Question: What does the name mean? I heard 'flamenco' was Spanish for 'flamingo'!
Answer: It is! Some have argued that the music was given this name because the dancing resembled the movement of a flamingo, although this is unlikely. The word 'flamenco' also means 'Flemish' (the people of the Dutch-speaking side of Belgium) and it has been said that the music may have some of its roots in that part of Europe. There is a third theory which is popular, which says that it comes from the Arabic 'felag mengu' (sometimes spelt 'fellah mengu') which means 'peasants without land'. It is quite possible that this was the original form of the word and it was later corrupted to its present form for the reasons explained above.
