What was Antonio’s contribution to flamenco dance?
Firstly, he was the first to dance martinete. When martinete was just vocals and “yunque”, he was the first to have the guts to dance to it. His virtuosity with his feet was also very important. He would break, throw himself on the ground, twist and then pick himself up and strike a stylised pose. He knew how to deform himself and reform. What role does flamenco play in Spanish dance? Flamenco is just another discipline with Spanish dance. Spanish dance shouldn’t be identified just by flamenco. Flamenco is just another discipline with Spanish dance, the same as Basque or Galician dancing, the Aragonese jota or Canary Island folkloric dance. They are all branches of Spanish classical dance. And flamenco in turn has different styles of vocals, music and dance. We have to understand that Spanish classical dance is not the same thing as flamenco. You can’t even say that flamenco is the source of our dance tradition and culture. What does flamenco give to Spanish dance and vice versa? Obvio
