Israel Reyes: “Carnival has the challenge of finding coexistence between the neighbors and the party”

Because the Carnival?

I arrive at the Carnival through the theater. Since I was 20 years old I have been closely linked to the performing arts, Clapso existed in 1991, although it was a semi-professional company at that time. We did an activity for schoolchildren called the Carnival Chest, from there comes that link. The recently deceased Geni Afonso, together with Francis Suárez, people closely linked to the party, called me to be her assistant. They in the 90s had a lot of weight in Tenerife because they were assistants to José Carlos Plaza, director of the time, and when Carnival takes place at the santa catalina park in 95 the direction trusts them.

In these 18 years, have finery made a leap?

The jump was made with Anatol. Before it was a formal, symbolic act. When the first stars began to come, Pepe Navarro was here with Norma Duval, there was already an intention to get out of the neighborhood party concept and turn them into a city event. It is Anatol who makes Antena3 come, to which must be added the impressive sets of Alberto Trujillo. Both make the look turn and turn the finery into a very attractive element. All with an unprecedented display of media. Both had them positioned in the great showcase.

When you take over, is there a continuity or a before and after?

There is an evolution because there was a model that worked. At that time the park had more than 70 beach bars, it was a real street carnival. It was that moment when everything flowed. The galas were consolidated. I inherit a way of doing things; I try to print my stamp, of course, but Anatol left a very characteristic way of doing things. It should not be forgotten that the gala is a contest to choose the Queen. It’s like beauty pageants. Miss Universe is 80 years old and they have been exactly the same all that time. You can put technology on it, fortunately the role of women has changed, but beyond that the concept of the show is the same and it is the same with the Queen. An act that has been wrapped up with the performances of the groups and Anatol adds that great thematic overture in a concept of a great musical. It is something that works and continues to work.

Even so, it has been strengthening the transformations.

Carnival itself is a living element. The Branch of Agaete, you go to the one on Friday or to the one from 40 years ago and everything is the same. They are parties that maintain a tradition. Carnival changes based on society, it reflects changes very well and does so immediately. The murgas of today have nothing to do with those of the 90s. In spirit, in concept, in motivation. As a result of the pandemic the motivation of the murgas is different because many saw that they spent an exaggerated time for something that is supposed to be a hobby. Because, to what extent is Carnival something professional? It comes from the town, but those who throw the party, even though they come from the amateur world, have artistic aspirations, which is why it is a great breeding ground for creation.

He has named the Queen’s gala, but the star today is the Drag gala. Does your birth respond to that change?

Born with Anatol in 1998 and consolidated later. For me the Drag Gala is a bit my heritage because I am the one who writes the bases. He was the revolutionary LGBT member of the team. Due to experience and closeness, I came from seeing shows in Madrid, in the first venues in Chueca, and I was in some way the agitator for that to happen among the 450 fathers of the idea. There were many agents, including Anatol’s vision. We went to maspalomas to see a drag queen contest; and in a conversation in the car with him and with Paco Medina we talked about Priscila, about what we had seen and it came up betting on drags. She had to shape that contest. I gave it to her, inspired by the most important contest in the history of television, Eurovision. If you look at the bases, the acting time is traced. We value that if something worked for almost 60 years, it is for a reason. That the songs do not last more than three minutes contribute to the dynamism and spectacle. One of the great successes of the Drag gala is that you see a similar show. I claim that. In the end, Carnival is the sum of many things. In Tenerife, in the 80s, there was always an almost operatic stage vision with Tamayo, Plaza, Azpilicueta, we all learned from that.

What are you most proud of and what could have been done better?

Being a social party, which comes from the street, it is difficult to manage, unless there was a long-term plan, which has not. In this evolution, perhaps, I may have left something positive, but as long as it came from outside. For example, Tenerife boasts of great suits, but that comes from good designers. Here we show off the drags. In the end, everything is the result of the talent of the people, the sum and effort of the collectives. But there has never been a work plan with all those people, which I do recriminate. I feel satisfied to have reached agreements with training centers such as the Polytechnic so that whoever studies show production can do an internship. Same with IES the minilla, where there is a wardrobe module and they do internships in the sewing workshops. Then you see that there are students from those cycles who end up working in the organization and you see that there is a school. I also feel very satisfied with the evolution of the Drag gala because for me it is a son of my creative work. At least, not having forced or insisted that carnival schools be designed or that future plans be worked on; but the policy he is short-sighted.

What challenges does your successor face?

I think it is not a challenge of who directs the galas. It was demonstrated in the pandemic. Even if there is no street carnival, a show can always be done. The question is, is that Carnival? The party is the sum of everything. The challenges are not in who directs the gala. It deserves a deeper discussion. There is an equation; When things go wrong, what cannot be done is to think that a director of the gala or a manager is responsible for a sentence. It happens that the incidence of that sentence, due to how it affects the party, makes people say that they are not protecting it. They try to name it. Carnival is something so big that people don’t know why they can’t celebrate the Day Carnival. They do not understand how serious it was for a family to file a complaint and that during the judicial process no sector, no groups, no businessmen in the area, no pro-carnivalers raised their voices. The party is the sum of many elements.

And in terms of specific challenges of Carnival?

There is no definitive space for the celebration of the galas, the park is going to be under construction next year. There is the challenge of finding a coexistence between the neighbors and the party; and another is, after the pandemic, how the groups are facing a new era.

Precisely, in the last edition there was controversy in the murga contestwith the self-disqualification of Los Sarymanches.

The groups are disoriented, it is a reflection that I make. There is an inertia, but there is no goal. I am very critical of this, the groups do not care about the whole of the carnival. Only of its existence and its prize, fomenting rivalry. They are always supposed to be worried in their speech; that is in the song, but in the daily action there is something that has been fractured that has to do with this. Nobody is going to spend more than 10 hours of their time in a hobby that does not end up being something beyond that passion to win. It is true that the parade of groups has recovered and I notice that they are comfortable with that; and there are several who keep a socio-cultural activity alive all year round, which was the origin of all this. Gather to sing, share, create a costume. There is a search for where all this is going. It is one more challenge. There are people who are going to rehearse Agüimes when is it from Arucas, not even the group is a heritage of the neighborhood. It is something else, a brand. When the park is half empty after certain performances it is a reflection of this, depending on who the carnival starts for and ends in their group.

You have suffered harsh criticism from the groups.

I have suffered a lot of pressure, for example, because of what role they have in the gala. I have been critical with them and they with me. The gala cannot be tailored to each group, it is the queen’s choice and they are the protagonists. It’s the same as, does anyone see the performance of a murga at the Drag gala? Someone has suggested it. With that idea they occupy spaces in the name of I am Carnival. You have to look for spaces of confluence. Where were they at critical moments? With exceptions of course.

It has also been criticized that the galas have become so professionalized that they are very televised. Do you share this vision?

As for the format, if it is going to be broadcast on TV, ignoring it would be a mistake. Another thing is that when the gala ends there will be no festive atmosphere, but that is the fault of some sentences that have limited expressive displays on the street. The party has been hijacked, but that has nothing to do with the gala or with the address. Look, an example, Azpilicueta did not direct the Santa Cruz galas for TV; So much so that they put the advertising cuts and the gala continued. But of course, that caused them to cut performances, for example. What you have to look at is if they work and the data is given by the audience. The failure would be that no one saw it and it had no significance in networks. What’s more, what would the Drag gala be without television? So much so, that when Ru Paul came he knew that he was coming to a Drag gala, there were already some of that in nightclubs or Prides; what made him click was to see the deployment of cameras that Antena3 made and that it was broadcast in prime-time. He considered it incredible. If you see the philosophy of the program drag race turns the concept into a mainstream family product. It has managed to go from being a New York cable TV to becoming a phenomenon with licenses in 17 countries around the world. It was then that he realized that drag could enter homes as a product.

Have the comparisons with Tenerife been surpassed?

We cannot be comparing carnivals between islands. They are essentially the same. They both drank from the same sources. The comparison has long since made no sense. How many do not go from here to the Carnival of Tenerife and how many do not come here to the Drag gala? Both can complement each other and have managed to maintain their interest.

And now that?

Clapso as a producer never stopped doing theater. Carnival occupied an important part of the agenda, from December to March we had no life. But the rest of the year we did events, theater productions. Now we will focus on that and leave the Carnival gap to occupy it with other projects and continue telling stories. There is life out there.