LA native performs Chicana-Gypsy flamenco show

It’s been nearly two decades since East L.A. native Maria Bermudez relocated to Southern Spain to absorb the region’s Gypsy flamenco culture. She will be on stage today and tomorrow with a show that delves into her Gypsy-Chicana identity.

Of flamenco’s three elements - dancing, guitar playing and singing - Maria Bermudez says the singing, or cry, is most important. "That cry is like our blues from the Mississippi Delta, it’s like our ranchera, how about our rancheras, do we not cry in our rancheras? It’s the same thing. It’s the same pain, it’s the same llanto."

Bermudez moved to Jerez De La Frontera to immerse herself in deep-rooted gypsy flamenco. She found a culture a lot like that in her native East L.A. "My brother made a comment when he visited me there, he said sister, you went from one barrio to another."

The rest of society pushes Gypsies to its margins. They suffer from gang violence and poor education. From time to time, Bermudez returns to LA with her troupe to perform. She says this weekend’s performances are different because she’s exploring her American, Mexican American and Chicana-Gypsy experience. "The Chicana Gypsy Project was born out that feeling, out of that feeling, out of that emotion, feeling not from here, not from there, an outsider here, an outsider there."

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Maria Bermudez says that while the Gypsies in southern Spain may not fully accept her, she’s earned their respect by creating a flamenco that conveys her life experience.