The direct origins of flamenco as we know it today come from the melting pot of cultures to
be found in Spain in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Going back further into the past I
have found reference to 'the Girls from Gades' (presently known as Cadiz) who around the
time of Christ entertained the Romans by singing and dancing at big orgies, feasts and parties
in imperial Rome. It is noted in many historical documents that they played cymbals and
castanets, the latter still being used today in female flamenco dances.5 Christian armies began
reconquering the Iberian Peninsula from the North and by 1492 the last remaining Muslim
kingdom of Granada in Southern Spain was handed back to Christian monarchs. There
followed an intense persecution of all non-Christians; those who wished to remain were
forced to convert to Christianity or murdered.