View source for Seguidilla

{{short description|Old Castilian folk song and dance form}}
[[File:Dansa seguidillas-MAE-P9122.jpg|thumb|Seguidilla dancing, 18th century]]
The '''seguidilla''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|s|ɛ|ɡ|ə|ˈ|d|iː|(|l|)|j|ə|,_|-|g|ɪ|-|,_|ˌ|s|eɪ|-}}; {{IPA|es|seɣiˈðiʎa|lang}}; plural in both English and Spanish ''seguidillas''; diminutive of ''seguida'', which means "sequence" and is the name of a dance)<ref name=mw>{{MW|seguidilla}}. Accessed May 2008.</ref><ref name=rh>[https://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/seguidilla Random House Dictionary]</ref><ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/seguidilla |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322185848/https://www.lexico.com/definition/seguidilla |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 22, 2020 |title=seguidilla |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> is an old [[Crown of Castile|Castilian]] folksong and dance form in quick [[triple time]] for two people with many regional variations.<ref name=mw/><ref name=rh/> The music is generally in a major key and often begins on an [[offbeat (music)|offbeat]]. 

The term is also used for a Spanish [[stanza]] form with four to seven short, partly [[assonance|assonant]] lines in a characteristic rhythm.<ref name=mw/><ref name=rh/>

==Types==
The earliest and most influential of the types of seguidilla are thought to originate in either [[La Mancha]] or [[Andalusia]], having become typical of large parts of central Spain. Variants include the ''seguidilla manchega'' (from La Mancha) as well as the ''murciana'' from [[Murcia]] and the slightly faster ''[[sevillanas|sevillana]]'' of [[Seville]]. One of the most complex styles of seguidilla is the ''seguidilla flamenca'' or ''[[siguiriyas|seguiriya]]''), which is used in [[flamenco]] music. Act I of [[Jacques Offenbach]]'s opera ''[[La Périchole]]'' includes a number entitled "Séguedille".

===Dance===
The dance is performed in pairs with animated footwork reflecting the rhythm of the guitar and percussion, yet restrained upper body movement. One technique characteristic of the dance is known as ''bien parado'', wherein the dancers stop motion at the end of a section of the music or stanza of text while the instruments continue playing into the next section. Usually the woman dancer also holds [[castanets]].

Act I of ballet ''[[Don Quixote (ballet)|Don Quixote]]'' (classical version choreographed by Marius Petipa and  restaged by [[Alexander Alexeyevich Gorsky|Alexander Gorsky]]) includes a Seguidilla dance performed by corps de ballet.

===Song===
In general, seguidilla folksongs begin with a brief instrumental introduction, often played on guitar, followed by a ''salida'', which is a small portion of the song text acting as a false start.  The remaining sections are free and varied, consisting of instrumental ''interludios'' and the vocal sections called ''coplas''.

===The 'Seguidilla' in opera===
An original song entitled ''Seguidilla'' occurs in Act I of the [[opera]] ''[[Carmen]]'' by [[Georges Bizet]], where it is sung by the title character to persuade her captor, the soldier Don José, to set her free. She promises to meet him later at the inn of her friend Lillas Pastia.<ref>[http://www.aria-database.com/cgi-bin/aria-search.pl?43a Aria database] Seguidilla ("Près des ramparts de Séville"). Accessed March 2008</ref>  Although this number uses flamenco-style material, it has a slower tempo than the classic Spanish dance form and a more complex structure. It is possible also that the "Veil Song" (Act II, scene 1, of ''[[Don Carlos]]'') by [[Giuseppe Verdi]] is meant to evoke the style of a ''seguidilla'', though stylistically it is closer to a ''[[bolero]]'' with added flamenco-style melodic colouration.<ref>Julian Budden ''The Operas of Verdi, Vol. 3'', p. 68</ref> Elsewhere, in ''[[La forza del destino]]'', the same composer inserts a folk dance at the beginning of Act II; but although it is labelled ''seguidilla'' in the score, the passage is written in 4/4, not the triple time usual for a seguidilla. A seguidilla also features in [[Paisiello|Paisiello's]] opera ''[[Il barbiere di Siviglia (Paisiello)|Il barbiere di Siviglia]]''.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==

{{Carmen}}
{{Music of Spain}}

[[Category:Spanish dances]]
[[Category:Spanish folk music]]
[[Category:Dance forms in classical music]]