Canary Dancers, the troupe made history, own and Santa Cruz Carnival, which since 1972, when Ignacio Vázquez formally presented it to the chicharrero town, has not stopped growing and transforming. Despite the fact that the history of Ignacio Vázquez goes back years when he founded, together with Manuel Monzón, Rumberos, the reality is that with Danzarines Canarios it is with the group that Ignacio wrote his name in capital letters in the history of Chicharrero Carnival.
Today, Luis Hernández, who currently chairs it, takes a tour of the trajectory of the comparsa for DIARIO DE AVISOS on its golden anniversary, an anniversary that they will celebrate tonight in the comparsa contest giving everything on stage.
Danzarines Canarios was born in 1971 by Ignacio Vázquez, who came from Rumberos as co-founder together with Manuel Monzón. After founding the dean comparsa and over the years, the pioneers were dissolving and setting up new comparsas and, among them, in 1971 a group of people met with Ignacio Vázquez at the head and founded Danzarines Canarios, which in 1972 began to participate at the Santa Cruz Carnival, disguised at that time under the name of Winter Festivals. The first year that Danzarines took to the streets, they won the first presentation prize, so the comparsa was born with a star. In previous years Los Sudamericanos won and, from then on, they have always been up to the task. Only Luis Hernández remains from that time, since the rest of the founders have been withdrawing due to family reasons, age or fatigue, among other reasons.
Luis continues leading the comparsa: “I have endured because my family is in the comparsa and we share the fans”. To which he adds: “For me the anniversary is a great pride, pleasure and honor for having brought the comparsa here, because it has cost a lot. I have many experiences of these 50 years. We are already passing the baton to the new generations, but as long as I have a bit of rope left, I will continue dancing”.
The 80’s and 90’s
Danzarines Canarios is one of the most successful troupes of Carnival, and year after year, it always manages to be among the best and win a prize in its category. However, the 1980s and 1990s were especially good for Danzarines, achieving milestones such as being the first group to achieve a triplet, winning first prize for performance, presentation, and rhythm and harmony. Despite the fact that in these two decades the comparsa made its way to the podium of the comparsas, with the passage of time the rest of the groups grew at the same time, as the president of Danzarines affirms: “The other comparsas did not stay ago, they were hot on our heels until today, in which there are years in which they have surpassed us”.
At that time the comparsa traveled a lot, “we were 4 or 5 years in Nice, but also in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, a large part of the Peninsula, Italy or southern Africa”. From those trips, the comparsa treasures a unique anecdote: they opened for Pavarotti in 1991 in a castle in Italy.
professionalization
With the arrival of the new millennium, the Carnival began to become more professional, and what was previously based on friendship and hobby, began to be about economy and work. In this way, Luis remembers that they had to start “paying for musical direction, musicians, designs and tailoring until they became what they have now: a semi-professional orchestra that charges.”
At present, the groups have been gaining level and, according to Luis, “we are all more or less at the same level, we no longer compete against one or two, we compete against all”. “We have not been left behind -he continues-, we are in a new era in which there are as many male dancers as there are female dancers, something that we have received very well. The comparsa is up to date with society.” Despite the fact that 50 years have passed, Danzarines can boast of not having been completely transformed, even so, they have been adapting to new technologies and new ways of doing the show.
The future
The formation is in good health, but, as its president points out, “we are a troupe, a group of people, and what today are joys, maybe not tomorrow. We are more than 90 components. We are under the minimum to go out and owe nothing, but the future looks very dark, there are fewer and fewer performances and everything is much more expensive than a year ago, both labor and materials. Revenues have not risen, the same thing happens with salaries. The future is yet to be written.”
