After 40 years of inactivity, the members of the Agrupación Folclórica Tinguafaya are reunited with the purpose of trying to re-form the family with which they worked as a team for ten years to maintain the culture of our traditional songs and dances, representing Tinajo and Lanzarote at all the events to which they were invited.
Very excited, they got to work tuning their instruments to which they also joined their voices and, on the black asphalt of the Plaza de Los Dolores in Mancha Blanca, they surprised the large audience with the colorfulness of their clothing and the choreographies to the rhythms of the isa, folía, sorondongo and malagueña on a very special night, not only to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of its foundation, but also with a great responsibility they were presented as the heralds of the festivities in honor of Our Lady of Los Dolores.
Julia Padrón and José Guillen, members of the Agrupación Folclórica Tinguafaya, were in charge of reading the proclamation, taking a broad tour recounting some of the many experiences and anecdotes that occurred, as we detail below.
It was in 1974, with the arrival of a group of religious women, among whom was Coralia, a fundamental pillar in the creation of the group. When deciding what name to give it, they resorted to a clearly aboriginal word and since its creation all the members worked tirelessly to preserve, disseminate and recreate the Canarian traditions, choosing a very simple clothing inspired by the typical costumes of the time with a repertoire of traditional songs such as isas, folías, seguidillas or malagueñas.
It was not an easy task as they did not have the financial support of public institutions. The objective and motivation was the respect and defense of traditional culture, incentives that made possible a brief but very intense journey that lasted for ten wonderful years.
In 1975, with the death of the dictator, young people looked with hope to a future that was opening up to modernity, freedom and progress and despite the difficulties they were willing to change and organized for the first time the festivities of the Virgen de Los Dolores including a small pilgrimage. With the passage of time came the performances outside the island visiting La Palma, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and La Graciosa, acting before the former Venezuelan president Carlos Andrés Pérez.
They also carried out different recognitions to people involved with the culture such as Dorotea, the Potter of Muñique, César Manrique, Universal Artist, Rafael Duarte, the oldest neighbor, Florián Corujo, folklorist and Marcial de León (lero), great dancer of San Bartolomé. The proclamation also includes the first recording they made on a cassette tape that is in the National Library of Spain, without forgetting Miguel Duque, author of the recording made in Super-8, a memory that was projected at the reading event.
The members recounted the reasons why Tinguafaya had disappeared. With the departure of some members to military service and others to study outside the island, they were forced to make a stop that was prolonged for 40 years. Some time ago when they were sharing a sancocho at Pedro Cabrera's house, the idea arose to meet again to play, sing and dance and thus celebrate the "50th Anniversary" of the founding of Tinguafaya.
The invitation made by the mayor Jesús Machín caught them by surprise, but they are very excited and grateful to be the heralds of the most important festivities in Lanzarote for them. On such a special night they also had present the colleagues who are no longer there and those who still share the day to day.
Those in charge of the reading recalled that preserving traditions allows current and future generations to maintain a link with their roots and better understand their history and their place in the world, quoting a phrase from César Manrique "A people without tradition is condemned to die". This is fundamental for identity and cultural heritage, but also to promote education and social cohesion, support sustainable economic development and contribute to the conservation of the environment.
With cheers to Tinajo, Lanzarote and the Virgen de Los Dolores they concluded their proclamation. Then the mayor Jesús Machín presented him with a sculpture and a bouquet of flowers. After the protocol photos, the performance of the Grupo de Música Popular Acatife began.
