Photos: Sergio Betancort
Last Saturday night, Altavista dressed up in copla with the Spanish Gala held at the Padre Claret Neighborhood Association on the occasion of the festivities in honor of San Antonio Mª Claret. The social hall registered a full house and the attending public enjoyed singing and applauding all the artists who took the stage.
At 8:00 p.m., Mª Carmen Santa Cruz, presenter of the gala, began by introducing the Rociero Al-Andalus Group, made up of 12 members, mostly women. A group that has been parading the art of music and joy of Andalusia for more than 10 years. Al-Andalus connected from the beginning with the attending public since their art and let me in managed to get everyone to sing their songs at the same time that they complimented them. Lola Fernández acted as spokesperson for the group, taking care of presenting each of the chosen themes while inviting everyone present to sing with them. When the moment of farewell arrived, they had to continue performing two cheerful encores.
Immediately afterwards, two pairs of young dancers belonging to the Lanzarote Baila Dance School, directed by professor Miguel Medina, took to the stage. The two couples have several national titles in the dance challenge category. The young people left the attendees speechless with their spectacular choreographies, which were highly applauded.
Afterwards it was the turn of the singer Iraide Torres, revealing the potential of a very personal voice that, combined with the elegance of her staging, captivated the attendees. Her first song, María se bebe las Calles, one of the flagship songs of Pasión Vega, made it clear that Iraide Torres knows how to reach the public, giving everything she has inside and more.
Next, the guest artist for this so-called Spanish gala took to the stage, arriving from Malaga for the first time in Lanzarote to demonstrate all the art she carries within, María Lozano. A young singer who became known on the Canal Sur Andalucía television program "Se llama Copla". Lozano during her performance performed songs by the greatest copla singers such as Rocío Jurado, Marifé de Triana or Lola Flores. In addition, during her performance she gave a pleasant surprise to the public by inviting the great guitarist and master, Antonio de la Rosa, to take the stage. Singer and musician performed some flamenco styles with an art that only the greats like them achieve. She also surprised Iraide Torres by inviting them to sing at least one song with her. An invitation that Iraide did not want to miss, and together they performed a song by Lola Flores. Afterwards, she continued singing solo, coming down from the stage and mingling with the public. And so the final point was put to a night where the copla fell in love with Altavista.
