both?3. Describe what you know about the event from clues in the language.4. What do you think might have happened to people because of the event

described?



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5. What does the poet want the audience to feel about the event? How did it the poetfeels about it?

Religious ideas1. What ideas about religion or spirituality does the poet express?2. What does the poet want to express about his or her religious beliefs?3. How does the poet use the form of the poem to express these religiousideas?

People1. Is the person in the poem an important or an ordinary person? Male or female?2. How does the poet describe the personality of this person?3. Is the poet trying to impress the person being described? Are they trying to

impress others about the person?4. Why do you think the poem about this person was written?

Describing a scene1. What sights, sounds and smells would you experience if you were in the scene the

poet is describing?2. What colors would you use if you were painting the scene?3. List some words that would describe your feelings if you could step into this

scene.

Telling a story1. Who are the characters in the story being told?2. What happens in the story?3. Why is the poet telling the story? (to entertain, teach, move to action, etc.)

Bringing out strong feelings in the audience1. What emotions does the poet try to bring out in the audience?2. How does the poet use words and images to affect the listeners feelings?3. What is the purpose of bringing out strong feelings?4. What might someone want to do after hearing the poem?

Giving advice1. What is the poem about?2. What advice is the poet giving to the audience?3. What technique does the poet use to make the message effective?4. Think of a sign or advertising that might have a similarmessage. 5. What type of person might offer the kind of advice the poetis giving?



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#1A palm tree stands in the middle of Rusafa, Born in the West, far from the land ofpalms.I said to it: How like me you are, far away and in exile, In long separation fromfamily and friends.You have sprung from soil in which you are a stranger, And I, like you, am farfrom home.Abd al-Rahman, Emir of Cordoba, d. 788 CE

#2A little shaikh (Sheik) from the land ofMeknes sings in the middle of themarketplaces: What have I to do with men,and what have men to do with me?What, O friend, have I to do with anycreature[When] He whom I love is a Creator, aProvider?Unless you are sincere, my son, say not aword.Take down my words on paper and writethem like an amulet on my authority. Whathave I to do with men, and what have mento do with me?"Here is a clear statement that needs noexplanation:What has anyone to do with anyone? Graspthis allusion well,And observe my old age, my staff, and mybegging wallet.Thus did I live in Fez and thus do I live heretoo.What have I to do with men, and whathave men to do with me?"How beautiful are his words when he strutsthrough the market-placesAnd you see the shopkeepers turn theirnecks in his direction.With his begging wallet hanging from hisneck, a short staff and cork sandals, He is awell-built little shaikh (Sheik), built as Godcreated him.

"What have I to do with men, and whathave men to do with me?"Were you to see this little shaikh (Sheik),how elegant he is in the true sense of theword! He turned to me and said to me: "Do Isee you follow me?I set down my begging bowl-and may Hewho has mercy on us have mercy on it." Andhe placed it among different kinds [ofpeople] saying: "Leave me alone, leave mealone.What have I to do with men, and what havemen to do with me?He who does good, O my son, receives onlygood in return;He will look to his faults and reprove hisown deeds,While he who is close to my state willremain innocent and free."He whose soul is good will grasp theinnocence of the singer;"What have I to do with men, and whathave men to do with me?"And in this way he busies himself inblessing Muhammad,And [requesting God's] pleasure for hisminister the glorious Abu Bakr,And for the truthful Umar and for themartyr of every place of martyrdom,And for Ali the grand judge over iniquitieswho, when he struck out, did not repeat theblow.Shushtari (12121269 CE)

#3Wonder,A garden among the flames! My heart can take on any form: A meadow for gazelles, A cloisterfor monks,For the idols, sacred ground, Ka'ba for the circling pilgrim, The tables of the Torah, The scrollsof the Quran. My creed is Love;Wherever its caravan turns along the way,That is my belief,



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My faith.Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, Muhyyeddin Ibn Arabi (1165-1240 CE)#4Were it not forthe excess of your talkingand the turmoil in your hearts,you would see what I seeand hear what I hear! Muhyyeddin Ibn Arabi (1165-1240 CE)

#5I believe in the religionOf LoveWhatever direction its caravans may take,For love is my religion and my faith.Muhyyeddin Ibn Arabi (1165-1240 CE)

#6Oh, her beauty--the tender maid!Its brilliance gives light like lamps to one traveling in the dark.She is a pearl hidden in a shell of hair as black as jet,A pearl for which Thought dives and remains unceasingly in the deeps of that ocean.He who looks upon her deems her to be a gazelle of the sand-hills, because of her shapely neckand the loveliness of her gestures.Muhyyeddin Ibn Arabi (1165-1240 CE)

#7My heart has become capable of every form: it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent forChristian monks,And a temple for idols, and the pilgrim's Ka'ba, and the tables of the Tora and the book of theKoran.I follow the religion of Love, whichever way his camels take. My religion and myfaith is the true religion.We have a pattern in Bishr, the lover of Hind and her sister, and in Qays and Lubna, and inMayya and Ghaylan. Muhyyeddin Ibn Arabi (1165-1240 CE)

#8Everything declines after reachingperfection, therefore let no man be beguiledby the sweetness of a pleasant life.As you have observed, these are the decreesthat are inconstant: he whom a singlemoment has made happy, has been harmedby many other moments;And this is the abode that will show pity forno man, nor will any condition remain in itsstate for it.Fate irrevocably destroys every ample coatof mail when Mashrifi swords and spearsglance off without effect;

Where are the crowned kings of Yemen andwhere are their jewel-studded diadems andcrowns?Where are [the buildings] Shaddad raised inIram and where [the empire] theSassanians ruled in Persia?Where is the gold Qarun once possessed;where are Ad and Shaddad and Qaban?An irrevocable decree overcame them all sothat they passed away and the people cameto be as though they had never existed.The kingdoms and kings that had beencame to be like what a sleeper has toldabout [his] dream vision.



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Fate turned against Darius as well as hisslayer, and as for Chosroes, no vaultedpalace offered him protection.It is as if no cause had ever made the hardeasy to bear, and as if Solomon had neverruled the world.The misfortunes brought on by Fate are ofmany different kinds, while Time hascauses of joy and of sorrow.For the accidents [of fortune] there is aconsolation that makes them easy to bear,yet there is no consolation for what hasbefallen Islam.An event which cannot be endured hasovertaken the peninsula; ...The evil eye has struck [the peninsula] in itsIslam so that [the land] decreased untilwhole regions and districts were despoiledof [the faith]Therefore ask Valencia what is the state ofMurcia; and where is Jativa, and where isJaen?Where is Cordoba, the home of the sciences,and many a scholar whose rank was oncelofty in it?Where is Seville and the pleasures itcontains, as well as its sweet riveroverflowing andbrimming full?

[They are] capitals which were the pillars ofthe land, yet when the pillars are gone, itmay no longer endure!The tap of the white ablution fount weeps indespair, like a passionate lover weeping atthe departure of the beloved,

Over dwellings emptied of Islam that werefirst vacated and are now inhabited byunbelief;In which the mosques have becomechurches wherein only bells and crossesmay be found.Even the mihrabs weep though they aresolid; even the pulpits mourn though theyare wooden!O you who remain heedless though you havea warning in Fate: if you are asleep, Fate isalways awake!And you who walk forth cheerfully whileyour homeland diverts you [from cares], can

a homeland beguile any man after [the lossof] Seville?This misfortune has caused those thatpreceded it to be forgotten, nor can it everbe forgotten for the length of all time!O you who ride lean, thoroughbred steedswhich seem like eagles in the racecourse;And you who carry slender, Indian bladeswhich seem like fires in the darkness causedby the dust cloud [of war],And you who are living in luxury beyond thesea enjoying life, you who have strength andpower in your homelands,Have you no news of the people of Andalus,for riders have carried forth what men havesaid [about them]?How often have the weak, who were beingkilled and captured while no man stirred,asked our help?What means this severing of the bonds ofIslam on your behalf, when you, Oworshipers of God, are [our] brethren?Are there no heroic souls with loftyambitions; are there no helpers anddefenders of righteousness?O, who will redress the humiliation of apeople who were once powerful, a peoplewhose condition injustice and tyrants havechanged?

Yesterday they were kings in their ownhomes, but today they are slaves in the landof the infidel!Thus, were you to see them perplexed, withno one to guide them, wearing the cloth ofshame in its different shades,And were you to behold their weeping whenthey are sold, the matter would strike fearinto your heart, and sorrow would seize you.Alas, many a mother and child have beenparted as souls and bodies are separated!And many a maiden fair as the sun when itrises, as though she were rubies and pearls,Is led off to abomination by a barbarianagainst her will, while her eye is in tearsand her heart is stunned.The heart melts with sorrow at such[sights], if there is any Islam or belief inthat heartAbu al-Baqa Al-Rundi (fl. 1248 CE)



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#9In the ocean of night, as the last of the flood-tide was ebbing, an eclipse snatched away half themoon. It became like a mirror heated by a blacksmith, with the red of the fire fading into theblack.Ibn Hamdis (Sicily, 1055-1132 CE)

#10Look at the sun on the horizon; it is like a birdcasting its wing over the surface of the bay.Ali ibn Musa ibn Said (Alcala la Real, 1213-1286 CE)

#11The hands of spring have built strong lily castles on their stems,Castles with battlements of silver where the defenders,grouped around the prince, hold swords of gold.Ibn Darraj (Caceta, 958-1030 CE)

#12Drink from the lily pond, red with flowers, and also green,As if the flowers were tongues of fire coming out of the water.Ibn Hamdis (Sicily, 1055-1132 CE)

#13How beautiful the rose in its colors of deep red and pure white.Its whiteness is like the brilliance of the stars;its redness not different from the red of twilight.And the yellow in its center is like sesame seeds clustered on a plate.Abu al-Abbas al-Ghassani (Tunis, c. 1261 CE)#14The right hand of the wind forges a coat ofmail on the river which ripples with a thousand wrinkles.And whenever the wind adds a ring, the rain comesalong to fasten it with its rivets.Asa al-Ama (Manish, c. 1131 CE)

#15The river is like a piece of parchmenton which the breeze is tracing its lines.And when they see how beautiful the writing is,the branches bend down to read it.Ali ibn Musa ibn Said (Alcala la Real, 1213-1286 CE)

#16How I love those boats as they start to race, like horses chasing one another.The neck of the river was unadorned before, but now, in the darkness of night, it is all deckedout.The brightness of the boats candles is as the brilliance of stars; youd think their reflectionswere lances in the water.



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Many boats are moved along by their sail wings and others by their oar feet; they look likefrightened rabbits fleeing from falcons. Ibn Lubbal (Jerez, d. 1187 CE)

#17Nothing disturbed me more than a dove,singing on a branch between the island and the river. Its collar was the color of pistachio nuts,its breasts of lapis lazuli, its neck brightly embroidered, its tail and leading wing feathers ofdark green. A ring of gold surrounded its pearl eyelids,pearls which rolled over rubies.Black was the tip of its sharp beak, as if itwere a silver penpoint dipped in ink.It pillowed itself on a couch of an Ark treeand bowed with its wings folded over its breast. But when it saw my tears, it was troubled by myweeping and standing straight up on the green bough. It spread out its wings and flapped them,flying off with my heart to wherever it flew. Where? I dont know.Ali ibn Hisa (Seville, d. 1050 CE)

#18O king, whose fathers were of lofty mien and most noble lineage!You have always adorned my neck with marvelousgifts; so may you now adorn my hand with a falcon.Bestow on me one with fine wings, as if itsleading feathers had been arched by the north wind.Proudly I shall take him out in the morning,making the wind veer in my hand, and I shall capturethe free with my chained one. Abu Bakr Ibn al-Qabturnuh (Badajoz, c. 1126 CE)

#19Bright as a meteor, he came prancing forthin a gilded saddle cloth. Someone said,envying me, as he saw him trotting beneathme into battle: Who has bridled themorning with the Pleiadesand saddled the lightning with the crescentmoon?Abu al-Sall (Denia, 1067-1134 CE)

#20 If white is the color of mourning inAndalusia, that is only just.Dont you see that I have put on the white ofold age out of mourning for my youth?al-Kafif al-Husri (Kairouan, d. 1095 CE)

#21When the bird of sleep thought my eye was a nest, he saw its lashes and, being afraid of nets, hewas frightened away.Ibn al-Hammarah (c. 1150 CE)

#22You have a house where the curtains are perfect formusical evenings, but let us understand one thing:The flies do the singing, the mosquitoes accompany them,and the fleas are the dancers.Abu Abdallah ibn Sharaf (Kairouan, d. 1068 CE)

#23 My soul and my family be the ransom for my patron,



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from whom I never ask for help against fate without being helped. They feathered my wings andthen drenched them with the dew of generosity, so now I cannot fly away from their tribe.Ibn al-Labbanah (Denia, d. 1113 CE)

#24Scatter your good deeds all around, not caringwhether they fall on those near or far away,Just as the rain never cares where the clouds pourit out, whether on fertile ground or on rocks.Ibn Siraj (Cordova, d. 1114 CE)

#25My soul said to me: Death has come for you and here youare still in this sea of sins.And you havent even provided for the journey.Be quiet, I said. Does one take provisions to theGenerous One?Abu al-Hajjaj al-Munsafi (Almuzafes, c. 1210 CE)

#26Be forgiving of your friend when he offendsyou, for perfection is seldom ever found.In everything there is some flaw; even thelamp, despite its brilliance, smokes.Ibn al-Haddad (Almeria, d. 1087 CE)

#27Look at the fire as she dances, shaking her sleeveswith joy.She laughs with amazement as the essence of her ebonyis transmuted into gold. Ibn Abi al-Khisal (Segura,072-1145 CE)

#28 Oh, the beauty of the fountain, pelting thehorizon with shooting stars, leaping and jumping aroundplayfully;Bubbles of water burst out of it, gushing intoits basin like a frightened snake,As if it used to move back and forth beneath theearth, but when it had the chance, it quickly escaped,And settled into the basin, happy with its newhome, and in amazement kept smiling, showing its bubbles. And the branches hover overhead,about to kissit as it smiles, revealing the whiteness of its teeth. Ibn al-Raiah (Seville, 13th century CE)

#29 How wonderful is the water-wheel! It spins around like acelestial sphere, yet there are no stars on it.It was placed over the river by hands that decreed thatit refresh others spirits as it, itself, grows tired.It is like a free man, in chains, or like a prisonermarching freely.Water rises and falls from the wheel as if it were a



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cloud that draws water from the sea and later pours it out.The eyes fell in love with it, for it is a boon companionto the garden, a cupbearer who doesnt drink. Ibn al-Abbar (Valencia, d. 1260 CE)

#30Wedding Feast on the Horizon Pass round your cups for theres a wedding feast on the ho

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