De Jarana
Benito Cabrera, Jep Meléndez y Tomás Fariña
* Informatie beschikbaar in het Engels
Next March 7, the Escena Lanzarote Performing Arts Festival presents De Jarana at the Jameos del Agua Auditorium— a vibrant production that celebrates festivity, tradition, and rhythm through a contemporary lens, led by Benito Cabrera, Jep Meléndez, and Tomás Fariña.
In the Canary Islands, jarana means celebration, a lively get-together: that moment when music brings people together, the body lets go, and joy is shared. De Jarana is born from that spirit and transforms it into a stage production full of energy, emotion, and beauty.
Far from being a literal recreation of the islands’ festive calendar, this piece is a journey through the sensations our celebrations awaken: the pleasure of dancing, the little flags that fill squares and streets, the power of collective ritual… and also that gentle melancholy that appears when we remember those who are no longer with us.
Rhythm, tradition, and celebration
De Jarana combines body percussion, tap dance, and live music to create a scenic and sensory journey that begins with Canarian tradition and opens up to contemporary and universal languages.
Through rhythm, movement, and the power of live performance, the piece connects with the ritual meaning of celebration, incorporating pre-Hispanic references such as the aboriginal Beñesmen* and linking them to other ways of understanding festivity in different parts of the world.
Far from being a recreation of the islands’ festive calendar, the show offers an emotional journey through everything our celebrations awaken: the tradition of running after the “devils,” the joy of dancing together, the memory of the little flags that transform squares and streets, and also the melancholy of remembering those who are no longer with us.
From this meeting point of memory, identity, and collective energy, De Jarana builds its own stage language, where body and music come together to celebrate, move, and connect—creating cultural bridges that travel from the Canary Islands to Galicia, the Philippines, or Peru.