How well do you understand the structure of bulerías?

Below you’ll find a priceless video from this year’s Fiesta de la Bulería in Jerez.

It’s full of different people dancing and singing por bulerías.

I’ll deconstruct a couple of the dances then you’ll get a chance to do the rest!

But first, here’s a letra from the video:

Bulerías
Traditional

Un cuartito alquilo
pa’ que tú te vengas
a vivir conmigo

I’ll rent a room
so that you come
to live with me

You can listen to two different examples of this one in the video below.

Juan de la María sings it for Esther Aranda’s daughter, Alma, about 45 seconds in, and Miguel Lavi sings it for Triana Jero around 2:30:

Here you can watch the whole second half of the show, París y Jerez.

(The video above cuts off just before Ana María López dances bulerías with Gema Moneo’s sweet baby on her hip, but you can see it here at 1 hour 7 minutes in.)

Now, let’s get to work:

I dare you to pick apart these pataítas.

I’ll do the first couple, and you do the rest?

¡Vamos!

Bulerías #1:

Soon after Juan starts singing, Alma begins her salida. She then goes into a marcaje [about 17 seconds] followed by a second marcaje [which we can see at 23 seconds]. The camera leaves her, but it looks like she does a little remate before going into her paso de bulerías [which we see at about 30 seconds.] She does her first llamada [37 seconds] followed by her patá, at which point we also hear Juan singing the letra above. Again the camera pans away, but we see Alma’s final [at 48 seconds.]

¡Olé!

Bulerías #2:

Soon after Pedro Montoya “El Chanquita” starts singing, Rocío begins her salida. She goes into a marcaje [about 1:22] followed by a remate before going into paso de bulerías [at about 1:30.] She does a llamada [1:38] then transitions directly into her final.

¡Toma!

Your turn.

Are you ready?

Choose one from the video and break it down in the comments below.

Remember, the typical structure for bulerías de Jerez is:

Salida, marcaje(s), paso de bulerías, llamada, patá, (marcaje), llamada, final.

A shorter bulerias may only have one llamada and no patá.

Remates may be sprinkled in throughout but they are not part of the structure per se.

You Might Also Enjoy

Deepen Your Understanding of Bulerías

Can You Name All The Parts of This Bulerías Dance?

I’m Not Afraid of Handsome Guys