Saturday, February 27, 2010

Friday Night CaRNaVaL Live :)

Every year, the last Friday of Carnaval, my school hosts an event in which all the Chirigotas and Comparsas perform.  I went last year, and really enjoyed myself...so, I went again this year.  The performances began around 21:00 and ended around 3:30 am.  It makes for a long evening, but the time passes quickly.  As is the spirit of carnaval, the hours fly by as you laugh along and enjoy the spirited and cheerful performerances.

The whole point of Carnaval is to have fun!  And the main purpose of the Chirigotas and Comparsas, is to make fun of various people (such as local politicians, important people, etc) and criticize (in a comical manner) local everyday issues.  For the Chirigotas and Comparsas of Ubrique, this means the Mayor gets mentioned quite a bit, the "Turronero" and Jesulin de Ubrique (two well-known Ubriquenos) have to put up with a lot of flak, the issue of parking comes up frequently (as there is virtually no parking in Ubrique...and its a huge problem), and criticisms of the state-of-the-art (but yet to be opened) indoor pool are common. Of course, the economic crisis was also a big topic this year.  As was Paddle, which as of late, has become quite the "in" thing in Ubrique.

In conjunction with some witty lyrics, the groups also come up with some pretty good costumes.  This year, there were 7 groups (2 cuartets, 4 chirigotas, and 1 comparsa).  One of the cuartets, Si lo se, no vengo (If I knew, I wouldn't come), consisted of 5 men who dressed up as a doctor, a nurse, a policeman, an old man, and a emergency technician. The other cuartet Nos hemos dado cuenta que no sirve para nada trabajar en el Plan Menta (We've realized it is pointless to work under the Plan Menta) dressed up as a few random and unusual characters.  The Chirigotas this year consisted of Los Tocawebos (basically meaning "ball/testical touchers"; dressed up as doctors), Los Paletos (meaning "Paddle players", dressed as paddle players), El Guiso (meaning "The Stew", dressed up as soccer players, but brought props along to make "stew" and wore jerseys with forks and spoons as numbers), Los Cabezaimon (meaning something along the lines of "hardheaded/stubborn" dressed up as bobble-head dolls of the Mayor of Ubrique). The only comparsa this year was that of the ladies, called Deidad (Dieties, dressed up as goddesses).

Below are some videos that I took of each group performing.  While you likely won't understand the lyrics, you will still enjoy the music and the dancing...and you already have a slight idea of the topics (as mentioned above).  If you like them and are interested in seeing more, check out the following link:   http://www.ubrique.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1082&Itemid=36

Si Lo Se, No Vengo:


Los Tocawebos:


Los Paletos:


El Guiso:


Los Cabezaimon:


Deidad:

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