Yaiza closed this Saturday the commemorative program of obtaining the title of 'Historical City' with the premiere of the scenic work 'Yaiza Historical City', directed by Salvador Leal.
According to the City Council, the play "masterfully represented relevant events of Yaiza's past, exalting the heritage values of the southern town through a proposal performed by about thirty actors and dance groups from the municipality that brought the audience to its feet with applause."
"All the recognitions to people and entities given in the Yaiza Historical City program are part of our history, and history has the defect of surviving its protagonists," said the mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda. He also added that "when we are not in the world of the living, someone will remember us for having returned to Yaiza the title of City, an anniversary that will be celebrated by future generations, and that we must savor with pride, because we have all been here to tell the tale."
From the Consistory they emphasize that the distinction encompasses "the entire municipality, which is now called Historical City of Yaiza", annexing to its shield "a silver ribbon with the legend of the title."
"This fact implies the change of the institutional image, and therefore, the mayor and all the councilors of the City Council are holders of the new corporate medal," they point out, a medal that was presented after the scenic representation. The public gathered in the Plaza de la Alameda could see "the new heraldic shield" made by the municipal worker Pancho Ortiz, who elaborated it in salt with the collaboration of Salinas de Janubio.
'Yaiza Historical City", "a spectacular work"
The City Council of Yaiza describes the work as "a powerful dramatic representation, rich in interpretation, movement, costumes, props, music and lighting", guided by two narrators and a violin on stage, "that drive the narration of the events with subtle transitions."
The play 'Yaiza Historical City' stages three acts. "From the reference of the Franco-Norman conquest in the Rubicon, it goes to the attacks of pirates surprising with the irruption of a ship that comes out of nowhere to reach land and consummate the assault, while peasants run fleeing in terror from the barbarism," they detail from the Consistory.
Then come "everyday moments". "Women and men in hard farming tasks, dividing the work; but not everything can be work, so there is also time to eat, drink, talk, laugh, and of course, to fall in love", they add.
Later, the roar of a volcano "ends the tranquility". "The sound effects, the music and the pyrotechnics put the public on alert seeing towards a mountain, which makes the background of the stage", they add from the City Council, which also detail that the village "is devastated and the disappointment envelops the environment, and before the destruction and despair there is no other way than to emigrate."
Finally, the play directs its end reflecting that "the people are strong". Several characters appear, according to the Consistory, some of them "sitting on a rolling platform, while an individual tries to distribute tasks."
"Men and women come out carrying huge flags with the colors of the institutional flag of Yaiza, yellow, blue, red and white, forming a semicircle so that more characters appear with wooden frames as a faithful copy of each of the quarters of the heraldic shield. The Volcano, is one of them, another the Key and the Staff, another the Castle of Las Coloradas, to then complete the puzzle of the shield placing its Crown, and to finish, with the silver ribbon where you can read Historical City", detail from the City Council of Yaiza. A "title deserved from yesteryear", recalls a narrator.
The closing ceremony of the program 'Yaiza Historical City' ended with a "wonderful musical repertoire of the Bohemia Lanzarote Group" directed by Juanma Padrón. "The sensitivity of art was the protagonist during the two months of celebrations", they point out from Yaiza, in addition to thanking the participation "of all the artists".