Fandango is a style of folk and flamenco music and dance. It arose as a dance of courtship in Andalusia in southern Spain early in the 18th century.
Because of the meter of its lyrics and their rhythmic scansion, most scholars consider the fandango to have stemmed from the jota. Some philologists have tried to link it to the ancient Roman erotic dance known as the cordax (called iconici motus by the poet Horace and the playwright Plautus). The satires of Juvenal make specific mention of the testarum crepitus (clicking of castanets). In its earlier Greek expression, finger cymbals were used. Though these hypothetical links enjoy little evidence, they suggest a rich, ancient background.
