La Provincial Council of Huelva, specifically the Deputy for Local Development and European Funds, Rocio Moreno, presented the project last July AGREE (Atlantic Great Expeditions), a very interesting proposal that, based on the historical role of great nautical feats, seeks to position the province as a tourist and cultural benchmark in Europe.
The announcement seems to me to be of the utmost relevance, since in the effort to reinforce the strategy of international promotion of the territory, the provincial entity focuses the well-earned recognitions by relating them "with the role that Huelva had in the genesis of the first voyage of Christopher Columbus and the sailors from Huelva.”
To date, we are not aware of any programming. But I immediately linked the institutional reference to Briolanja, the montage about Christopher Columbus's sister-in-law, the dancer Maria Canea staged on May 4, 2023 in Palos de la Frontera, which later filled it with glory on September 3 in San Juan del Puerto, and which last night, August 10, 2025, we endorsed from the enjoyment in the Plaza de España of the Huelva town of Bonars.
The show has been included in the Summer Nights that the Buenos Aires City Council has scheduled for the months of July and August. Sanjuanera María Canea performs, as we say, Briolanja, and articulates the work on eight movements based on the professor's research David Gonzalez Cruz.
The protagonist of the montage alludes to Briolanja Moniz de Perestrello, sister of Columbus's deceased wife who, from the outset, expresses the persecution caused by the Conspiracy of Duke Diego I of Viseu against King Joao II of Portugal. And it is arranged to the sound of the seguiriya on a table, with which Canea identifies herself, using the resources of the castanets in perfect proportion to the clean and articulate footwork that marks the lines that the dancer internalizes.
While Columbus flees from the Portuguese crown, his son Diego remains in Palos of the Frontera, and then under the care of Briolanja and her husband, Miguel Muliart, residents in San Juan del Puerto, while the Genoese navigator is accompanied by Friar Juan Pérez in his transfer to Santa Fe to negotiate with the Catholic kings, the journey that would lead him to discover the New World.
"This dance narrative allows us to see how María Canea is reaching the peak of her artistic maturity, with the alegrías with a bata de cola and shawl being the verification, sometimes because it legitimizes the femininity of the dance that identifies her with the Sevillian school, sometimes because of the way she outlines herself in the calls and the walks, the delineation of the escobilla or the vigor in the closures."
Canea and the entire company experience the play as if it were their own story. The dramatic action is linked to the cante of the Romance of Brijolanda, the dance of the Joys of Saint John, where the feelings of the dancer are projected in a shower of sensations spread between the train and the shawl, and the representation of the Tientos-tangos of the game, with musicians never disconnected from the story and in a choreographic framework designed with rhythmic wisdom.
This dance narrative allows the spectator to see how María Canea is reaching the peak of her artistic maturity, with the alegrías with a bata de cola and shawl being the verification, sometimes because it legitimizes the femininity of the dance that identifies her with the Sevillian school, sometimes because of the way she outlines herself in the "calls" and the "walks", the delineation of the "escobilla" or the vigor in the "closures", so characteristic of this time.
The sequencing gives prominence, precisely, to San Juan del Puerto, since the people of San Juan, through Briolanja, contributed to The exploratory interests of Christopher Columbus, mainly the sailors of the ports of the Tinto River estuary, a foretaste of the maritime expedition to discover the world beyond known borders.
Travel availability is announced with the Fandangos of the journey, traveling through the Huelva territory and with the descriptive design of the protagonist, as well as the night of August 3, 1492, the day that Christopher Columbus left the Port of Palos de la Frontera, producing, in this sense, a contrast between the stage space and the emotional richness of the Soleá of Saint John the Baptist, full of stylistic coherence and without a hint of communicative dispersion, not with the dramatic force of the seguiriya, obviously, but adapted by María Canea to the demands of the scene, with movements very well coordinated in vitality and action.
On October 12, the caravels arrive at Guanahani, today the island of San Salvador (Bahamas). And they do so to the beat of the Bulerías from Guanahani, with a dance suitable for elevated senses of taste, with a true resurrection of the theatrical, affective and virtuosic spirit, where The noble clarity of setbacks prevails, in addition to a particularly evocative coloring of Atlantic exploration..
It should be added, in this sense, that the lighting was dispersed throughout the entire work in all directions except in the space of the protagonists, with harsh and uninvolving shadows, without creating the appropriate atmospheres for the story And, therefore, without making the acting visible or drawing the audience's attention, who nevertheless performed exemplarily, dazzled only by María Canea's dancing appeal. The absurdity was such that one of the spotlights was directed at the legs of the audience in the front row and not at the stage.
In Bonares, however, we are witnessing a proposal that promotes the flamenco as a distinctive mark, which strengthens the dimensions of the territory and enhances it through the formative development of Atlantic regions with shared cultural characteristics. In short, a project that, in line with the statements of Provincial Representative Rocío Moreno, promotes "the tourist appreciation of the Atlantic Cultural Heritage, linked to great navigators and nautical explorations."
Credits
Briolanja, of the Company of Maria Canea
Spain Square, Bonares (Huelva)
August 10th, 2025
Dance: María Canea
Cast: Pepe de Pura and Rafael del Calli (cante), and Álvaro Mora (guitar)
Choreographic collaborations: Luisa Palicio and Adela Campallo, in alegrías and tientos
