Tony Bryant

  Last year, the town of Utrera (Seville) marked the 100 th anniversary of the birth of La Fernanda de Utrera, who was born at 22 Calle Nueva on 9 February 1923, with a series of cultural initiatives. Flamenco recitals, exhibitions and tertulias about this outstanding flamenco singer and her sister, La Bernarda, took place at various locations in the town throughout the year. One of the most eagerly awaited of these initiatives was a documentary about these two divas that was to be made by La Filmahora, with the collaboration of Canal Sur television, and Utrera town hall, among others. [1] I had been contacted by the producer, Rocio Martín, who asked if I would like to participate, an offer which I accepted wholeheartedly. Rocío had previously contacted my good friend Luis El Marquesito to obtain information about the family, especially the line of Inés Peña Vargas, the mother of La Fernanda and La Bernarda, and the daughter of the mythical El Pinini, a singer whose family I ha

  Flamenco; an Englishman’s passion was my first foray into the world of flamenco, a book that I was very privileged to have published by flamenco sapiens , the editorial arm of the Museo del Baile Flamenco in Seville. Since its first publication in the summer of 2006, just a few months after this state-of-the-art museum (the first and only one of its kind in the world) opened its doors, the book has become the one that my career as a writer has been most associated with. I have since completed a trilogy of books concerning the art of flamenco and the people who (in my humble opinion) best perform it – the Andalusian Gypsies, but it the first book - celebrating its 18 th birthday, or coming of age, this year - that is the one that has received the most attention. Some of the literary platforms like Good Reads claimed that the book “ taps into flamenco's history and is a great learning resource for anyone with an interest in flamenco”; while Google Books said, “ This book p