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“There was a sadness in her soul I don’t know how to explain, and she never said anything to anyone”

I had the honor of working with Carmen on a tour of the US, Canada, South American and other countries that lasted three and a half years. I met Carmen in New York when Antonio Mairena who was touring the States with Antonio spread the word that Carmen was looking for a singer. When he returned to Spain he called Porrinas de Badajoz, but Porrinas wouldn’t fly. So Mairena rented a place so he could hear me and he told the manager “this is your man”. Carmen’s husband Juan Antonio Agüero wasn’t convinced because I wasn’t gypsy, but when she heard I was from Jerez everything changed...I got the job because I was from Jerez! [laughter].

“Affectionate, modest and humble, a very good person to work with...”

Domingo Alvarado

So the manager called me up and said “Now I’m going to introduce you to Carmen". We went to the hotel and there was Carmen in bed. When she saw me she said “well well well, I don’t know about your singing, but you sure look good...sing some bulerías”. The guitar and palmas began to sound and I started to sing. Carmen exclaimed “Viva Jerez de la Frontera, unbelievable!” I sang a couple of verses and she embraced me and said “finally I’ve got a good singer”. That’s how I met her. Shortly afterwards we debuted in Carnegie Hall on September 30th, 1955, for three days, a huge success, especially for Carmen. The tour ended in Havana on August 25, 1958.

“Spanish through and through, very gypsy, very Andalusian, and she cherished her Catalonian roots”.

Carmen Amaya was a special kind of person. Affectionate, modest and humble, a very good person to work with and she gave you confidence, she brought us up to her level, she was a genius of dance and made you feel secure. She was quiet and shy around people she didn’t know, very religious with a firm belief in God. She didn’t have extravagances but was superstitious about some things. Carmen Amaya wore her fame in a very natural way, and she put herself on everyone else’s level in the artistic world, but she wouldn’t tolerate any lack of respect and knew how to command it.

Domingo Alvarado with Carmen Amaya

Spanish through and through, very gypsy, very Andalusian and she cherished her Catalonian roots. She had no interest in politics and she missed Spain a great deal, but she also loved South America where she worked a lot, she was very successful and they really loved her.

“Look, you just sing some soleá, then seguiriya and we’ll end with alegrias, and I’ll dance to your singing”

She loved to eat well. Her favorite food was a steak sandwich with tomato. She liked to be at home and sleep, she slept a great deal.

I never saw Carmen rehearse...she’d warm her feet up a bit, and her voice and the castanets. Goyo Reyes was first dancer and he set the Spanish dance choreography for the company, then Carmen would fine-tune it. She really enjoyed those dances, not only flamenco. I remember seeing her go over the classical numbers with the piano. Her own dance was something else, she knew it so well. She managed to inspire herself from within based on what she knew, it was all inside.

“It was like one of Pablo Romero’s bulls coming at you, it was enough to shake anyone, too much...”

One day we were rehearsing with the company for the Carnegie Hall debut and I went up to her and asked “Carmen, when do you and I rehearse?” “Look, you just sing some soleá, then seguiriya and we’ll end with alegrias, and I’ll dance to your singing”. That anecdote really stuck in my head. When we finally debuted and I saw her with that guitarist by the name of Sabicas who was by her side, a genius of flamenco guitar, and I saw those arms of hers pushed back playing castanets, gypsies didn’t play castanets but she who was more gypsy than all of them put together, she played castanets...she danced a solea, it was amazing, she came straight at me when I began the salida for soleá. I was in such a panic my eyes were crossed, it was like one of Pablo Romero’s bulls coming at you, it was enough to shake anyone, too much...and she was so intense I gave everything I had that night, within the limits of my abilities, I gave everything. That appearance of hers, and the audience reaction afterwards, it caused such an uproar I thought I was in the Villamarta Theater in Jerez, and it was Carnegie Hall. That’s one memory I cherish.

"She loved profound cante, and also fandangos, and singers who had a personal style. She loved strong black coffee...”

Carmen was very devoted to her family and she loved to be with all of them. She had some difficult times with her husband, but not once...I mean, the family always came first. She adored children and loved all her little nieces and nephews, but unfortunately she couldn’t have children. She was very fond of cooking and was a good cook. She loved strong black coffee, and playing some game before going on stage.

The way I see it, Carmen was very happy as long as she was in the theater or on stage. I was with her a lot, and I observed her, I had profound respect for that woman, so the way I see it Carmen, from the time she got into the theater, from the dressing-room to the stage, between getting made up and dressed, it was a wonderful thing, she was so happy and optimistic, this fortitude blossomed each time. She used to tell me: “give every little bit on stage, don’t hold anything back, throw yourself into what you do”.

Deep in her soul there was a kind of pain and she often felt sad. In the dressing-room she was transformed, but outside, I could see a certain childlike quality, and she suffered a lot. Off-stage there was a sadness in her soul I don’t know how to explain, but she never said anything to anyone”.

“There are no flamenco artists that great and who communicate as well artistically as Carmen and Sabicas did”.

I loved just being with her. She would tell me stories about the tablaos in Barcelona when she was a young girl, the artists she knew, Manuel Torre, La Macarrona...

When we recorded Queen of the Gypsies we did it all in one day. There are no flamenco artists that great and who communicate as well artistically as Carmen and Sabicas did. I was the only one scared out of my wits because I was very young and they were such great artists.

In 1956 we were in Hollywood and the embassy in Washington asked us to do a special show for the consul, Conde Motrico. Sabicas didn’t want to go because he wouldn’t fly so I went with Carmen and her husband. We did the show and afterwards Carmen’s husband and me went out for drinks and came home very late. Because of that I had no voice the next day and Carmen was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to sing. Then on the way back the airplane had some serious problems, the landing gear wouldn’t work and everyone was terrified. When the plane finally landed and we went to pick up our baggage Carmen realized that my voice had cleared up from the fright. From that day forward, every time I’d get hoarse she’d say “hey watch out, you better get your voice back quick or we’re going to put you in an airplane!”

Carmen was a genuinely nice person and it was easy to get attached to her. I never addressed her with the informal “tú” form...neither her nor Sabicas, me being Andalusian and those two so high-class. Carmen Amaya was as good a person as she was an artist.

For my last CD I wrote some verses for alegrías that were dedicated to her:

Domingo Alvarado’s statements were gathered and transcribed
by Dominico Caro in New York City in October, 2003.

Read part two of the series "Carmen" next week with Luisa Triana's fond memories and comments.

Carmen Amaya Special.
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