cachucha

n.
An Andalusian solo dance in 3/4 time.

[Spanish, small boat, cachucha, possibly from diminutive of cacho, shard, saucepan, probably from Vulgar Latin *cacculus, alteration of Latin caccabus, pot, from Greek kakkabos, probably of Semitic origin, akin to Akkadian kukkubu, a small container.]

A popular fast, triple-time dance of Andalusia, related to the Flamenco and the Fandango. Sullivan included one in The Gondoliers (1889).

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Spanish dance in 3/4 or 3/8 time, originally performed as a couple dance. In the mid-19th century the dance, in its solo form, was particularly associated with the Austrian ballerina Fanny Elssler, who did her own arrangement of it in Coralli's Le Diable boîteux in 1836. It was notated by F. A. Zorn and recreated in 1967 for the Royal Ballet's Ballet for All group, danced by Philippa Heale. In 1981 it was filmed as Fanny Elssler's Cachucha with Margaret Barbieri.