PHOTOS: Courtesy of Miguel Hernández
The Guardarfía folklore group paid tribute to the members of the defunct Ajei group, which 50 years ago won the first Dance Prize, which was held in the city of Santander, in August 1960. The San Bartolomé Municipal Theater was the place chosen to honor the Ajei folklore group.
The event began on Friday at 9:00 p.m. with the screening of the video that included some images and newspaper clippings, which echoed the glorious era lived in those years by the Ajei folklore group. Once the video screening was finished, the first musical chords began to sound by the Guadarfía group, organizer of this event together with the San Bartolomé City Council.
The repertoire offered by Guadarfia was very varied. The couplets and traditional dances of Canarian folklore were present. Without a doubt, the biggest ovation of the night was for the dancer Marcial de León, popularly known as "Lero", the same one who in 1960 danced the malagueña that received the deserved prize in Santander.
Marcial danced the malagueña again and managed to get the audience on their feet. In addition, some members of the dance corps took to the stage, who dared to perform some pieces and demonstrated that where there was, there always remains. One of the voices that was formed in the Ajei folklore group was that of Fefo García, who also participated in this special day.
A symbolic statuette
Before the end of the event, the mayor of San Bartolomé, Marcial Martín, took to the stage to congratulate the members of Ajei. In addition, the mayor provided a very curious anecdote that surprised many of those present. Thus, he recalled that when Ajei won the first Dance Prize in Santander, the accrediting sculpture was not given to him. For this reason, through the San Bartolomé City Council, it was investigated where it could be found.
Finally, they rescued the prize to bring it to Lanzarote and made a symbolic delivery of this sculpture at the event this Friday. The statuette was given to Marcial de León and will go to the dependencies of the Heritage department as the Ajei group no longer exists.
