'Verdiales', 'fandangos' and, of course, 'malagueñas', were played and danced during the II Folklore Festival Villa de Mijas, last Saturday at the Manuel España Theatre in Las Lagunas. The bandurrias, lutes, guitars and castanets started playing minutes before 19:00 in the María Zambrano Park, the meeting place for the participating groups in this event organised by the Musical-Cultural Association Coros y Danzas de Mijas, which is directed by Carolina Lara. 

The regional costumes filled with colour the park and then the streets of Las Lagunas. "Here we are, very nervous. We have been preparing and getting ready for this event for a long time", said Paqui Torres, a member of the hosting dance group, who highlighted her outfit, "this costume is the 'Malagueña' costume, but with the stripes making the Mijas flag, to prove that we are from here", explained Paqui, waving her skirt. One of the youngest girls in the local group, Tatiana Klemme, told us that she was going to dance 'Mariquilla Morales', "it is a 'tanguillo' from Mijas, I am also going to dance 'malagueña', I am nervous because it is the first time I am going to dance the 'malagueña' on stage", confessed the young girl. 

The Villa de Mijas Folklore Festival was born with the objective of ensuring that the dances and music of our land are not forgotten, hence the careful organisation by the local association, "we will have all the music live throughout the festival and two groups coming from abroad, from Marbella and Torre del Mar. We are going to do the parade first, to announce to the people that we have the festival and then we will arrive at the theatre where we will all perform", explained Feli Gabriel, the dance teacher and vice-president of the Musical-Cultural Association Coros y Danzas de Mijas. Regarding the repertoire, the dance teacher said that "we are going to play music from all the provinces of Andalusia and also some dances from Extremadura. The other groups are also bringing typical dances from here, from the province, and from outside our region. There will be more than 100 people on stage. "We have been preparing it for months, there is a lot of work and effort behind it, and many hours of rehearsal. I hope, above all, that everyone enjoys this festival and this day of coexistence", concluded Feli Gabriel. 

Participating groups 

This year, the dance and folklore group Ciudad de Marbella, accompanied by Raíces y Horizontes from Alhaurín de la Torres, and the Municipal Association Coros y Danzas Torre del Mar have joined the competition. "We have been preparing the dances that we are going to offer in this festival for the last two weeks. We will start with 'Hoces', and we will also dance 'Comares', 'Cartameños', 'Cómpeta', 'Torreño' and 'Álora'", explained Noelia Ruiz, spokesperson and voice of the Municipal Association of Choirs and Dances of Torre del Mar, who added that "we are very excited and eager to be here". 

Performances

After the multicoloured parade, the festival began at 20:00 hours in the Manuel España Theatre. The Municipal Association Coros y Danzas de Torre del Mar was in charge of breaking the ice, with a repertoire consisting of the following dances: 'Hoces', 'Comares', 'Cartameños', 'Cómpeta', 'Torreño' and 'Álora'. 

The dance group Ciudad de Marbella, accompanied by Raíces y Horizontes from Alhaurín de la Torre, chose songs related to the universal García Lorca, starting with 'Café chinitas', continuing with 'Malagueñas', 'Si vas pa'la mar' and 'Los Cuatro Muleros', and ending with 'Anda Jaleo'. 

The Musical and Cultural Association Coros y Danzas de Mijas was in charge of closing the festival. All the dance groups that Feli Gabriel trains took part, from the adult groups to the youth and children's groups. They offered, above all, dances from Mijas, such as the 'Tanguillos de Mariquilla Morales' or the 'Suelto de Mijas', although they also made a nod to other parts of Spain and performed 'fandangos' from Extremadura, Ronda, Almería and Granada, as well as 'verdiales' from Santa Catalina and 'Peteneras de Almería'. Special mention to the accompanying music, musicians and voices directed by María Maqueda. 

The second edition of the Festival Folklore Villa de Mijas ended with all the groups on stage, exchanging gifts among the participants and all looking forward to repeating the experience soon. Feli Gabriel thanked the other groups and the audience for their participation "for not allowing folklore to be lost, we ares proud to be able to continue with such traditional dances", said the vice-president of the association. 

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