FARRUCA
(This article originally appeared June, 1968 in Vol.1 No.2 of the FISLetter.)

In his book "De cante grande y cante chico" (Madrid, 1926) José Carlos de Luna speaks of the "absurd, disjointed movements of the half-breed, farruca" which he calls the "unfortunate abortion of the Gallegos". Indeed, the word "farruca" is of Galician origin and means literally "cante de gallegos" (inhabitants of Galicia in north-western Spain bordered by the Atlantic ocean and Portugal). As for the rest of the statement, it is far easier to say nasty things about the cante of farruca than about its dance or music. In fact farruca as a cante is little more than a curiosity these days (if sung at all). The cante was first made popular in the beginning of this century by the great Manuel Torre (1878-1933), who surely gave it the only 'gracia' it ever had. Shortly thereafter, it reached sickening heights of popularity when it was sung in the one-act play "Alma de Dios" by a feminine falsetto voice.

Pilar López

Hipólito Rossy ("Teoría del cante jondo" Barcelona, 1966) recalls hearing the following letra of farruca sung in 1907:

Una farruca en Galicia
amargamente lloraba
porque se la había muerto el farruco
y la gaita le tocaba.

...with the "estribillos" or endings:

Alla arribita, arribita
alla arribita, los dos
arriba la oliva
y abajo el limón.

Y con el tran, tran, tran
tranteiro, tranteiro, tranteiro
con el tran, tran, tran
tranteiro, baila que te baila
que te canto yo.

At its best, the cante is static and cadenced, similar to folk-songs of Italy, France and Germany (Marlene Dietrich style), and tends to reduce the "duende potential" of the dance.

It is believed that the farruca was originally an Asturian dance which reached the seaport of Cádiz and eventually acquired the compás of the tangos of Cádiz. That is, 2/4 time, similar to the zambra of Granada. The music, which is the only flamenco form wholly in minor mode, occasionally shows other Granada influences in long, Arabic-sounding variations which tend more towards twos than fours.

The actual creation of the flamenco farruca is attributed to the dancer Francisco Mendoza Ríos "Faíco" (1880-1938), and the guitarist don Ramón Montoya (1880-1949).

The dance itself is typically executed in a limited area by either a man or a woman, often in "traje corto". It requires strong "pitos" (finger-snaps - castanets are not used), and good rhythmic heelwork. The rhythm is kept slow and cadenced except for the sudden eruptions of the dancer's "llamadas" or breaks, signaled on the first beat of a compás. After the break, the rhythm picks up slowly again, perhaps with the guitarist playing a variation. José Greco invented the "long" farruca break which tacks on compases of eight at the dancer's signal. A fast guitar picado section often called the "escalera" may be incorporated and leads to the ending, usually in snappy tanguillo or tango rhythm (nearly always maintaining the A minor and E7 chords characteristic of farruca).

Farruca was originally considered a more jondo form than it is today. It can still be very moving even despite the fact that it is essentially a dance without cante. The most famous version of this dance is probably Antonio Gades' in the classic film Los Tarantos (1963).

There have been many recordings of farruca with dancing. One good one which shows the great potential of this baile and toque is "Flamenco Spectacular" (Columbia EX5082). Two recordings of the rarely heard cante are "Flamenco, Vicente Escucero" (Columbia CL982) and "Flamenco con los maestros del cante jondo" on El Canto del Mundo (CM900) sung by Niño de Almadén.

Update 2003: Farruquito, grandson of dancer Farruco, includes a farruca with singing in his new show "Alma vieja"