Palmas – What are they and why do we need em?

By Kasandra “La China”
July 12, 2007

Palmas aka handclaps are an integral part of Cuadro Flamenco.  True gypsy flamenco is comprised of a cuadro including singer, guitar, palmas and dancer.

There are two kinds of palmas:  sorda (muted) or clara (high pitched).  You can create a muted clap by cupping your hands and clapping together.  You can create a high pitched clap by opening your hand and aiming your three fingers diagonally across your other palm.  Sounds simple enough but people LAUGH pretty hard when they find out how difficult it actually is to create a single pitched, consistent, clear sound with their hands.

Notes to self: Good palmas = single pitched hit.

Bad palmas = slapping your hands together.  Eg:  imagine a walrus or penguin flapping their fins together.  Or being a dolphin or whale and smacking your flipper on the ocean surface.  Sounds like “W-w-whack, sploosh’.  Multiple sounds, not good.

Arte

It is a real arte to be a good palmero.  It’s not just about keeping time.  It’s about soniquete (groove), aire (feeling), jaleo (shouts of encouragement in a percussive manner) and accompaniment.  In my travels I have seen flamenco all over Spain, but the best palmas in my opinion are those from Jerez de la Frontera, birthplace of flamenco.  People truly embody the essence of flamenco. I’m taking time off this summer to study with Luis de la Tota who is arguably the best palmero in the whole world…except he has an identical twin brother named Ali who is hmmm, well, just as good!   I have seen Luis perform in countless performers and he is the embodiment of compas and accompanies with such JOY that you cannot help but watch him.  Nevermind the dancer.  The dancer can be doing the most spectacular footwork, but the man behind the dancer is Luis with all his palmas, jaleo and aire.

Hanging out at the Pena Chacon with Luis, you start to realize that this man eats, drinks, lives, breathes flamenco, inventing bulerias letras on the fly about random people that walk into the bar and random situations.  Alas, you realize that he was born with it.  Once Edie’s camera ran out of batteries and she was crying that she couldn’t blog him…BOOOM, bulerias letra about Edie. “La mujer se llama Edie, la mujer de Canada, no tiene batterias…”  Something like that, but it rhymed and was hilarious at the time and it ended on 10.

I hope you can get out to Seattle or Portland to see “Streets of Flamenco” with Maria Bermudez (dancer), Rafael Campallo (dancer) and of course their entire cuadro from Jerez de la Frontera, Luis de la Tota (palmas), Ana de los Reyes (cantaora), Bernardo Parrilla (violin).  I have studied with many of these wonderful artists and am really looking forward to spending a whole week at the Northwest Flamenco Festival in Portland.  About 10 of us from Al Mozaico Flamenco Dance Academy will be going down to join in the Bulerias fun, as we join cante, baile and palmas classes.  My schedule starts at 11am and goes until 6pm.  I will be flamenco-ed out but a blast of inspiration and energy is just what I need to be raring to go in September.  Gotta get pumped up!

Note to students:  If you want to come to Festivals or Spain with me in the future, I really want to know in advance next time because as a teacher, I can get us group discounts.  The problem is you decide way after I’ve paid so I can’t negotiate for us after the fact.