It is a gathering of people to play and dance traditional music, although other types of music can also be heard.
ORIGIN
The Taifas dance is not strictly a specific dance or song, but rather a traditional way, conditioned by circumstances, of performing a musical gathering.
Originally, these dances were held to coincide with special occasions, such as births (the dances of the new mothers), pineapple harvesting, or festivities.
They were usually held in small venues, often in private homes, where a room was cleared, the furniture was moved aside and chairs were placed around the dance floor, where the women sat.
Meanwhile, the men waited outside, in the street or in the courtyard of the house, if there was one, and there the host usually had a table with a bottle of rum and/or wine for them to have a drink during the celebration.
At the door to the hall, there was usually a man who controlled entry to the dance and, according to some authors, was also responsible for collecting a fee, depending on the case. If there was no charge for the party, a gift was taken to the family who organised it.
Apart from this, the host might have a small table where he placed some gifts, such as candles or bags of spices, called a cantina, where the men could buy something to charm the mother and the girl they wanted to dance with. The proceeds were used to cover the cost of drinks, for example, because these events sometimes helped the family economy.
Every self-respecting taifa dance ended with some kind of fight or scuffle between the men, whether it was the result of alcohol or a dispute over a woman.
TYPOLOGY
Taifa dances were always a good excuse for social gatherings, and as mentioned in the previous section, there were several types of taifas.
Bailes de paridas. These were held to celebrate the birth of a new member of the family.
Bailes de San Pascual. These had a peculiarity, which was that a candle with a red ribbon was lit at the beginning, and during the time it took for the candle to burn down to the height of the ribbon, the women could take the initiative in choosing their partner, which was unusual, since it was normally the men who invited the women by offering them a candle or an envelope or bag of cumin, saffron or cinnamon, and the women always accepted provided they had their mother’s consent.
On other islands, such as La Palma and Lanzarote, these dance gatherings were known as Bailes de candil (oil lamp dances), because they were lit by oil lamps, and in Tenerife and El Hierro they were called Bailes de cuerda (string dances), because string instruments were used to accompany the dances.
DANCE
According to the authors, the pieces that are usually danced at these celebrations are those with the most rhythm, such as isas, folías, seguidillas and malagueñas. Polkas and mazurkas were introduced in the 19th century, and by the beginning of the 20th century, pasodobles, fox-trots, waltzes and even rumbas were being danced.
Over time, new styles were introduced, which led to the increasing sophistication of the instruments used in these dances.
Source: FEDAC