How can it be? My earliest memories of my family are of the warmth of my mother, the smile of my father, the glance of my aunt, the affection of my cousins and the love of my brothers. I remember that my ancestors intrigued me and I would wonder how they had lived and what had been their beliefs and their preoccupations, and I wondered if these things were just Gypsy things or the things of everyday people. My father taught me that to be Gypsy was to be no better or worse than anybody else, but he said it was something different to live the life with freedom, and he stressed that the respect for others was fundamental, especially the older generation, because they are the source of our wisdom. The first references I have of flamenco are from my parents, and the figure that was most emphasised was my great grandfather, Fernando Peña Soto – El Pinini. They said that he was a Gypsy born in Lebrija and that he had come to live in Utrera when he was eight-years old. It was said th