Folklore: The Cachucha (song & dance)

Subject: Folklore: The Cachucha (song & dance)
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 06:04 PM

The wiki gives no sources. The one working link is to an online dictionary.

Cachucha ...is a Spanish solo dance in 3/4 to 3/8 time, similar to Bolero. Cachucha is danced to an Andalusian national song with castanet accompaniment.

Etymology From Spanish cachucha, small boat. Possibly from diminutive of cacho, shard, saucepan, probably from vulgar Latin cacculus, alteration of Latin caccabus, pot, from Greek kakkabos, a small container.

History
The Cachucha was created in Cuba though it is now considered a Spanish dance.

More to follow.

Subject: RE: Folklore: The Cachucha (song & dance)
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 06:16 PM

There were at least six (sub)genre of cachucha:

The 19th century minstrel Miss Lucy, in character, was a cross-dressing white man in black face doing the “hoochie-coochie,” for lack of a better term.

The only thing more “authentic” about the Lola Montez, Lotta Crabtree et al style of Spanish Dance was the female anatomy.

Both were taking off from La Cachucha, the romantic ballet folklorico popularized by Fanny Elssler in the 1830s. It was more “respectable,” to some, but it's still a modern dance, neither Andalusian nor Cuban afaik.

I got nothing for Cuba. The Andalusian form is a secular villancico adaptation of the Peruvian chachua.

The South American Roman Catholic music of the same name was a kind of learning tool and much older. Some of the first chachua mentions are kalenda holiday/carnival song. The villancico style today is reduced to Christmas elevator music.

Older still is the original Peruvian cachua, the only true folk dance of the lot.

Subject: RE: Folklore: The Cachucha (song & dance)
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 06:31 PM

More wiki: Cachua

YT Dance: DNB -- La Cachucha (1836) by Fanny Elssler, excerpt A

Subject: RE: Folklore: The Cachucha (song & dance)
From: GUEST,Gallus Moll
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 08:52 PM

Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Gondoliers has a song
' dance a cachucha fandango bolero, xeres we'll drink manzanila montero (i think)' - canny remember the rest unless i find my libretto from 55 years ago at Hamilton Academy.....i do remember the tune mind you!

Subject: RE: Folklore: The Cachucha (song & dance)
From: BobL
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 03:08 AM

"For wine when it flows in abundance enhances The reckless delight of that wildest of dances!"

But how accurate is Gilbert's description, and how authentic Sullivan's music? Wiki describes the dance as being "similar to Bolero" which is a slow triple-time dance.

Subject: RE: Folklore: The Cachucha (song & dance)
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 01:19 PM

“In Caxatambo and Chiquian, evening parties are very common; no invitation is necessary except the sound of the guitar, and I have spent many very agreeable hours in listening to the cachuas, and yarabis— it is delightful to hear both their merry tunes, and their doleful songs. To the former they generally dance, the figure ending with each verse; this dance is somewhat similar to the Spanish fandango, or boleras; two persons dance it ; and with few variations it consists of tripping backwards and forwards, then forming a semi-circle, the man dancing towards the right, whilst his partner dances in the opposite direction; this is repeated two or three times, and the dance generally concludes with a sapateo, beating time to the music with their feet. The dance is something like a minuet, but the movements are quicker. If a couple dance a minuet, they generally receive the noisy applause of the lookers on, and not unfrequently [sic] a handful of money is thrown at the feet of the lady by some enamorado, when the boys and girls immediately run to pick it up; this creates a bustle, and it is not uncommon for the young lady to be almost unable to extricate herself from the rabble, even with the assistance of her partner. The following was the favourite cachua in Cajatambo, introduced, I believe, by an Andalusian:—

Yo tengo una cachucha, en que camino de noche
Y andando mi cachuchita, parece que ando en coche
Ah cachuchita mia, &c.
Yo tengo una cachucha, que compre a mi padre,
Y el que quiere cachucha, que lo compre a su madre,
Ah cachuchita mia, &c.”

[Stevenson, W.B., A Historical and Descriptive Narrative of Twenty Years' Residence in South America, Vol.II (London: Hurst, Robinson & Co., 1825, pp.39-40)

Subject: RE: Folklore: The Cachucha (song & dance)
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 01:21 PM

“Cachucha; this word is not to be found in any dictionary of the Spanish language. It is customary to apply this word to a fair, a bird, a little cap, and, in short, to any thing that is graceful or pretty. In the language of the Andalusian Gittanos, the word cachucha signifies gold. In a still more elevated style, cachucha means that part of the quiver in which Cupid puts his darts. Sagitta capsula in phaetra. The following verses may give an idea of the general sense in which this word is applied by the Spaniards.

"Mi Cachucha por la mar
A todos vientos camina,
Pero nunca va mejor
Que cuando va de bolina."

IMITATED.
My Cachucha, haste o'er the seas,
When gentle gales are blowing;
But when the winds of winter roar,
Ah! do not think of going."

[The Code of Terpsichore: The Art of Dancing, Blasis, 1830, pp.37-38]

Subject: RE: Folklore: The Cachucha (song & dance)
From: Cool Beans
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 10:16 PM

And "The Gondoliers" is set in Italy, so that's weird.

Subject: RE: Folklore: The Cachucha (song & dance)
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 08:21 AM

Part of the Gondoliers is set in Barataria and the Duke of Plaza Toro is identified as a Spanish Grandee.

Subject: RE: Folklore: The Cachucha (song & dance)
From: Cool Beans
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 10:39 AM

Barataria's a real place? But, good point about the duke.