53 Potaje Gitano de Utrera. Homenaje Rivera Ordoñez, Pitingo, Tomás de Perrate, Manuel de Angustias, Canales, Carmen Ledesma, Antonio Moya…

53 Potaje Gitano de Utrera
Tribute to the Rivera Ordóñez dynasty
Saturday, June 27th, 2009. 10:30pm.
Patio Colegio Salesiano, Utrera

Text and photos: Estela Zatania

Cante: Tomás de Perrate, Manuel de Angustias, Jesús de la Frasquita, Macanita, Pitingo, La Tana, Mari Peña, Herminia Borja, María Vizárraga, Fabiola Pérez.
Dance: Antonio Canales and his group, Carmen Ledesma. Guitar: Antonio Moya, Antonio Carmona, Manuel Parrilla, Camarón de Pitita.

“…and a bean stew with lots of garlic”

With that odd culinary blurb, not only was the venerable flamenco festival Potaje Gitano de Utrera inaugurated fifty-three years ago, but the festival era got underway, a movement that dramatically changed the flamenco landscape, and which a half-century later continues to register vital signs despite numerous obstacles.  The poverty so poetically alluded to…”lots of garlic”, since that’s all there was…reflected the shortage of food in the post-war period that simultaneously triggered the definitive changeover to professionalization of the basic flamenco forms, a repertoire which until then was not commercially exploited except at private parties and back room gatherings, always at the whim of the moneyed class.

Nowadays, even with the recession that has thrown a bucket of cold water on the arts, even hand-clappers (palmeros) talk about contract extensions and clauses; the small cluster of wooden tables where the first Potaje was dished up, has given way to hundreds of large circular tables, giving the look of a high-society wedding.  Thanks to the concept of each year paying tribute to some famous figure vaguely related to the world of flamenco, in this case, handsome bullfighter Fran Rivera and the dynasty he represents, gossip columnists and paparazzi outnumbered cultural journalists.  By a lot.

And in this way the evening kicked off with various tributes, starting with the presentation of the Institute of Gypsy Culture, and the interpretation of the Gypsy Anthem “Gelem, Gelem” sung by Ana Montaño with guitar and trumpet.  Far more interesting was the recorded voice of Josefa Loreto Peña, Pepa de Utrera, cousin of Fernanda and Bernarda de Utrera, in honor of the recently deceased festera singer.  More tributes followed, to Manolo Caracol and Antonio Mairena who this year are being remembered on their respective centennials, and emcee Luis del Marquesito recalled how Mairena used to frequently visit Utrera to hear “the girls” sing.

Truckloads of good flamenco, right to the last drop of this fifty-third Potaje Gitano de Utrera

An excellent local cuadro opened the night.  Manuel de Angustias contributed the unforgettable delivery of his uncle Bambino, while Tomás de Perrate added the rich sound recalling his father, the legendary Perrate de Utrera.  Jesús de Frasquita and other amateur singers delighted the numerous audience with a lengthy bulerías in the Utrera style.

Much-admired Jerez singer Macanita was the first major star of the night, accompanied by Manuel Parrilla.  With a Jerez feeling passed through the prism of Utrera she always cultivates, Macanita sang cantiñas and soleá “dedicated to the great bullfighters present here tonight”, and ended with bulerías.

The most anticipated performance of the night was, without a doubt, that of Antonio Manuel Álvarez “Pitingo”, a young singer from Huelva and instant social phenomenon.  Wisely leaving his pop repertoire at home, he interpreted tonás, malagueñas and soleá “remembering Fernanda”, in his own fashion of course.  With the Jerez backup of Chícharo and Gregorio, local dancer Rocío la del Turronero, the Granada guitar of Antonio Carmona and the delightful singing and dancing of Fernando Soto, the bulerías fiesta ending was doubly topped off with Caracol fandangos and a snippet of the unusual soul-flamenco mix that has made this singer an overnight star.  The audience went duly wild with the ending bit.

But that was only the first part.  The potaje with all that garlic, an audiovisual documentary of the Rivera Ordóñez dynasty, honorific acts revolving around Fran Rivera and that took us up to the dance segment.  Antonio Canales is a great artist, make no mistake, but he is a victim of his own talent and success;  he came on risking everything, and it didn’t come together this time.  Such ups and downs are often typical of the best artists: not caring about anything, one day reaching the heights, the next day figuratively in the gutter.  At the Potaje we saw a Canales who was more flamenco than ever, while at the same time unable to get it all together.  How limited is the shelf life of a dancer, and how long does it take to mature artistically to the point this man has managed.  Thus trapped, between knowing and doing, Canales didn’t manage to win over the audience, and almost in desperation suddenly came to the edge of the stage and sang, with no amplification.  And I say god bless artists who are not assembly-line pretty faces specializing in easy applause…the human side isn’t always pretty, but it too is part of life.

At four in the morning, guitarist Antonio Moya presented his group “Cinco Voces” to close out the extended event.  Five flamenco women, young, veteran and all very flamenco: La Tana, Mari Peña, Herminia Borja, María Vizárraga, Fabiola Pérez.  The dancer was another woman star, Carmen Ledesma, earthy and essential with her bulerías as Borja sang point-blank at her.  The night chill had rolled in from the countryside, and much of the audience had already headed for home, but there were truckloads of good flamenco, right to the last drop of this fifty-third Potaje Gitano de Utrera.