Last year, the town of
Utrera (Seville) marked the 100th 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 had spent many years researching.
El Marquesito told Rocío about the work I had done concerning his family,
which resulted in a book (The Clan of El Pinini), along with a family
tree, a project that El Pinini’s family had supported, and which is now on permanent
display in the Museo del Baile Flamenco in Seville. El Marquesito
informed Rocío that I would be a good person to speak with seeing as I am considered
a knowledgeable authority on this gargantuan Gypsy flamenco clan. I was
honoured and overwhelmed at the proposal, and even more so because of the
Pinini family’s endorsement, which is an accolade in itself.
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| Javier with La Farruca |
My interview was set for 29 December 2022. I was not sure where my part
was to be filmed, but I assumed it would be somewhere relevant in the town
centre - Calle Nueva maybe? The producer had other plans. Instead, we headed to
the campiña, where, at 9am on a bitterly cold and overcast morning, a chair with
my name on was placed in the middle of a field, with the Utrera skyline as a
back drop.
Apart from the temperature, and the descending mist, the filming went to
plan, and, according to the team, my contribution had been just what they had
hoped for.
The documentary took some time to complete, for Rocío had a huge list of renowned flamenco performers and celebrities to include in the production, which was finally aired on national television (Canal Sur) in the January of 2024. However, I, along with many of the other participants, had been invited to the premier, or first screening, which took place in the CaixaForum auditorium in the La Barqueta district of Seville in October 2023.
We had been asked to arrive at the
venue at around 7.30pm for the photocall. A barrage of cameras awaited the
never-ending string of flamenco artists and the hierarchy of Seville’s social
scene, the first of whom I spotted was José Víctor Rodríguez Caro, the flamboyant
fashion designer who was co-founder of the Spanish fashion house, Victorio Y
Lucchino. Dressed in ‘20s-style attire (Harold Lloyd sprang to mind), Victorio
headed straight over to us, but not to talk with me, but with my partner,
Javier, who has known the designer for many years.
The area was soon filled with some
of the most formidable flamenco hierarchy of recent times, including Esperanza
Fernández, and her father, Curro **, La Farruca (mother of Farrucuito), and the
celebrated guitarist Paco del Gastor, someone I was keen to meet.
During the writing of my first book,
Flamenco; an Englishman’s passion, I was given a photograph of
Paco from when he visited the popular flamenco tablao El Jaleo (Torremolinos,
Malaga) during the early 1970s. The photograph was given to me by a dear friend,
who had met the young guitarist (he was in his late 20s at the time) on that
night. Thankfully, I had a copy of this picture stored in my mobile phone,
which I showed to Paco, who is now 80. We spent the next 20 minutes talking
about Morón de la Frontera, which is where Paco was born, and also about his
uncle, the legendary Diego del Gastor, someone who was featured in the
documentary because he was the favourite accompanist of La Fernanda de Utrera.
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| Paco del Gastor |
I was also introduced to La Farruca,
again by Javier, who grew up in the same district of Seville as had her large
dynasty. Her father, El Farruco, is, in my opinion, one of the greatest dancers
in the history of flamenco, so we had plenty to talk about.
We were all soon ushered into the
auditorium for the screening, and I must admit to being extremely nervous. We
were sat with Esperanza and her father, Paco, and La Farruca, who grabbed my
arm every time her father was mentioned. ‘This is my father’, she informed me
with a glowing smile: although I had only been introduced to her moments
before, she put me at ease with her welcoming nature and typical Gypsy sense of
humour.
I did not realise to after the film
had finished that many of my friends from Utrera were also at the screening, including
Dani de Utrera (one of today’s most orthodox young singers), who embraced me
and congratulated on my participation. ‘You are a true friend of the people of
Utrera,’ he informed me.
We left the auditorium and headed
to the bar area, where an after-screening reception was held. This had been a truly
enjoyable evening, not because I had participated in the documentary, but
because when one is in the company of Gypsy flamenco performers, one is
overcome with a sense of happiness.
I was approached the mayor of
Utrera, Curro Romero (not he bullfighter!) who claimed that he was keen to meet
me seeing as he had heard so much about this Englishman who has a passion for
Utrera and its flamenco. He was interested in the Pinini family tree, and
seemed surprised when I explained the time-line of the genealogical chart -
1790- to present day. Plans were set in motion for a copy of this tree to be
displayed in the Casa de Cultura in Utrera, although, as with most projects
promoted by town halls, this is yet to materialise.
Tony Bryant’s three books
concerning the art of flamenco are available from Amazon.
[1] La Filmahora is an independent production company that
emerged in 2020. Canal Sur Radio y Televisión is a company belonging to the public business
agency RTVA of the Junta de Andalucía.
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