I was born in a gypsy family in a neighborhood that was washed away by the sea when there was a storm.
Barracks neighborhood.
My mother raised four children, and my father, a French gypsy, left with a girl and started another large family in the south of France.
Oh.
At nine months, due to an infection, I went deaf, the doctor said that maybe with time I would be able to hear something. My first word, mom, was said when I was 12 or 13 years old.
Was your childhood happy?
I liked Somorrostro, full of children, we played hopscotch, jumping rope. I felt free in nature: the earth, the beach, the sun, the light, the moon and the animals, which were my company. The day in the street, playing, singing, dancing, clapping, gossiping.
And how did you start dancing?
Since I didn't speak, I spent a lot of time alone and stood in front of a mirror and made postures, moved my lips and danced as if I were another person. I danced to my idea.
Did anyone in your family dance?
Neither knows. He set the rhythm with the snaps of his fingers and in the field he would spin and I would fall and come back, and go; He tapped his feet, he put my postures. One day my mother took me to the bar Los Jamones, where she danced.
And did he dance?
I was hungry. The waiter was a singer and there was a guitarist and my mother told me: “If you're hungry, dance,” and I started dancing in my own way and people started giving me money, so every Sunday we went there.
He liked?
I loved it, and it conveyed a lot to people. All day I was aware of the rhythms of the engines, the vibration of the speakers, the rattle of the train, that's where I got my steps. Many people came to see me and I began to appear in the press.
And did he become professional?
My father showed up, I was about 12 years old. He was illiterate, but he saw my photo in a newspaper and decided to be my representative. He abandoned all his children and came back, and badly. My mother suffered a lot.
Badly?
He was a macho, bossy, distrustful and old man. My mother was much more modern. I didn't like my father, he didn't let anyone get close to me and he made me go to the beach dressed, he didn't even want me to show my arms. We were tied up.
When did the tours start?
In Los Jamones a German representative saw me and gave me a card; After succeeding in Madrid, we went to Germany with a group and the man began to organize shows for me and I was successful, and from there to all of Europe as the headliner of the Flamenco Gitano Festival.
Were you already aware of how well she danced, her strength, and how beautiful she was?
No, I didn't think about succeeding or devoting myself professionally to dancing, I wanted to dance for myself and be with my people, but people were looking for me and they offered contracts to my father and, of course, it was money for the house.
Did you stop being happy?
Yes, when I was 14 I did a big four-year tour of Europe, but I turned down contracts in Japan, the United States and Mexico because I was afraid of the plane. I performed in more than 30 cities on stages such as the Olympia theater in Paris, and in Germany they said that she was the best dancer in the world.
He shared the bill with Paco de Lucía.
And Camarón de la Isla, Lebrijano and I went on tour with Ella Fitzgerald to dance to jazz rhythms. I danced until I was 30, until I got bad thyroid and fell into depression.
Rather than retreating, he disappeared.
I spent six years in bed with depression. I had endured too much, my father dominated me, he kept me locked up, I had no communication with anyone. I felt sadness and fear. When I met Antonio I didn't let him touch me, I looked like a wild colt.
But that elf! How did he do it?
I danced very close to the guitarists to feel the vibration, and when I wasn't sure I turned around and looked at the palms and counted.
Incredible, with that strength.
I, daughter, do not know if it is a gift from God or my nature. I read your lips, I have 15% hearing. I had to learn to speak: I stood in front of my mirror with a pencil in my mouth to pronounce well, I had the will.
At the age of 15 she filmed Los Tarantos, nominated for an Oscar.
Rovira Beleta loved me very much, and Carmen Amaya, who was the protagonist. During the breaks she told me: “Dance”, “dance again”…, excuse me for crying out loud. She wanted to take me to America with her, but my parents didn't want to, and then she got sick. From her own mouth she told me: “You are my successor.”
Where have you found happiness?
With the love I feel for Antonio, my children and grandchildren..., I do what I want, I don't have the fame or the money that I had, but I am at peace.
