Fund-raiser for monument to Fernanda and Bernarda

	Fund-raiser for monument to Fernanda and Bernarda. January 17th, 2004, Teatro Municipal Enrique de la Cuadra, Utrera (Seville) 9:30pm

Cante: José de la Tomasa, Pansequito, Aurora
Vargas, José Mercé, Curro de Utrera, María
Jiménez, Macarena del Río.
Dance: David Morales
Guitar: Moraíto, Diego Amaya, Niño
Elías, Francisco Javier Jiménez

“Aside from everything else, history must remember them
as two humble, authentic individuals with no pretense whatsoever,
who rose to fame thanks to the art they carried inside, and
for Bernarda the bulerías holds no secrets as for Fernanda
the soleá, and hand in hand they have given us the
purest essence of the cante of Utrera”.

Those
words appeared on the program of the fund-raiser and tribute
that Utrera offered its “niñas” on Saturday
January 17th, the two sisters, Fernanda and Bernarda Jiménez
Peña, because Utrera will not tolerate that one be
honored without the other. And together they appear in the
monument designed by sculptor Pedro Hurtado Molina and whose
construction will be financed by the earnings from this event,
the third of its kind in the space of less than a year.

With seats sold out weeks before, not even no-shows Rocío
Jurado and Tomasa la Macanita (who sent their apologies) discouraged
the audience of locals and out-of-towners. After an introduction
by Manuel Martín Martín where he referred to
the sisters as “standard-bearers for the entire history
and tradition of Utrera cante”, veteran singer Curro
de Utrera, whose peña organized the tribute, opened
the first part. With guitarist Niño Elías he
sang soleá and rondeñas.

David Morales took care of the dance department and gave
his all in a lengthy soleá. José de la Tomasa
was next up with Tomatito on guitar for soleá and some
really great bulerías, and the first part wrapped up
with lyrical singer Macarena del Río.

Curro de Utrera	David Morales	Aurora Vargas

High emotions and some unforgettable
historical moments.

After intermission, José Anaya, president of the
Curro de Utrera flamenco club, with the help of Utrera mayor
Francisco Jiménez and members of Fernanda and Bernarda’a
family presented Bernarda with the scale model of the proposed
monument pictured with the headline of this article. Bernarda,
overcome with emotion, asked for an applause for her sister
and an improvised a capella bulerías fiesta got under
way with the cante of Inés, niece of the famous sisters.
Bernarda came to life and converted her emotion into cante
as she has so many times before, and filled the Enrique de
la Cuadra theater with her trumpet of a voice and her pure
Utrera sound. High emotions and some unforgettable historical
moments.

José Mercé and Moraíto performing once
again for “Tía Fernanda” (they also offered
their services at the Madrid tribute last March), gave us
their malagueñas and bulerías. Pansequito added
his contribution to this very flamenco night. Master of ceremonies
Martín pointed out that next May will be thirty years
since the singer from El Puerto was awarded a prize created
especially for him in recognition of his “Sentido renovador
del cante” [‘Innovative spirit in cante’]
at the Córdoba contest. Soleá and bulerías
with the exquisitely sculpted accompaniment of guitarist Diego
Amaya.

Pansequito	Bernarda de Utrera	José Mercé & Moraíto

Aurora Vargas. No words are necessary. Suffice it to say
that the lady gave 200% of herself, showed a newfound and
welcome maturity and subtlety and the audience nearly overwhelmed
her with their shouts of “gitana guapa!”. The
grand finale came in the person of María Jiménez,
“the female Bambino” as she is often called because
of her friendship with the legendary singer from Utrera and
her stylized way of interpreting the festive cantes. At this
point she is more a performer and a personality than a singer
or cantaora, but she enjoys the warm admiration of the people
of Utrera and her pop-style rumba, followed by traditional
bulerías including little dances by members of Fernanda
and Bernarda’s family was enthusiastically applauded.

Text & photos: Estela
Zatania