The most famous flamenco singer of our day must be Estrella Morente. After recording her first flamenco album at age 8, she is something of a prodigy. She's also, not suprisingly, a gitana, a gypsy.
I was introduced to her in my history class el Mundo Arabe en el Mundo Espanol (The Arab World in the Spanish World) this past semester in Salamanca.
On another occassion in my flamenco class, the instructor (one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen and proud to say she was a gypsy) told us about Estrella Morente. She shook her head in approval as she told us a quick biography of a fellow gitana.
On a third occassion, my professor, Lula, brought the topic up in grammer class.
So by now you'd think I wuld know a lot about Estrella Morente. Truth be told, I don't. What I've realised instead is that Spaniards tend fawn over the name "Estrella".
"Estrella, isn't that a beautiful gypsy name?" Lula would inquire.
"I love that name, Estrella", the history prof would mention with a far out stare.
I don't even know if they knew who they were talking about or if they just wanted to say the name. Either way, this is what I remember of Estrella Morente and this is occassionally what comes to mind when I hear a flamenco soloist reciting her song.
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