Receipt date: 07/04/2021 / Revision date: 09/09/2021 / Acceptance date: 04/06/2021

---

Introduction

Before beginning to expose the results of a research whose object of study is flamenco as a tool for socio-educational intervention, it is necessary to clarify what we understand by flamenco, as well as the current bases of social and educational intervention. It is also necessary to clarify the current bases of social and educational intervention.

First of all, in order to understand flamenco in its entirety, it is necessary to take a brief look at its history and the theoretical framework elaborated by the research that has studied this phenomenon. Since its origin, at the end of the 18th century, flamenco has gone through several stages: the pre-flamenco stage, the café cantante, the flamenco opera, the neo-jondismo, and the current flamenco. Likewise, there are two currents of thought that understand flamenco as an artistic phenomenon, according to authors such as Steingress, Lavaur, or Wasahbaugh, or as a cultural phenomenon, according to the studies of Cruces or Moreno.

The pre-flamenco stage is the previous moment in which the foundations are laid and the first news about this musical phenomenon are known. It encompasses a set of aesthetic, social, and cultural elements that occurred in Spanish society between the 18th and 19th centuries. "(...) the poor Andalusians embraced a resilient conservatism that ironically resembled the oppressive and coercive conservatism of the previous century (...); they reshaped themselves as majos, that is to say as dashing and brazen beings sure of themselves." (Washabaugh, 2005: 73). 

According to Lavaur (1976) and Steingresss (2006), flamenco is a modern artistic genre of the 19th century. Born in romanticism to provide a cultural identity to the national political project, it represents the romantic values that are appreciated by modern intellectuals while embracing tradition, creating this modern-traditional phenomenon and giving rise to its main irony (Washabaugh, 2005). In short, romanticism drives flamenco as an artistic, urban, and modern phenomenon. It is not a popular art but popularized (Lavaur, 1976) and populist (Aix, 2014).

Between 1850 and 1925 flamenco was professionalized in the Cafés Cantantes. They represent one of the milestones of flamenco through which the voices of everyday Andalusian life were adapted, the songs were refined and the lyrics sweetened (Washabaugh, 2005). Finally, the cante del café took more strength than the cante de la calle, which was "overshadowed by the professional sound" (Washabaugh, 2005:76). From 1880 onwards, they carried out an anti-flamenco campaign from a modernizing perspective, rejecting the old and associating flamenco with delinquency, nocturnality, and backwardness. In addition, certain intellectuals and aficionados rejected the intense professionalization of flamenco at the beginning of the 20th century.

Between the years 1925 and 1955, another historical stage called Flamenco Opera took place. In this period there were two types of flamenco performances, those aimed at amateurs that took place in the colmaos, and were paid by señoritos[1] as a private party. And those shows for the general public in which flamenco forms are mixed with national music, such as the copla. As a reaction to the decadence of flamenco opera, Manuel de Falla and Federico García Lorca organized the I Concurso Nacional de Cante Jondo in 1922, in Granada, which they intended to rescue the authentic traditions that opera was destroying; however, the impact was rather the opposite, as it is described today as the "true moment of take-off of flamenco opera (Cobo 1994:77)." (Washabaugh 2005: 79).

At this point it is necessary to mention that the research carried out on the flamenco phenomenon has been catalogued in two different senses. On the one hand, authors such as Steingress, Lavaur, or Washabaugh, identify it as an artistic phenomenon. However, from the point of view of Cruces or Moreno, flamenco is studied as a cultural phenomenon.

From the perspective of flamenco as an artistic phenomenon, several authors ask to what extent flamenco has been used by the state as an "ethnic supplier"[2] to achieve its own goals. Lavaur (1976) states that flamenco is an artistic phenomenon created in response to traditional and gypsy themes demanded by Romanticism. During the 19th century flamenco helped the consolidation of the national project of the state (Steingress, 1996) by providing a popular culture that allowed social union (Florido and Reigada, 2015). The so-called "national-flamenquismo" during the Franco regime, maintained the previous Spanish nationalism while selling a symbolic image of Spain of great acceptance by the incipient tourism, "and it is that the commodification has been another possibility of instrumentalization, present in flamenco since its own origin as an artistic genre" (Florido and Reigada, 2015, p. 224).

A new stage called Neojondismo, which meant for flamenco to reach a "statute of artistic autonomy" (Aix, 2014, p. 45), takes place between 1955 and 1980 as a purist reaction. In it there is a movement in defense of flamenco jondo, its elements and musical foundations as a reaction to the vulgarization of flamenco in previous productions and political uses linked to Francoism. Three events are key in this stage, on the one hand, the publication of the books "Flamencología" by Anselmo González Climent (1955) and "Mundo y formas del cante flamenco" (1963) by Ricardo Molina and Antonio Mairena. Another important event is the "Concurso Nacional de Cante Jondo de Córdoba" (1956). And finally, the "Antología del Cante" published by Hixpavox (1954). Until the sixties, the shows took place mainly in the Tablaos or in the National Singing Competitions organized since 1958 by the Flamencology Chair of Jerez.

From 1980 until today begins a stage called New Flamenco. There is a process of commercialization that gives more importance to record production and causes a worldwide projection. Institutional, political, and financial support increases, awakening interest in cultural, audiovisual, or academic spaces. It is significant the popularization of flamenco through great figures that become symbols and social phenomena such as Camarón or Paco de Lucía.

Apart from the previous description that understands flamenco as an artistic phenomenon, other authors have made an ethnic reading, understanding flamenco as a cultural phenomenon linked to social and cultural practices: parties, communication, relationships, etc., as well as to the ethnic groups present in Andalusia during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries such as moors, gypsies, and popular classes. This point of view is compatible with the theory of Romanticism and allows explaining the musical singularity of flamenco by linking it to oriental forms, as well as bringing forward the origins to a pre-modern period and giving space to other pre-existing forms of music and sociability linked to rites of passage, meetings, and festivals. In short, it explains the historical process of creation of a musical-social system by cultural traditions proper to specific social and ethnic groups (moors-gypsies-popular groups).

From the perspective of flamenco as a cultural phenomenon, we define the cultural traits that allow us to identify flamenco as a system and cultural heritage. In relation to the cultural system, we differentiate two views, an ethnic one that links flamenco to Andalusia and refers to features such as sociability, work, or festivals, and a universalist one that understands flamenco as a cultural expression. Cruces (2002) justifies the rootedness of flamenco in Andalusia because this land shares features of sociability with flamenco.[3]

(...) although it is true that flamenco reflects many of the features of group social relations characteristic of Andalusian culture (the tendency towards social segmentation, the dominance of the male component in contexts understood as public), certain forms of interrelation are unique to collectives, spaces and social times that have come to be called specifically flamenco. (2002, p. 23). 

The author maintains that from the study of sociability we can know "why flamenco emerges and develops in Andalusia and not in other societies due to the peculiar forms of relationship through which Andalusian sociability is understood and manifested" (2002, p. 23). In relation to this hypothesis, Cruces proposes a methodological analysis of flamenco rituals from the analysis of three variables: (i) level of institutionalization and formalization, (ii) participation and links, and (iii) the distinction between the use value and exchange value of flamenco expression, (private or public flamenco) depending on whether or not there is a monetary exchange that responds to the logic of the market or, on the contrary, responds to a social need such as the accompaniment to a wedding or agricultural work. The private spaces are more conducive to the "complete and socialized experience of flamenco" (2002, p. 33). However, what is significant is that direct relationships do not only occur in private flamenco but also "with a dose of symbolic artifice in many cases in peñas or festivals (...) and that constitute a sample of the formalized social moments in which flamenco has exchange value." (2002, p. 34). Cruces maintains that flamenco creates and serves egalitarian relations, at least symbolically, since in reality they tend to segmentation, just as in Andalusian society in which there is "the existence of a multiplicity of small groups, most of them not formalized, which are not very permeable to the outside and within which there is a generalized sociability" (Moreno 1986, p. 273). In this sense, it is necessary to consider the level of access to the flamenco rite since, although the spectacle is accessible, "the world of the flamencos is hardly permeable" (Cruces, 2002, p. 273). (Cruces, 2002, p. 35). To access this world, affinity is necessary, that is to say, having the quality of being flamenco, which ensures that the flamenco codes are known and respected for listening and enjoyment. Other segmentation criteria are ethnicity in terms of the category of gypsy or payo and the gender. 

It is no secret that patriarchal control has kept a multitude of gypsy women from the possibility of becoming professionals. (...) While the participation of gypsy women in their private flamenco rituals is in its own right, the invisible condition of women in flamenco is almost exclusive to the non-gypsy population. (2002, p. 42).

In short, due to a cultural construction of gender, women do not participate in the same way as men, neither in peñas, nor in the artistic field, although in dance the female presence has been a constant, it has been marked by categories associated with sensuality and gracefulness. In contrast, women in the home have been the first transmitters of flamenco, which has been displaced by matrilineality.

Another issue to highlight is the reaffirmation of local identity in flamenco: the strong weight of the local community is one of the dimensions for the construction of identity boundaries in Andalusia. This component is very marked in flamenco and conditions its models of ritual action. The most interesting are the communicative processes that occur between artist and audience because "there the link of local identification and the communitarian and integrating dimension" (2002, p. 48) of certain flamenco events such as festivals is externalized. "Flamenco allows the establishment of a communication process through its aesthetic weapons and its emotional plasticity (...) also of the festival, of the community identification in which the rootedness of the local is indisputable." (2002, p. 53).

Therefore, from the perspective of flamenco as a cultural phenomenon, flamenco rituals "go beyond the purely cognitive or emotional. They serve as a framework for the expression of collective sociability (...) they allow the establishment of networks and relationships of power and prestige and are social contexts in which identity ties are clearly evident." (2002, p. 54).

In relation to cultural heritage, authors such as Isidoro Moreno make a critical review of the policy carried out in this area in a sense of instrumentalization of flamenco in favor of politics or the market. Flamenco is a marker of Andalusian culture, although his analysis raises false binarisms that hinder this relationship, such as gypsyism versus antigypsyism: gypsy Andalusians and non-gypsy Andalusians. Doubt about the popular or non-popular character, as opposed to what we understand as a modern traditional flamenco, composed of elitist and popular elements. The notion of the hermeticism of flamenco, which had been made invisible until its commercialization. And, finally, a false individualistic identification of flamenco, which in its essence is a collective action, communicative, ritual, intimate, and individual (but not individualistic) experience. 

An issue that has limited flamenco has been its identification with the country and Spanish, in that already mentioned ethnic contribution that allowed the political system to articulate the national feeling, mentioned by authors such as Steingress or Aix, from the point of view of flamenco as an artistic phenomenon. This invented national culture, which does not take into account the different multicultural realities of the Spanish state, contributes to the unity of the nation while blocking the specifically Andalusian identity of flamenco.  From the reflection of the political instrumentalization of flamenco, Moreno affirms that flamenco is a local and global culture since it is configured as an important Andalusian cultural marker that recognizes the mestizo and intercultural roots. It is a phenomenon that allows the expression of the feelings and experiences of both gypsy and non-gypsy classes due to its living social functionality (cultural rooting) for the expression of values and not so much to the commercialization. It has had a universal projection and reception.

Flamenco is intangible cultural heritage because it has cultural and ethnological roots; it shows cultural diversity and represents an identity; it is traditional as well as alive, and it is the manifestation of a social collective, its transmission is oral, and it has psychosocial meanings and functions; "it is an emotional heritage, being the human body (the dancers, singers, musicians) the main instrument for its execution or - literally - embodiment." (Grötsch, 2011)[4]

Figure 1. Elements of Flamenco.

Note: Source: Own elaboration based on field work.

Once the two currents of thought have been outlined, it is possible to describe the results of the study that places flamenco in an intermediate place between art and culture. To do so, we start from a complete and non-exclusive view, which discovers artistic and cultural elements in flamenco. Throughout five years of specific doctoral study on this phenomenon and starting from the theoretical framework already described, Figure 1 is shown as a representation of the elements of flamenco, described in an artistic and cultural sense.

The main purpose of this research is to show how flamenco can be a successful tool for social and educational intervention. Before continuing, we will stop to analyze what both actions consist of. 

Social intervention is that "activity that is carried out in a formal manner attempts to respond to social needs and influence the interaction of people, aspiring to their social legitimacy" (Fantova 2008, p. 149). The need to which it responds is interaction, that is, the relationship between personal autonomy and community integration, (Fantova 2008). It is a basic activity in the development of disciplines such as Social Work or Social Education (Fantova 2008). Psychology also works through intervention, although it uses the term psychosocial intervention, which we can define, following Nelson and Prillenltensky, as "Processes intentionally designed to influence the welfare of the population through changes in values, policies, programs, resource distribution, power differentials, and cultural norms" (Carnacea and Lozano, 2011). In short, social intervention aims to bring about change in order to achieve equilibrium, so that society must be understood as a social system (Parsons, 1951; Merton, 1957), made up of elements and institutions that maintain it. It does not seek the transformation of the system but the transformation of some dysfunctional elements (people, groups, institutions...), which must be studied and treated so that they become functional. (Montenegro, 2001).

Social intervention takes place under the protection of methodologies developed by different disciplines, which offer the framework and techniques to carry out direct action with people. The methodology is not only the organization of some steps or instruments, but has a totalizing and integrating vision that seeks to influence the structure of the facts object of intervention. Therefore, until reaching practice, the methodological process is ascending, involves an accumulation of knowledge, and uses different techniques to operate. (Kisnerman, 1998).

Another of the dimensions in which Flamenco allows us to intervene successfully is education, and to describe it, we start from a very specific viewpoint promoted by Paulo Freire, who understands it as "(...) praxis, reflection, and action of man on the world to transform it" (Freire, 1971, p. 1) All educational action starts from a concept of the human being and the world, which is why there is no neutral education, nor can it be outside of society. Rather, it must be in contact with the environment and gather people's expectations, feelings, experiences, and problems. 

For Freire, education is a song of love, of courage towards reality, which does not fear but rather seeks to transform, with a committed and fraternal spirit. For this reason, education is dialogue, communication among men and women, and it does not take place in a vacuum but in concrete social scenarios. It is the most powerful tool for social transformation; it is a weapon in the struggle against backwardness and poverty; it is a constant experience of mutual experiences between the educator and the student, which give rise to conscientization education.

Understanding education in this way is also possible to understand how flamenco is a tool that facilitates the liberation and transformation of which Freire speaks since there are several flamenco elements, related to the definition given, such as sociability, the social act in which flamenco is possible, the role of expression and communication, and the very identity of rebellion and denunciation that is in its deepest root. In this way, flamenco not only as a cultural element, but also as an artistic element, can favor educational and social work. 

In order to understand the relationship between flamenco and education, it is also important to analyze the dimension of art in relation to socio-educational intervention. If we analyze the direct practice of intervention from Social Work, Social Education, or Psychology, we detect that art-related techniques are often used as mediating elements for education or against exclusion. These are cultural and artistic techniques that professionals use in social and community contexts without knowledge or specific planning, relying solely on their own creativity. (Moreno, 2010) The intention is to use art as a mediator, as a tool that allows the professional to promote autonomy and social inclusion of people. (Moreno, 2010). "No one can get out of a situation of social exclusion if they have not been able to imagine themselves differently, to represent themselves, to project themselves into the future." (Moreno, 2010, p. 2) So art can be a vehicle for a different representation of the person, as a projection towards which his own change is directed.

From disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, or education, different authors think about the relationship between art and social intervention. The philosopher Nelson Goodman (1906-1998) maintains that art allows us to understand and change our representation of society, giving rise to a relationship between what we feel and what we experience. From psychology, authors such as Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), Carl G. Jung (1875-1961), Jean Piaget (1896-1980), María Cristina Rojas, or Susana Sternbach, have worked on the relationship between human development and art, some highlighting intellectual development, others emotional development according to their schools of thought. For the Gestalt psychologist Arnheim, art helps to situate oneself in the world and affirms that it is one of the most powerful instruments for the realization of life. (Moreno, 2010).

In the educational field, De las Heras (2013) maintains that Art Education allows a comprehensive and emotional development through the inclusion of art in educational processes. It is a pedagogical tool of great importance since, through it, students develop their cognitive and perceptive resources, critical appraisal, and expression. For this, art education must be critical and go beyond the student's technical skills; it must be a reflection based on the collective creation of the students.

With regard to education, it is also necessary to address the issue of Educational Innovation as an ally in a scenario that is becoming more complex with each passing year due to the evolution of society itself, which education must keep pace without delay. 

Carbonell (2001) defines innovation as a series of interventions, decisions, and processes, with a certain degree of intentionality and systematization, that seek to modify attitudes, ideas, cultures, contents, models, and pedagogical practices. 

Margalef and García, in their article “What do we mean by educational innovation,” they consider that innovation implies bringing about change and "change always implies an alteration, a transformation of an object, a reality, a practice, or a situation." In the field of education, innovation is both a cause and an end and entails many difficulties. As Perrenoud (2004, p. 184) points out "...despite new technologies, the modernization of curricula and the renewal of pedagogical ideas, the work of teachers evolves slowly because it is less dependent on technical progress, because the educational relationship obeys a fairly stable pattern, and the professional culture accommodates teachers to their routines..."

But despite the slow pace at which educational changes are imposed, innovation in education is a permanent, original, and intentional process of seeking to improve the quality of education and student learning; its relationship with the use of technologies is subordinated to this improvement and includes structural aspects that concern the organization of centers, the dynamics of information and communication and, above all, the teaching-learning processes.[5]

Most relevant, "it is innovation if it adds value to learning." (Francesc Pedró, director of UNESCO’s International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC).  

Following the keys given by the Junta de Andalucía, innovation is a field open to multiple possibilities, which a priori focus on new technologies, but they must also address the human and experiential part of the person in an environment that is not always the most pleasant, such as the one we have experienced this year due to the health crisis. Forced the entire educational community to alter their customs, ways of relating, and operating in the centers, it has been necessary to innovate to improve the traditional ways in order to prevent disease and maintain the levels of relationship and social bond necessary for the teaching-learning process. 

This situation serves as an example for the following reflection. If innovation is understood as something beyond ICT equipment in the centers, it will be possible to create new realities in the educational space that make the teaching-learning process richer. All this by taking care of the link and affectivity, respecting the right to education, taking into account the multiple agents involved, and being open to the social environment.

In short, innovation brings about a change in the educational reality, which improves the keys to teaching and brings about the necessary updating to match the work in the centers with real life. One of the keys to success is to take into account the context, to adapt the work to the people, avoid obstacles, and enhance the strengths of the community. The school must be configured as an open space that allows the entry and participation of families and the community in the educational process. Hargreaves (2003) states that change in education is related to the attention to the rational and emotional aspects of this change, as well as to its expansion to the rest of the community. According to the author, it is necessary to combine commitments and work jointly between the community and institutions. (Sanchiz, 2009).

Based on the above information, it is possible to propose the approach of flamenco to the educational environment as an innovative experience, which communicates with the cultural environment that we inhabit, promoting expression and communication, sociability, dialogue and, ultimately, transformation.

[1] Men with high purchasing power.

[2] http://www.revistaandaluzadeantropologia.org/uploads/raa/n9/aix.pdf

[3] We understand sociability as a system of institutionalized social relations: guidelines, contexts, values, types of expression, groupings, ritualization, etc.

[4] Conference I International Congress of Flamenco, 2011.  Genesis of a heritage. The case of flamenco. http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/redportales/comunidadprofesional/sites/default/files/kurt_grotsch._genesis_de_un_patrimonio_el_caso_del_flamenco.pdf

Viewed 06/13/2017

[5] Retrieved from: https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/educacion/portals/web/ced/innovacion-educativa (05/20/21)

Method

The doctoral research that frames the results described in this article is approached from the Ethnographic Method, preceded by a bibliographic and documentary review of primary and secondary sources that allow to start the field work from a perspective closer to the object of study.

Documentary review

A documentary review of primary and secondary sources on the Object of Study is carried out, or that can shed light on the hypothesis raised and that allow the approach to the field with a previous information necessary to understand and analyze the real situations through the exploration of the main authors. In relation to the study of flamenco as an artistic and cultural phenomenon, we will analyze the main works of Lavaur, Steingress, Whasabaug, Aix, Cruces, Mandly, and Moreno. Within the framework of social intervention through art, the production of Grötsch and de las Heras is reviewed, as well as reference authors in Psychology, Social Work, or Education: Jung, Piaget, Klein, Ander-Egg, and Freire, among others. 

Ethnographic method

Ethnography is the method developed by the anthropological discipline. It is materialized in Fieldwork and offers several tools to access information of which Observation, In-depth Interviews with Key Informants, and Discussion Groups have been used, as shown in the following table.

Table 1

Ethnographic research design

Experiences studied
EXPERIENCE	FIELDWORK Place, year	PARTICIPANTS	INTERVIEW // DISCUSSION GROUP
Social and educational intervention
Ponte Flamenca	ONGD Women in Conflict Zones, Red Cross, CICBatá Cordoba, Huelva, Granada, Malaga, Ecuador. (2013-2017)   IES Levante, Algeciras (Cádiz), 2015 IES Galileo Galilei High School (Córdoba), 2016 IES Averroes (Córdoba), 2017.  CEP Córdoba, 2017 IES Cornelio Balbo, Cádiz, 2020	Groups at risk of exclusion: women, victims of violence, young people, community groups. VET students VET students ESO students Faculty Faculty	Facilitator: Araceli Caballero Participant 1: Inmaculada Cantos Participant 2: Azahara Medina Participant 3:  Isabel Pozo Focus group: Faculty
Ole with Ole	ONGD CicBatá Seville, Cordoba, Cadiz, Guatemala (2021-2014)	Youth Social intervention professionals Feminist groups	Facilitator 1: Maribel Villata
Flamenco Self-Esteem	Seville City Council, civic centers, community intervention program (2017-2020)	Socially excluded groups. Older women	Facilitator: Carlos Sepúlveda
Inclusive Flamenco	Seville (2018-2020)  Documentary follow-up and publications	People with functional diversity (blindness, down syndrome...)	Facilitator: José Galán Participant 1. Pepa Polidoro Participant 2 Lola García-Baquero
Alalá Foundation	Alalá Foundation Seville and Jerez,  (2019-2021) Documentary follow-up and publications	Gypsy children and family members in a situation of social exclusion	Professional 1. Emilio CaraCafé Professional 2. María Ortega
Flamenkura cures everything	Cadiz, Malaga, Bilbao, Mexico  (2017-2020) Documentary follow-up and publications	Faculty Members of social groups Community in general	Professional 1. Monica Flamencura Professional 2. Raquel Flamencura
Emociones a Compás	Seville, Cordoba and Granada  (2016-2018) Documentary follow-up and publications	Social intervention and performing arts professionals	Professional: Noemi Martínez
Educational innovation
Educational Innovation Project	Living and Feeling the Heritage Program Educational innovation project through Flamenco #Levanterías,  IES Levante, Algeciras. (2020/2021)	Educational Community	Participant 1: Aurelio Herrera Participant 2: Francisco Guzmán
Flamenco in the Classroom Awards	IES García Lorca, Algeciras (2018/19) IES Jacaranca, Brenes (2019/20) IES Las Lagunas, Mijas (2019/20) Documentary Follow-up	Educational Community	Awarded: Manuel Salazar
Public disclosure and whistleblowing
Flow 6x8 Collective	Seville (2015-2020) Documentary follow-up and published proceedings	Community in general Social movement activists	Participant 1: Paco Paraíso (pseudonym)
Revolting comb	Social Networking  (2019-2020) Follow-up publications	Community at large Activists of feminist and gypsy movements	Facilitator 1: Peineta Revuelta (pseudonym)
The power	Media  (2018-2021) Follow-up publications	Community in general Feminist movement activists	Journalist 1: Auxi León
professionals
“La Chocolata” Dance Academy	Seville  (2020-2021) Classroom participant observation	Mixed groups of medium-high socio-cultural and academic level	Dancer: Carmen "La Chocolata" Focus group: Class attendees
“Jesus Nuñez” Dance Academy	Cadiz (2020) Classroom participant observation	Mixed groups of medium-high socio-cultural and academic level.	Dancer: Jesús Núñez
“Maica” Dance Academy	Córdoba  (2015-2017) Classroom participant observation	Mixed groups of medium-high socio-cultural and academic level.	Dancer: Paco Montemayor
“Rosa de la María” Singing Academy	Córdoba (2013/2015) Classroom participant observation	Mixed groups of medium-high socio-cultural and academic level.	Singer: Rosa de la María Discussion Group: Class attendees
Documentary experience “No noise.” “Inma Lobato” Academy	Documentary Presentation Córdoba (2016) and Seville (2017) Balkans Documentary Follow-up	Community in general Women from 40 to 80 years old attending class	Documentary Director: Jesús Pulpón Dancer: Inma Lobato
Antonio Manuel Rodriguez	Professor, University of Cordoba. Researcher Memoria Andalusí		In-depth interview (2020)
Bárbara de las Heras	Professor at the University of Jaén. Flamenco and body researcher		In-depth interview (2018)
Rocío Marquez	Cantaora		In-depth interview (2020)
Raúl Rodríguez	Anthropologist, researcher, musician,		In-depth interview (2020)
Juan Pinilla	Musician, Social Activist		In-depth interview (2020)
Alicia Carrasco and José Manuel León	Flamenco singer and guitarist		In-depth interview (2021)

Note: Source: Own elaboration

The table above shows the categories of observation analyzed: Social and educational intervention, Experiences of educational innovation, Dissemination and denunciation, and Professionals. Based on these categories, participant observation of the different experiences is carried out, key agents are identified in the field, and this allows the development of in-depth interviews and discussion groups. The extensive Fieldwork developed in different cities of Andalusia between 2012 and 2021, has been systematized in written and audiovisual form. Initially, the data collected in each observation category is transcribed and in a differentiated manner according to the research technique applied. Once all the information organized by categories is available, the data are systematized in units of analysis, which allow crossing, comparing and checking the information obtained in the field during a period of 9 years through the different research techniques of the ethnographic method, obtaining the results described in the following section.

Results

The ethnographic research carried out allows us to obtain a road map on the use of flamenco in socio-educational interventions. The units of analysis established in the analysis of the data obtained allow us to present in an orderly manner the main findings of the research, which are differentiated according to the categories analyzed. The following is a brief description of the main findings based on the observation units established:

The experiences of social and educational intervention studied are heterogeneous and are mainly studied in Andalusia between 2012 and 2021. They are managed by professionals in social intervention, with training in psychology, education, social work, or pedagogy, who also show admiration and respect for flamenco and have been trained in a non-professional manner in different areas of this discipline, mainly singing or dancing. 

All the experiences are carried out from the logic of social intervention: a need is identified and an intervention is planned, which in these cases is developed using flamenco as a tool and vehicle through which to carry out the work in order to achieve the proposed objectives. In 90% of the cases studied, the level of satisfaction is high or very high, as stated by the participants in the discussion groups, as well as the results of the evaluations carried out in each case. From the data obtained in the fieldwork, it can be deduced that the use of flamenco in these cases accompanies the key tools of the social disciplines to respond to the needs identified. 

In no case is the objective to learn to dance or sing flamenco; however, its application as an added resource favors certain keys to achieve success. Each professional develops a very particular way of applying flamenco, which responds to the group, the need, and the person's own resources.  Nevertheless, we can establish common elements to all the experiences:

• They occur in group work processes
• Encourage communication and relationships among participants
• Flamenco expression promotes equality among participants
• The application of the flamenco codes is feasible both in groups that use it as a cultural tradition, such as the gypsy ethnic group, or those who are totally alien to it, such as migrants from other countries or from other areas of Spain
• Flamenco as an artistic expression can be approached as a diverse resource, based on percussion (rhythm), guitar (listening), singing (voice), and dancing (body) 

Special mention should be made of the educational innovation experiences developed in Andalusian public schools, under the influence of the educational innovation program, Vivir y Sentir el Patrimonio, promoted by the Junta de Andalucía. Several of these experiences have been studied, which brings flamenco closer to the classroom, as a tool for educational innovation, so that flamenco becomes a support for the teaching-learning process.

The following key elements were identified as elements of success in the experiences studied:

• The teachers who promote the experience are flamenco enthusiasts, have a minimal background, or should be trained to be able to develop the intervention. 
• The contextualization of the proposal according to the center marks different strategies, based on local figures, or variants of certain sticks endemic to the area.
• Participation with local flamenco artists allows for a more positive experience.
• Material, spatial, and human resources must be adequate for a proposal of educational innovation with quality.
• Design an educational strategy that favors the application of flamenco both transversally and in the different areas.
• Favor the experience of flamenco from the calm and creativity.

 

Another of the units of analysis of the research studies three interventions in the field of educational dissemination and public denunciation, as is the case of the Flow6x8 collective, with its flamenco protest, bursts into public spaces and to the rhythm of zapateado, or soleá singing can make visible certain situations that they consider unfair, such as those that may arise from banking or political exercise. 

The following groups analyzed are Peineta Revuelta and La Poderío, more oriented towards the dissemination of information in journalistic terms through articles (La Poderío) or social networks (Peineta Revuelta). Both raise their voices by appropriating the flamenco cultural code, which gives rise to a flamenco language, easy to understand and disseminate, which gives visibility to the mother population of this art, to the population located on the margins, in the exclusion zone.

In this block of experiences, the cultural analysis of flamenco takes on special importance, which is the guiding thread of each intervention beyond the artistic forms or the use of flamenco musical products; in the fieldwork a common identity is identified in the three proposals, with different objectives (dissemination, expression, or denunciation), that makes it possible once again to determine the main keys, such as:

• Use of flamenco as a tool for expression and communication of excluded populations, as a cry of demand and rebellion.
• Non-normative interventions, both journalistic (freestyle publications) and artistic (flamenco performances by Flo6x8).
• Rescue of the free and rebellious spirit of an art that develops from the most heterodox and risky creation, in an unfavorable context in its origins.
• Dissemination of flamenco culture and aesthetics in its designs, forms, rhythms, and language.

Finally, the research work on flamenco professionals, through in-depth interviews and participant observation in their classes or shows, demonstrates how alive Flamenco is since a high percentage of current artists make it possible for it to evolve and question its own margins with each stage proposal.

The artists have been selected on the basis of their production and contribution to flamenco in the last 10 years, also taking into account those who carry out pedagogical work to disseminate or promote this art. In this sense, practices have been identified that, based on a deep conviction to change and improve society, evolve to give flamenco, in its purest artistic sense, a concrete orientation to an end, such as the flamenco dance classes that Inmaculada Lobato teaches both in her academy to elderly women, and in the Balkans to women wounded in war have a therapeutic effect for the benefits of dance and flamenco. In the same way, artists like Raúl Rodríguez or Rocío Márquez study and work on how to give visibility to the black origin of flamenco in the case of Raúl, or to more current and unfair issues such as the exploitation of miners when Rocío went down to the well to show solidarity with the miners on strike in Leon, in 2012. But in addition to the dance or singing, flamenco also sneaks into the corners of the university and researchers such as Barbara de las Heras, with her thesis on the importance of the body as a vehicle for emotions, or Antonio Manuel, who develops a theory based on orality to understand the origin and development of flamenco today.

All this contributes to broaden the boundaries of this art and this cultural form, which, as already mentioned through the different categories of analysis studied, provides us with keys that favor its application and success in different contexts. 

Discussion and conclusions

In a generalized way, we can conclude the following keys of flamenco as an artistic and cultural element in its application to the social and educational reality.

• It favors the application of art to social intervention, starting from the bases established by Art Therapy. Learning the techniques of singing, dancing, or guitar, favors the process of personal change through discipline, evolution, social relationship, and emotional work that allows any artistic expression.
• The channel of expression and communication used by flamenco allows the transmission of a message from the person who performs to the audience that receives it, using specific codes associated with Andalusian culture (singing in Andalusian, tone of voice, listening and silence, dialogue between the parties...).
• Traditionally it has been an art developed and associated with collectivities located on the margins: gypsies, Africans, Jews... so that, in its roots and memory, exclusion and marginality are palpable, connecting like a magnet with the peoples who suffer. For this reason, the work with groups in situations of exclusion finds a common denominator in flamenco expression.
• From the situation of exclusion experienced by people who begin to develop flamenco, the need to resist and show dignity in the face of the outrages suffered is also born. Flamenco is in itself orthodox and heterodox, it is critical of its reality, its lyrics are sharp, and the people who sing them show a firm intention of social change.
• Flamenco is in community, in a group, with the intervention of various participants, flamenco is made possible. In the same way, the experiences of intervention studied are only possible in society, working as a group.
• Linked to flamenco sociability and from a cultural perspective, flamenco is a sociability ritual, which also allows to organize life since it has specific lyrics and palos for different moments associated with celebrations, or the accompaniment in mourning, as well as in everyday agricultural, mining or fishing work. Undoubtedly, it is a vehicle for emotional transmission, which offers very specific material for social intervention, based on the need to be worked on: associated with emotions, the development of life, acceptance, and development of the person. 

All the elements described above are present in the experiences analyzed. They have a clear function of supporting the intervention, and make it possible to give quality and success to the work. As already mentioned, they can be aimed at different social groups, as well as adopt different forms (workshops, training, meetings, games, projects, work groups...), and take place in both formal and non-formal education. Always having as a basis the educational intervention that transforms reality and flamenco as an ally in this social change.

The ethnography resulting from the research carried out shows the applicability and success of incorporating flamenco into social intervention; thus, offering a specific resource, linked to art, culture, and the Andalusian territory, which provides relevant support in socio-educational interventions that are traditionally developed with a significant lack of resources or support. In this way, flamenco can be a viable and optimal strategy in the development of interventions.

References

Agudo, J. y Moreno, I. (coord.) (2012) Expresiones culturales andaluzas. Aconcagua

Arnheim, R. (1993). Consideraciones sobre la educación artística. Paidós.

Barbosa, A. (2002). Arte, educación y reconstrucción social. Cuadernos de pedagogía, (311), 56–58.

Barragán, J. M. y Moreno, A. (2004). Experiencia artística y producción cultural, ámbitos para la intervención socioeducativa. Educación Social, 28, 19 - 39.

Carbonell, J. (2001). La aventura de innovar. El cambio en la escuela. Morata

Carriñon, J. (2011). Los Cuerpos Flamencos: Descripción Anatómica, Técnicas de Interpretación, Patologías y Cuidados en el Baile. Un análisis documental entre el periodo preflamenco y la “Edad de Oro”. [Tesis doctoral] Universidad de Sevilla.

Cruces R, (2002). Más allá de la música, Antropología y Flamenco (I). Signatura de flamenco.

Dalley, T. (1987). El arte como terapia. Herder.

De las Heras Monastero, B. (2013). Acercamiento al estudio del baile flamenco desde el ámbito de la educación no formal. http://ayp.unia.es/dmdocuments/ses0601.pdf 

Efland, A., Freedman, K., Suhr, P. (2003). La educación en el arte postmoderno. Paidós.

Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogía del oprimido. Siglo XXI.

Fantova, F. (2008). Repensando la intervención social. Documentación social, 147, 183-198.

Gardner, H. (1987). Arte, mente y cerebro: Una aproximación cognitiva a la creatividad. Paidós.

Grötsch K., De-las- Heras B. (2010). Los caminos terapéuticos del flamenco. Ecobuk, 

Hernández, F. (2000). Educación y cultura visual. Octaedro.

Lavaur, L. (1999). Teoría Romántica del cante flamenco: raíces flamencas en la coreografía romántica española. Signatura

Lazotti, L. (1983). Educación Plástica y visual. El lenguaje visual. Mare Nostrum.

León Sillero, J. (2016). El duende lorquiano de hallazgo poético a lugar común flamenco [Tesis Doctoral]. Universidad de Granada.

López Castro, M. (2004). Introducción al flamenco en el currículum escolar. Akal, Ediciones.

López Castro, M. (2007). La imagen de las mujeres en las coplas flamencas: Análisis y propuestas didácticas. [Tesis doctoral] Universidad de Málaga.

Klein, P. (2006). La creación como proceso de transformación. Papeles de Arteterapia y Educación Artística para la Inclusión Social, 1, 11-18.

Mandly Robles, A. (2013) Jugar con fuego. Flamenco, juegos de lenguaje y tecnologías de la comunicación. Gazeta de Antropología, 29 (1), 117-119.

Margalef, L. García M. (2006), ¿Qué entendemos por innovación educativa? Perspectiva Educacional, 47, 13-31

Montenegro (2001). Conocimientos, agentes y articulaciones. Una mirada situada a la intervención social. Athenea Digital, 1 (1). http://atheneadigital.net/article/view/n0-montenegro/17-html-es.

Moreno González, A. (2010). La mediación artística: un modelo de educación artística para la intervención social a través del arte. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación (OEI), 52(2), 1- 9.

Moreno, A. (2003). Arteterapia y Educación Social. Educación Social, 25, 95–107.

Moreno, A. (2005). Educación Social: ámbitos de actuación e intervención socioeducativa a través del arte. En Primer Congreso de Educación de las Artes Visuales. Actas del congreso. Tarrassa. Septiembre 2005.

Pardo Rojas, A., Pacheco-Álvarez, M. (2014). Flamencoterapia: intervención alternativa para el alumnado con necesidades educativas especiales a través del baile flamenco. Revista de investigación sobre flamenco, La Madrugá, 11, 115-138.

Pastor Pérez, V. (2015). La intervención social a través del flamenco en la educación. En Cenizo, J., Jiménez, E., Presumes que eres la ciencia: estudios sobre el flamenco. (pp. 282-295). Libros con duende

Petrus, A. Romans, M. Trilla, J. (2002). Funciones y competencias del educador social. De profesión Educador(a) Social. Paidós.

Perrenoud, PH. (2004). Desarrollar la práctica reflexiva en el centro de enseñanza. Grao.

Rogers, C. (1994). El proceso de convertirse en persona. Paidós.

Segal, H. (1995). Sueño, fantasma y arte. Nueva Visión.

Serrano Guzmán, M. (2016). Efectos de un programa de danzaterapia en la capacidad funcional y calidad de vida de personas mayores residentes en la comunidad. [Tesis Doctoral] Universidad de Granada.

Steingress, G. (2007). Flamenco postmoderno: entre tradición y heterodoxia, un estudio sociomusicológico. Signatura.

Washabaugh, W. (1996). Flamenco, pasión, política y cultura popular. Paidós.