Ay ik marag (¡Oh! A ti, el huésped)

To paraphrase Epeli Hau'ofa in Our Sea of Islands, the Canary Islands emerge from the depths of salt water and even deeper regions of fire. A succession of mountains between the waters, they were inhabited by the Amazigh people as the first settlers before the world experienced fragmentation as a mental state imposed by the colonial enterprise. The once fortunate Macaronesian islands, rich in endemic species, now bear an open colonial wound, intertwined and shared with southern Spain, the Americas (especially the Caribbean), and Africa.

"Thinking about the Canary Islands has never been an easy task." For this reason, Ay ik marag is the result of an experimental and collaborative research journey that uses the interconnected spaces of Atlantic music and dance as a mechanism for emancipation, healing, and resilience. Situated within decolonial theories and ecological critique, it draws its roots from the magical-spiritual world of Guanche rites, Hispanic sones, Afro-Andalusian Caribbean traditions, and Canarian folklore.

Raúl Cantizano

Raúl Cantizano is a flamenco guitarist who fuses genres such as ambient, rock, and experimental flamenco. He has worked with innovative contemporary flamenco artists, including Niño de Elche, Rocío Márquez, and Andrés Marín. His avant-garde approach has led him to collaborate with renowned musicians and choreographers across multiple disciplines. With an international career in projects that push the boundaries of flamenco, Cantizano remains a key figure in the evolution of flamenco music.

Yinka Esi Tombs

British dancer and choreographer Yinka Esi Graves fuses flamenco with contemporary forms from an Afrodiasporic perspective. Her work, The Disancing Act, premiered at the Nîmes Flamenco Festival (2023) and has toured major international festivals. She is currently developing new projects for 2025-2026, where she will continue to explore the cultural connections between flamenco and contemporary dance, with a focus on the African diaspora.

Alicia Navarro

Curator and independent researcher Alicia Navarro collaborates on R&D projects commissioned by the CSIC. Her work focuses on dance studies and contemporary artistic practices, exploring decentered narratives that challenge hegemonic Western frameworks. Her curatorial work stands out, such as Négritude: les mémoires frontière du flamenco (2023), and her scientific advisory work on projects like Je vous laisse la profondeur de Leonor Serrano Rivas (2024). She has worked in institutions such as the Picasso Museum in Málaga and the Flamenco Art Biennial, fostering critical dialogues between dance, art, and marginalized identities.

PERRATE

A descendant of a flamenco dynasty, Perrate (Tomás de Perrate) began his flamenco career relatively late, at the age of 35, after working as a hairdresser. He has collaborated with renowned artists such as Israel Galván, Belén Maya, and Ana Morales, and has released several albums, including Perraterías (2005), Infundio (2010), and Tres Hits (2022). His music, rooted in tradition and his family's experimentation with flamenco, has garnered acclaim from both audiences and critics. In 2024, he will release Jolifanto, an album that continues his personal exploration of flamenco.