One of the many problems that research presents is flamenco are localisms. A fire that has often been spread by unfounded rumors. I remember a university professor once telling me that flamencoScience is the only 'science' that accepts as true 'what one told the other' without any supporting documents. Oral transmission should not be disdained, but it should be kept in quarantine. (Fernanda de Utrera and the Borrico From Jerez they left gold ground in their versions of the cante de la Serneta; the photos are from the archive and by Pedro Carabante)
Perhaps one of the most striking cases has been that of the Serneta-Jerez-Utrera relations. Among other reasons because Up to 7 variants of soleás are in playA succulent dish for any Flemish region; a real prize and some good medals for the Flemish decoration.
So far, as far as I can see, the issue has divided rather than united. The dispute, which I believe is futile, has continued to determine whether they are from Utrera or Jerez. Art belongs to the "feelings of humanity," as the late Paco Toronjo would say. And, In any case, these soleás are by an artist named Mercedes Fernández Vargas, given that flamenco recreations have names and surnames, being personal contributions that transcend geographical and collective boundaries, despite their potential for territorial accents. What's truly true is that the ties between Jerez and Utrera are strengthened thanks to the Serneta, and this is the important thing; absurd rivalries elsewhere.
Serve as preliminary question There are two ways to clarify the confusion (a) and (b), judge for yourselves:
(a) The professor and researcher Daniel Pineda Novo held at the conference Two Centuries of Flamenco, in the then Andalusian Center of Flamenco, that La Serneta left for Utrera 'very young' without offering any further documentation other than a few testimonies. He was followed by almost all flamencologists, including Juan de la Plata, who even gives a specific age for this departure: 23 years.
(b) The researcher José Manuel Martín Barbadillo He provided a series of data verified by census records and archives that flatly refute the above. He even confirmed with documentation that, in any case, the singer's arrival in Utrera would have occurred after 1.903, as she was registered at various addresses in Jerez until that year. That is, she would have left for Utrera when she was approximately 43 years old.
In this link, you have the full article by Barbadillo, published at the time on the De websiteflamenco:
Where is LA SERNETA's soleá from? – Revista DeFlamenco.com
Be that as it may, the truth is, we don't really care. His soleás aren't from Jerez or Utrera. They're his own, from Merced La Serneta, as I said. She united these noble lands of the world thanks to her interpretive ability. cante, a matter that has been used for division. We will see in the course how in the creation of its canteOther geographies also appear, such as Cádiz, the origin, and Triana, the destination. And that doesn't mean we should tear our clothes apart over rivalries that lead nowhere. Utrera and Jerez: what La Serneta united, let no man separate.
Continued ...
We will study this issue in our summer course scheduled for July 25th, which I'll share with you at this link:
