Costumes, makeup, songs, critiques and lots and lots of humor. The murgas of Lanzarote have already kicked off their season of preparations for the next Arrecife Carnival contest 2023.
For the moment, as reported by the Department of Festivities of the capital city council, the contest will have a preliminary phase scheduled for February 13 and 14, where 10 groups will participate: Las Vacilonas, Las Enraladas, Las Faltonas, Las Infiltradas, Las Inadaptadas, Los Intoxicados, Los Tabletúos, Los Desahuciados, Los Titi-Roys and Los Simplones.
Based on these dates and following the 2020 model, the final would be reserved for February 17.
The desire remains intact
Disconnection, fun and calm, or tradition. This is what the murgas represent for Davinia, member of Las Enraladas; Sergio, from Los Simplones; and Crisanto, director of Los Tabletúos. With the exception of Los Simplones - who did participate in the presentation subject to restrictions that took place during the past year 2021 - all the groups have not been on stage for two years because of the pandemic.
"We were afraid that we could not recover the celebration", says Davinia, "not so much for the contest itself, because that without a pandemic or with it, is an unknown every year... But because people would settle down and not feel like carnival, both the public and the members of the groups."
However, Sergio indicates that, although in the case of Los Simplones some members have been lost with respect to the pre-covid era, "in general the groups are more animated, after last year only three of us went out. You can feel the good atmosphere, we really wanted this."
Despite the undeniable desire in which all members repair, Crisanto points out that the fear that the murgas contest, and the festivity in general, will be affected again persists, because "we always have that intrigue of knowing if everything will continue to be as before... The pandemic affected us a lot, because such large groups, with things like that, suffer. Any change is hard for us".
The murgas... the most abandoned group of the carnival?
Changes are hard for the murgas, and the lack of them too.
"During the last years, the contest has always been taken with tweezers... We are the weakest group of the carnival, this was evidenced last year, when almost all the comparsas and batucadas went out and murgas, only three", says Sergio.
In his opinion, there is a lack of institutional support for all the groups that make up the festivity because "their needs are not heard".
These words are subscribed by Davinia, who says that "the Carnival of Arrecife is abandoned" always being prey to haste and last minute arrangements that make "the groups end up looking for life always, although every year we have been willing to help, coordinate and organize with time".
Las Enraladas during one of their performances
That is why, according to Crisanto, the groups have ended up "learning to get the chestnuts out of the fire, looking for funding and help on our own", and recognizes that "the murgas are the most abandoned because we also demand a little more than the rest".
"The support is conspicuous by its absence in general, not only in murgas. All the groups demand a little pampering. But in our case, which is the most followed event and that moves more people, we find that we do not even have a place with capacity to accommodate the public", explains the director of Los Tabletúos.
The children's murgas, the great forgotten ones
All these problems are magnified, paradoxically, when talking about the little ones. Lanzarote currently has three children's murgas, a fact that places this sector as "the great forgotten".
Davinia is part of the board of the Chau-Chau, one of the groups of minors on the island, and perceives that "the quarry is being lost": "The children's murgas do not have the support they should, since they have even less than the adults. We must take care of them because, in the end, they are the ones that will form the large groups in the future."
Crisanto, on the other hand, details that to these complications are added "the efforts that parents have to make to take their children to rehearsals, be aware of the dates... They have to multiply so that the little ones acquire the murga commitment, and it is complicated."
However, he agrees with Davinia that the groups of minors are essential, and says that "we can not give enough impetus to the adults because we are not taking good care of the origin and where we come from".
An increasingly uncertain future
This situation has generated that, the idea that the murgas may disappear from Lanzarote, is increasingly tangible: "If we do not put our part between all to promote this space, we will have less and less", says Sergio.
Crisanto, meanwhile, explains that "it is increasingly difficult to attract young people, I do not know if because of the format or because of all the uncertainty to which we are always subject".
However, all members remain confident that the murga can become a claim again, "since we have been maintaining them for generations and generations".
The sorrows go away singing
Despite the difficulties, in addition to confidence, carnival is illusion. And this illusion emanates in abundance from the members of the murgas.
Although most do not want to reveal anything, Sergio and Crisanto advance that the public will enjoy and will be surprised: "In our case, we will talk about the usual: current affairs, politics... But with a different air, because we want to impress", advances the director of Los Tabletúos.
Although everyone recognizes that the murga demands a lot, "it also gives you a lot". Therefore, all the murgueros encourage people to come to the carnival, and enjoy that little bit of "disconnection, fun and calm, and tradition" that not only occurs in the rehearsal rooms of these groups, but is also shared.
