Spain: Sensuality in not only Covered with Polka-Dots

The great variety of dresses, add-ons and accessories shook away my ignorance: flamenco dresses are not only made from spotted fabric as I thought. Actually, the polka-dot dresses were reserved to touristy souvenir shops. Locals instead, displayed variety and color.

During April's Fair’s first years, rancher’s wives would attend the fair with traditional country suits adorned with some twists. With time, high-class women began to participate in the fair, dressed with more elaborate dresses. Soon after that, the other women felt inclined to incorporate changes to their attires, until flamenco dresses became a fashion statement that change and adapt to become more modern every year.

The dresses can have a triangular, rounded or square cleavage cut, twists or no twists; women can choose to complement them with hoops, long earrings, bracelets, flowers, “peinetillas”, colorful laces or “Mantones de Manila”, depending on that year’s fashion trends.

Fashion changes, but the flamenco dress, also known as “guitar body”, continues to be tight, to highlight women’s sensuality and disguise their flaws, according the AndaluNet.

But at April’s Fair, women are not the only ones who dress to impress. Men also emphasize their masculinity with short suits, with matching pants, jacket and hat. Even though the male’s attire hasn’t evolved as much throughout time, it also follows the fashion trends of the time.

On a differnet note, we cannot ignore bullfighter’s suits; its colors and elaborate needle work represent an artwork in itself. If you pay attention to the intricate designes in their suits, you can differentiate the main bullfighter from the rest.

As people begin to dance to the rhythm of sevillanas, typical of April’s Fair, the suits seem to become even more sensual and beautiful. AdaluNet explains that sevillanas date back to the times of the Catholic King and Queen; they are usually composed of four verses of seven odd syllables, with consonant type of rhyme; its chorus has three verses, where the first one and the third one rhyme.

Even though sevillana’s themes are varied: some talk about the sea and sailors, others about life in the country and the South of Spain, others narrate daily events or talk about feelings, love affairs or politics, and even about the beautiful Seville and its neighboring tows. Regardless of the songs' theme, people dance each song with the same happiness, enthusiasm and Southern pride.

Planning a Trip Upside Down: Seville’s Fair

The tip to La Feria de Abril in Seville, Spain, was planned upside down: first we got the return ticket, and then we searched for a way to get there.

After running around Madrid, going through several train and bus stations and different travel agencies, we finally found tickets to get to the Fair. Even though we hadn’t started out journey, our adventure had already began.

We had a hurried, stressful and reckless start. But once we got to Seville, the locals made sure to change everything around: their cheerful nature, and never ending hospitality, their dances, music and food, ensured we had a wonderful trip.

The Fair of Seville is different from all the other Fairs that take place in Spain. In Seville, the fair was first organized in 1847 to showcase the cattle, while the rest of the fairs in Spain were first organized to venerate a Saint or the city’s patron.

The original Fair of Seville had around 19 “casetas” displayed at Prado de San Sebastián, an area in the suburbs of the city, while today, the fair summons close to 1,000 “casetas” in the center of Seville.

Groups of friends, neighbors, work colleagues or large families get together to collect enough funds to be able to reserve a spot and a “caseta” at the Fair. The hostesses decorate the “caseta” as they please. Yet, the “farolillos”, flamenco music and laughter are a must in ever "caseta".

At the Fair, women did not have hands; their extremities were brushes that painted elaborated drawings in the air. Even though I looked at their hands thoroughly, I found it impossible to copy their movements.

In the past, whenever I heard flamenco, I only heard screams and lamenting voices. Yet at the Fair, the dancers’ smiles, the colorful flamenco dresses, and the energetic clapping that accompanied the synchronized dances transformed flamenco into vigorous and happy songs.

In this context, “sevillanas” and flamenco music took on a new meaning for me.