Arahal. A Place to Rest

Espacio La Granja in Santa Cruz de Tenerife hosts "Arahal. A Place to Rest", the latest acclaimed production from Compañía Pieles. This interdisciplinary work delves into tradition, combining percussion, voice, stone, and seed, blending their sounds with silence. The result is an ancestral song connecting the Canary Islands with North Africa and the Sephardic legacy, opening a threshold to the intimate, the sacred, and the collective.

The show has a duration of 75 minutes and is especially recommended for ages 6 and over.

Artistic Credits

• Authorship: Jonatan Rodríguez and Oswaldo Bordón
• Musical Composition and Artistic Direction: Jonatán Rodríguez
• Dramaturgy and Stage Direction: Oswaldo Bordón
• Performers: Fátima Rodríguez, Laura Álvarez, José Félix Álvarez, Fernanda Alonso, Jeremías Martín, Juan Antonio Mora, Ithaisa Darias, Guillermo Molina, Ventor de la Guardia, Fede Beuster, Carlos Castañeda, and Jonatán Rodríguez.
• Sound Design: Ubaldo Pérez / Jonás García
• Lighting Design: Richy Gardés
• Programming and Production: Yasmina Díaz

On stage, "Arahal" unfolds an innovative interdisciplinary mechanism that consolidates Pieles' unique language, harmoniously integrating live music, movement, lighting, and stage props. The set design is built around a gigantic checkerboard, a design inspired by traditional Canarian intelligence games – such as 'El perro y las cabras' (The Dog and the Goats) – and ancient indigenous engravings on stone. This board functions as a symbolic territory, a memory map evoking the crossing of paths and decisions, suggesting possible journeys between the Canary Islands and their rich history.

In its phonographic dimension, "Arahal" is structured as a cycle of fifteen new compositions, conceived as stations of a single journey. Each piece is a point of light on a map of shared origins, with titles that refer to both specific geographies and inner landscapes.

The Compañía Pieles, founded and artistically directed by Jonatán Rodríguez with stage direction by Oswaldo Bordón, has developed a project that combines ethnographic research, musical creation, and theatrical experimentation. Their trajectory includes acclaimed shows such as 'Canto al trabajo' (their foundational work), 'Ángaro' (awarded the Canary Islands Music Prize for Best Roots Album in 2021), the intimate concert 'Piel con Piel', the piece 'La ilusión de César', and 'Tarasca' (Réplica Award for Best Sound Space). They were also nominated for 'Orilla' for the Canary Islands Music Prize for Best Roots Album. The company has received the “Atlántico Sonoro” and “Al Golpito” awards from Click and Roll for its deep connection to roots music and Canarian traditions. Their three-season residency at the Jameos del Agua auditorium and their constant presence at the International Music Festival of the Canary Islands, as well as various festivals and educational programmes, have positioned the company as a benchmark in contemporary creation that engages with tradition from an avant-garde perspective.

"Arahal" is presented as a work of synthesis and openness: it condenses previous lines of the company's work —work songs, oral memory, Amazigh connections, the centrality of percussion and collective voice— and projects them towards new symbolic geographies. It proposes a luminous image of tradition as a habitable home, a place where the body rests without losing its state of alert, where listening transforms into an act of consciousness, and where the fifteen new tracks function as sonic chambers of a single dwelling.

The album and the show "Arahal. A Place to Rest" constitute a single artistic gesture unfolded on two planes: the enduring sound recording and the ephemeral, ever-changing stage ceremony. Both embody the intuition that roots music, crafted with rigour, respect, tenderness, and risk, does not look to the past as a refuge, but as a seed for what is yet to sprout.

Discounts and Prices

• Reduced Price (20% off general admission): Applicable to unemployed individuals, young people aged 12 to 25, students, over 65s, large families, and individuals with a disability degree of 33% or more.
• Special Rate: €4.00 for students of theatre, dance, circus, and music schools.

It is essential to provide proof of eligibility for the discount upon entry to the venue. Beneficiaries of the Bono Cultural Joven (Youth Cultural Voucher) can purchase tickets exclusively at the theatre box office, one hour before the event, or by requesting a reservation up to 24 hours prior to the event via email at lagranja@icdcultural.org.

Don't miss this music show in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on 09/10: an essential cultural event of the month in the Metropolitan Area.