Because the Farruca serves primarily as a vehicle for the display of virtuosic dance movement, the form of any given Farruca is shaped by the choices of the solo dancer performing the piece. The dance has an improvisatory air, and sections of the dance are fluid and interchangeable.

For example, the dance can begin with a falseta on the guitar or with solo footwork. It can start slowly, with the dancer walking dramatically across the stage, or it can begin with a flurry of virtuosic footwork, rapid turns, or a series of elegant stances.

The opening section of the dance generally ends with a characteristic llamada that leads to a new section of the dance or to the letra, which the dancer interprets impressionistically.

With or without a letra, the piece builds to a long footwork section or sections, escobilla/s, which may be marked by an acceleration - subída - from a slow, dramatic pace to rapid fire footwork.

The basic pulse of a Farruca is a simple four-count pattern with the accent on the 1.

The basic palmas for farruca are shown above. One slight variation is the pattern used for the remate, in which the palmista plays both the beats and the off-beats ending on beat 3 to end the phrase with the guitarist and the dancer.

The most important of these moments is the llamada. Whether played slowly and lyrically at the end of a letra or quickly at the end of a subida, this clear, strong harmonic pattern marks the major sections within a performance.

Although every performance is different, the dance usually moves through the folowing sections:

1) The dance opens either with a falseta or simple, rhythmic chords on the guitar. The dancer enters, setting a slow, steady rhythm for the guitar. If there is a singer, they will sing the salida (Tran, Tran, Treido . . .) The dancer's entrance may include traveling sequences, marking steps, turns, footwork and long sections of choreography. This will usually end with a subida in which the dancer increases the tempo, ending with a llamada. The sound and stance of the llamada is both standardized and original - it always sounds the same rhythmicallly, and with a standardized melodic phrase on the guitar, but the dancer can vary the look of the llamada according to personal taste and style.

The dancer's llamada will often include stamping sequences and a typical cue as follows: perform a stamp on count 1, hold count 2, step back or forward on counts 3, 4, and 1, and then perform a redoble on counts 2 & a 3. The following two sets of 4 count phrases are interpreted by the dancer percussively and with body movements.

2) If there is a singer, they will sing a letra that the dancer will interprets choreographically, possibly punctuating it with short bursts of footwork - remates. This is followed by a longer escobilla, a long footwork passage. The alternating pattern of letras and escobillas will eventually accelerate and lead to a llamada.

3) The final section of the farruca is generally a series of long escobillas in which the dancer shows off their footwork, technique, power, endurance and charisma. The performance may end on stage with a series of llamadas or with the dancer exiting the stage. Dancers can also cue a finale song to end the dance (a remate), usually por Tangos in the Farruca key: Tangos Piyayo.

The song begins with the traditional salida (tran, tran, treido), a series of nonsense syllables imitating the sound of the strumming of the guitar.

Al Baile

Al Toque

Al Cante