The Joroperos return this year to the Carnival of Santa Cruz in style, after the break they made in the summer edition of last 2022, celebrating their 50th anniversary with a show that “we are convinced that the public will like a lot,” he says Fernando Hernández, director since 1988, and also president for eight years, of this comparsa that has accumulated almost a hundred awards throughout its history, adding rhythm and color to the Chicharrero Carnival.
“We have achieved that the comparsa is at the level that it is thanks to the good atmosphere and the fact that people come here to have a good time. We already have enough problems to deal with on a day-to-day basis for it to be difficult for you to come to a rehearsal,” says Fernando, who also points out that the troupe “has a huge human group, 80% of the members have more than 25 years”.
A job that begins months before the celebration of Carnival and in which “we have a choreographer, named Juan Carlos Nera, who does tireless work on the choreographies, despite the fact that he lives in Madrid, but since September he has been every weekend to rehearse. He was a dancer in the children’s comparsa that we had in the 80s and he started as a choreographer in the 90s”, he recounts. In addition, “we have José Antonio Afonso, who is the musical director, he has been with us for 25 years and has been the promoter of improving the voices in the comparsas.” “And in the percussion part -he adds- we have Julio González, who has been with us for many years and is in charge of putting on the Rhythm and Harmony show on the street, and he is a person who makes rehearsals enjoyable”.
Los Joroperos are also “the most international group of the Tenerife Carnival”, highlights Fernando, who explains that in these 50 years “we have made 87 trips and since 1989 we have not stopped traveling, except during the pandemic”. “We do a lot of things on the Peninsula and, above all, in France and London”, he points out.
And, in addition, it is a very supportive troupe, since they usually work with NGOs and different entities, “and whenever they call us we try to collaborate with free performances.” “I have always transmitted to the members that not everything in life is about prizes, there are more important things, that people feel comfortable with a group that collaborates”, values its director. The Joroperos return this year with a lot of enthusiasm after deciding not to go out in the summer Carnival of last 2022. “We considered that it was not the best year to celebrate the 50th anniversary, because you only had 10 minutes of show and we wanted this anniversary to go as always, at a good level, both in costume, as in a show and later on the street”, explains Fernando.
Show
The Carnival comparsa contest is next Saturday, and the group is finalizing the details of its show these days, which will put “almost 100 people dancing on stage, because we have recovered people who at the time left the comparsa and have wanted to go out now for the 50th anniversary ”, he highlights, although the total number of components this year rises to 142 people.
Fernando anticipates some brushstrokes of a show that will be “very varied, with a first part with many Brazilian themes and a more Latin second part, and also some modern themes”, and will include some that at some point in these 50 years “were important for we”. “We are convinced that this year’s show will be very popular with the public. And not only on stage but on the street”, he affirms.
And his fantasy has already been known, since the comparsa presented it at the Teatro Leal on January 28, a design by Borja Abreu that bears the name of Reflections.
In addition, within the framework of the celebration of their 50th anniversary, Los Joroperos have recovered their children’s comparsa, which already performed at the recent gala for the election of the Children’s Carnival Queen. “We took it out for the first time between the years 85-89 -says Fernando-, and afterwards, honestly, we didn’t have the time the children needed. And this year we have returned.
Likewise, the French television star and star Marlene Morreau announced that she will return to parade together with the comparsa during the Announcement Parade, as she did in 2019 for the first time.
