This first of four half-hour episodes of "Flamenco: the Land Is Still Fertile" looks at farm laborers & origins of "gitanos" (Spanish Gypsies). It uses world-class performance - there are four solos in this episode - along with fascinating interviews, a stellar narration by flamenco singer Antonio de la Malena, and other material to tell its story.

More than anything else, it was gitano farm laborers in southern Spain who preserved and developed the art of flamenco - partly because they lived together in the farm workers' dormitories during the season, traveling from one huge farm to another as their services were needed. In the evenings, to keep up their spirits after a grueling day of work, they would sing and dance flamenco.

It was not just adults in these farm workers' dormitories: children as young as 10-11 years old were also required to work, and the younger ones (including the babies) stayed with their families.

Scholars have determined that gitanos originated in northwest India, as we explain in this episode which includes shots of modern-day gitanos in that region. It took centuries of slow migrations for them to reach southern Spain, where although not well treated (and indeed, at times sent en mass to prisons, work camps, and similar places), the ocean prevented them from going further.

Of course some of flamenco comes out of Spanish folklore and this episode does recognize that and discuss it. But again, the role of gitano farm workers in the development of the art form we call traditional flamenco is hard to understate.

--this episode has closed captions