The Reinau is a popular dance that is danced in Villarluengo for the feast of San Juan, which is currently celebrated the weekend closest to June 24.
Formerly the Reinau was danced in the square on two occasions, on the day of San Juan, June 24, by the young men, and the next day, June 25, San Lamberto, by the married couples. On the eve of the feast day, the mayo was planted in the square, a large pine tree trunk that the young men went to the mountain to find, and the Reinau danced around the mayo, until it was moved to a different location. Nowadays, you can find the mayo in the Plaza de la Iglesia, and it is planted in a fixed place, while the Reinau is danced in the Plaza Carlos Castel. Just like in the old days.
They danced the Reinau the majorales of San Juan, who were the young men who were going to get married that year. In 1949 there were no majorales and, in order not to lose the party, the quintos of the year took charge. Nowadays it is the young men and women in general who dance it, and some adults and children also take part.
For the dance the women dressed, and still dress, with sayas and shawls, and the young men try to dress uniformly with dark pants, white shirt, vest and a borsalino type hat, essential, since it is an important element in the dance.
The dance begins with a parade where the young men, preceded by the bagpipes and drums, arrive at the square, where the dancers are placed in front of the pipers in two rows: the men to the right of the piper and the women to the left. The dance is divided into several parts, the first of which the couples dance to the rhythm of the dance with established steps. In the second part the jota begins, and it is the moment that in the dance the men will place the hat on the women at first and then the women give it back to the men. At the end of this phase the dancers are arranged in a circle, that is to say, in a circle, with the women occupying the outer part and the men the inner part. The jota begins and is repeated until each man has danced one copla with each woman and the last one with his initial partner. To finish, they dance a pasodoble that served as a link between the Reinau and the dance session for the whole village and that, nowadays they dance in rolde. After a couple of laps around the square they leave.
It is one of the few popular dances that are danced in the region, along with the Reinau de Miravete, the Rolde de Mirambel and recently, the dance of Las Vueltas de La Cuba was recovered. There were other dances such as the Reinau de Montoro, the Cañada de Benatanduz, or the Jota de San Lamberto in Cantavieja.
Most of these dances are typical of the period from Easter to San Juan, a cycle known as the exaltation of spring or nature, with festivities such as enramadas, mayos, albadas, etc.
