Participated in Carnival events before, but never as a drag queen.
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I work in contemporary dance and I’m an instructor. I was a dancer as a drag queen for 5 years. From 2008 until my last Carnival in 2013, I danced for Drag Eiko.
What made you decide to take the leap now?
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I’ve always loved performing arts. I have my own company and I also work with companies in the Canary Islands, Barcelona, and Germany. There was a moment where I felt the need for change. For personal reasons, I didn’t fully agree with the performing arts industry, and there was a need for innovation. In the midst of this process, drag came about. It’s something that has always fascinated me; being a drag queen is a fantasy I’ve always harbored even in silence.
Who encouraged you to enter?
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My partner. It’s because of him that I’m now on this ship.
Do you still pursue your dance project?
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I put it on hold before I got into drag. It’s my job, of course, and I have to pay the rent, so I still do things. I mainly focus on teaching classes. Let’s say I’ve been quite lucky after the pandemic, which isn’t really luck, it’s work, isn’t it? It’s been perseverance. I’m in this pause process, for a long time now. And yes, of course, any performance opportunity that comes up, I’m there, but I don’t consider creating new shows anymore.
Can you see yourself working in a non-artistic profession at any point?
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I would try not to, because this is what I’ve done all my life. I started dancing at 12 and was working at 18. Now, I’m turning 34 in the next few weeks. I’ll always try to navigate in the arts, especially those related to the body and the stage, but in different ways. For example, I started with urban dance until I was 23. From 23 until now, my focus has been on contemporary dance, and now suddenly drag, so I keep jumping into completely different aspects from each other. The difference is the richness.
Would you say that your drag proposal is very dance-focused?
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Well, I move, I dance… but the focus isn’t on the sensation, but on the narrative. I made sure that the show has a sense from start to finish.
What will the audience see in your performance?
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The creative process has been the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. I knew the world of carnival is complicated, but we had a lot of bad luck with many details. A job that should have taken two, three months, was done in three weeks. It was insane. I almost gave up in the last week. But well, the reality is that we’re in the final. That means the jury saw something, even though the pre-selection didn’t go as I wanted it to.
What do you think was lacking?
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I was lacking, which in the end is the most important thing, as well as refining certain things like set design and choreography. I had a feeling of almost resignation on stage. And you see, I’m used to being on stage, but that feeling… I rarely felt it, especially being the center of attention. But of course, I had issues even two hours before going on stage. And I was tired. Watching the video, I looked almost unrecognizable. A body tired from sleepless nights.
Have these weeks helped to refine things that didn’t go well?
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Yes, and… taking a very important break, because sometimes if you’re not rested, if you don’t stop the machine and have a little perspective, you’re not able to see those small details that fail, small or large because in this case it was a big issue. So, it has been a week of reflection, a week of rest.
What does it mean to you to be in a final of a drag gala in Las Palmas?
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Well, there are many things here. Firstly, I’m from Gran Canaria, but I’ve been livingTenerife. The world in which I have moved is totally different from the world of the carnival. So, for me, it’s very special because it’s almost like going back to the origin. It’s going back home first, to Gran Canaria, and secondly returning to the Carnival, something I always fantasized about as a child.
On the other hand, it means that the jury, in this case, has seen something special in the proposal. And I want to believe that the narrative I was talking to you about has been a good bet for this. Here, more than the quantity of things the drag can do or all the fantastic, which of course has to be there because it’s carnival and because the gala has taken a direction in which people also want to see that spectacle, right? But also… without taking away that spectacle, as we rack our brains a bit to generate something that goes beyond a talent contest.
He now lives in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
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Yes. I also spent a year living in Germany. In fact, I spent my life traveling until last year.
Did you have to relocate your entire fantasy for the preselection, right?
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Exactly.
And did you stay in Gran Canaria?
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Yes, the reality is that we were lucky because this year – before, I think it wasn’t like that – but this year the carnival organization allowed us to leave all the finalists’ scenographies there in a cart, in the venue where the carnival is held, in Belén María square. So, of course, that relieves us a lot because the big stuff stays there. And we don’t have to incur extra expenses of having to rent a van, a truck to take everything there again, to take it back, and of course, in my case, it’s a bit more complicated because it’s not the same to rent a van or a truck than to rent it, pay for tickets, well, it’s a whole logistics that has been a world. Although in age I may be older than many of the other participating colleagues, I am a baby drag.
Do you plan to change the methodology for future editions?
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Completely. We are learning and taking notes from this first experience. For example, we believe that the scenography logistics should be done in a different way. Since I have a house in Gran Canaria, since I have contacts in Gran Canaria, probably the hardest and most complicated part to work on, in this case, is scenography, could perfectly be done in Gran Canaria and it’s something that one would leave. But well, that’s a detail, it’s that one learns with experience.
You got a sponsor in the summer, La Bowie Bar.
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One of the owners of Bowie is a friend. She had no idea what was going to happen, that she was looking for a sponsoring company. I had the idea in March. And of course, those things give me quite a bit of respect, especially when work links are mixed. I’m one of those who think that everything has its place. It was a resounding yes and in this case, she has been able to make that separation and set those barriers, of where the personal ground is and the professional ground. She is also a stage director, so she has been much more empathetic with the work processes in terms of how to accompany us.
The process must have gone smoothly then.
Yes, the only thing I regret is not having told her earlier.
He has two designers.
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Both Sergio and Josep. Sergio is Drag La Tullida, that is, very experienced people, people who understand carnival. And they have embraced the project as if it were theirs, they have been my sponsors. The reality is that there is no money or prize that can compensate them so much.
When you explain that Ron Guajiro, Caro Factory, Mandragora, have also contributed, does it mean that they are companies that are not sponsoring you but have also helped you economically?
Exactly. Yes, there are some companies that have made small contributions. This ranges from economic to work space leases. For example, well, at Caro Factorio it’s a production company that has a huge place and we had luck to be working there for a week and simultaneously the scenographies were being worked on, the attire was being worked on, we could rehearse there. The same with Mandrágora, at Mandráora there is also a scenic workspace and Platoploy and Ron Guajiro have been those other companies that have made small contributions and well, that we are all on board.
If you had to choose between the Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and that of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which one would you choose?
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With the carnival of Tenerife. Without any doubt. I think because of the meaning that people have of the carnival. The way of understanding the carnival. If here people didn’t complain so much… Look, I’m one of those people who is not fascinated by the carnival. I don’t prepare distractions months in advance, but I understand that it’s a traditional party. It has a monumental appeal and the reality is that in the Canary Islands they are not leisure islands, so for some extreme leisure that exists, it’s a pity that there are always people who try to find the four legs of the cat.
But it is true that when I compare the two carnivals, I stay with the one that I have to say, yes, the carnival of the street and well, of course. For me, the carnival of Las Palmas is and will be the Drag Gala.
What do you think of the move of the Carnival?
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It is very sad what has happened. How the carnival has had to be moved, but well, let’s hope that in the coming years, I don’t know, some solution is found. It saddens me because this change that has happened now has integrated everything, the new board with a whole new team. It has been an absolute facelift of the Carnival.
