Singing from Behind: The Dialogue Between Cante and Flamenco Dance

The Art of Accompanying Flamenco Dance

At the Tablao de Carmen, it happens several times a day: the cantaor, seated on his wicker chair to the left facing the stage, begins a verse. “Ay, from Totana / I leave my house walking / down the road to Totana / and the morning breeze / brushes against my face,” Antonio Fernández often sings when it’s time for a taranto. If the moment calls for alegrías, he and Mariano Santiago sing about the province of Cádiz, where that palo originated: “If they tell you about Cádiz / with its seafaring breeze / where the waves break / tirititraun / olé, the people of La Caleta, / spread your soniquete / from La Isla to the Mentidero.”

The bailaor or bailaora steps onto the stage from the right, through the door leading to the dressing rooms, and begins a spontaneous performance that lasts about twelve minutes. It’s a unique interaction between dancer, singers, guitarist, and palmas (hand clapping). Even though it might seem impossible that it’s improvised, each palo (style) has a series of codes that all artists know. These codes make the live flamenco performance at the tablao a kind of conversation among everyone involved—where the main protagonist is the dance.

The singing (and the guitar playing) follow behind it—literally and metaphorically—to let the dancer shine. This specific way of singing is called cantar patrás in flamenco jargon, or singing for dance. Faustino Núñez, in his online encyclopedia Flamencópolis, summarizes it as follows: “It refers to the positioning of the performers on stage or in the tablao—at the back, next to the guitars—to leave appropriate space for the dancer to perform.”

What Is “Cante Atrás” in Flamenco?

Anna Colom, cantaora at the Tablao de Carmen and flamenco singing teacher at the Taller de Músics, explains what cante patrás (singing from behind) means during the break after the first show: “In cante palante, it’s just you [the singer] with a guitarist, and you sing different lyrics of the palo you’re performing. You choose verses based on what you feel or have prepared—most of the time, they’re not connected. In cante patrás, or singing for dance, there’s a part that’s improvised but also follows a set of codes that guide you. The bailaor gives you signals to indicate that they want a verse, or that they’re about to perform a footwork section, an escobilla,” she explains.

As Anna outlines, there is a more or less established structure for each palo, where the dancer is the main protagonist, and both the singing and guitar playing adapt to the dance. In alegrías or soleá por bulerías (both in 12-beat rhythm or compás de amalgama), the cantaor begins with a typical intro verse.
“Then the bailaor makes a llamada, a short and powerful footwork sequence,” Anna continues. “Next comes the first verse, followed by a falseta—a short guitar solo. Then you know another llamada is coming, and when it ends, you must be ready to sing again.”
Some palos are more complex to follow, she says, such as seguiriya. “There are only three verses and lots of footwork solos, so you don’t always know when it’s going to end. Sometimes there’s a huge build-up and you think, ‘this is the finale,’ so you sing the highest verse, the macho,” Anna explains.

A School on Stage: Tablao de Carmen

It is in the tablaos—unlike peñas, festivals, or other types of recitals—where the focus is placed on flamenco dancing. It’s on these stages that flamenco singers truly learn to accompany dance, and many artists have taken their first steps in this practice at the Tablao de Carmen.

One of the newest performers is Manuel de la Miguela, son of the well-known cantaor José de la Miguela.
“Cante para baile is very different from singing at a party at home. It’s not the same to sing bulerías casually at home when someone brings out a guitar, as it is to sing tarantos on this stage,” he shares from the Patio Cordobés of the tablao.

Just two months ago, he sang for dance for the first time at the Tablao de Carmen.
“I’ve learned to execute the cantes better. The first time, you do everything like—this has to come out no matter what. But each time, you begin to understand more how it works, and everything gets more serious, with more weight,” says Manuel.
He and the rest of the tablao’s artists dedicate every evening to expressing what they know best: flamenco, in its three core disciplines—cante (singing), baile (dancing), and toque (guitar playing).