ABSTRACT
Antonio Triana was born to dance, in the city of Seville, the birthplace of the painters Velasquez, Murillo, Valdes Leal; the poets Rioja, Becquer and Medrano; and the emperors Trajan and Hadrian. His parents humbly accepted his decision to abandon his career, and he married the sixteen-year-old Felipa Matos Perez that same year. Antonio Triana's father, Jeronimo Garcia Pedraja, came to Seville from the gypsy quarter across the river. Francisco Leon, 'Frasquillo', had been one of the most virile and vital performers of the old school. He had married La Quica, Antonio's childhood partner, and he was a shoemaker by trade. This chapter speaks about La Malena, who was noted for her noble stance. She was a gypsy from Jerez de la Frontera, and her every movement spoke of superb style, control and rhythm. Gypsies tend to intensify and stylize truths, unlike the Islamic faith in absolute destiny, conceives of deliberate human action causing deliberate result.
