This time it was the youth’s turn to open the doors of the Falla Theater. And with all the focus on the girls and boys that make up the Cádiz Carnival quarry, they have decided to take advantage of this moment to send messages of commitment. “We are the generation that forgot to love in a small square, but did not forget love, for that is why heart is written with zeta,” sing in their presentation the members of Generation Z, the troupe, which in its first performance stood out singing to to tourist speculation, machismo and the lack of opportunities for people his age.
It will not be until January 23 when adults begin to participate in the unique song contest of the Cádiz carnival. While waiting for the children’s quarry to fill the Falla with laughter, emotions and unforgettable moments this weekend, it has been the intense adolescence of the youth quarry that first set foot on the theater in the competition with a total of 17 groups: six troupes, six chirigotas, four quartets and a choir. In total, 220 members, girls and boys between 12 and 18 years old, who have taken advantage of the opportunity to learn how to handle themselves on stage and, incidentally, with the help of their authors, leave important messages.
“I don’t understand tourism or speculation, or cruisers in San Juan de Dios (Cádiz Town Hall square), I only understand that patio that saw me grow full of flowers,” the Generation Z troupe sang in its second pasodoble, work of Antonio Galán, a renowned author, who writes here for the group led by his son. “I don’t understand that those who rule their neighborhoods sell for money. “I only understand with my age that, because of some scoundrels, I cannot go to my grandparents’ house every afternoon,” concluded this intense lyric against touristification and its effects in Cádiz.
The same group had already sung against racism and machismo. And she updated a famous pasodoble by Antonio Martínez Ares, a compliment from the castle of San Sebastián to that of Santa Catalina, reversing that love letter, so that she was the one who would be the conqueror. Their medley includes messages against bullying and homophobia. And it ends with a list of absences in his city of content and opportunities for people his age.
They weren’t the only ones. The troupe La Selva, by Cristian Martín and Nandi Núñez, has based its entire repertoire on a metaphor about bullying. That jungle is the playground of a school where the gazelle students receive attacks from the lions due to the apathy and silence of the hyenas. “In this jungle there is a tree where they go to take refuge under the protection of its leaves, where neither bullies nor cowards can approach, where no one harasses them,” its members sing in an emotional quatrain in defense of free love. So that the lion and the lioness, two tigers or two doves can kiss far from the vultures.
The troupe ‘Adelante, mis braves’, from Alcalá de Guadaíra, which has made history for being the first group from this Sevillian town to advance to the final of the official Cádiz Carnival contest, also carries in its repertoire messages in favor of those who fight against bullies at school, for public health, or sexual freedom. And the chirigota ‘Las gitaneras’, one of the most acclaimed, has called for respect for the elderly and respect and understanding of the gypsy culture.
The quartet ‘This quartet can’t cope’ is, in itself, a vindication of local commerce with lyrics loaded with a humorous message.
The effort for the Cádiz Carnival quarry to be an example of equality is seen, for example, in the fact that, unlike the adult competition where men are the majority, here girls and boys share groups equally. And perhaps that sensitivity for the quarry to be an example of good things has weighed on why a chirigota accustomed to winning prizes in this contest, Dos Hermanas ‘Friends of Guinness’, has not been chosen for the grand final on February 21, due to include jokes about physical aspects in your repertoire.
“The quarry cannot be a portfolio”
To sing, the quarry has sung even against those who have betrayed them in recent months. A court has admitted to processing a complaint of a child crime against two people for appropriating the money earned by this group last year, about 8,000 euros. It adds to the forced resignation of the president of the Quarry Association, who has left after having acknowledged having kept part of the money that the groups earned. “The quarry cannot be a portfolio,” reproached the chirigota ‘Los del gospel dao’.
The commitment of the carnival youth will have a second date in the final on February 21. Before, the children’s quarry will once again flood the Teatro Falla with messages from January 17 to 19. Starting on the 23rd, it will be the adult groups that take the floor.
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