tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71132162024-03-13T14:02:24.271-07:00MEXIGUANAI'm Rochelle Cashdan serving my no-cal Mexican buffet with Guanajuato as the main course. Check the sidebar for the most popular posts. I also post about art & culture at www.guanajuatolegends.blogspot com. My online poems and stories, including "Our Mutual Friend" (set in Guanajuato), can be reached by googling.
Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.comBlogger238125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-38131005845228400592015-05-08T08:12:00.001-07:002015-05-08T08:18:11.827-07:00Guanajuato: OSUG will play a work filled with drama tonight May 8Tonight, our symphony orchestra will feature a work by Leonense Javier González Compeán based on the courage of the trainman Jesús Garcia Corona who, at the cost of his life, saved a whole Northern town from an explosion. We'll see if the rhythm of the <i>corrido</i> (popular song) based on the event, El Héroe de Nacozari, will permeate the work.<br />
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Other recent concerts in Guanajuato: At the Gene Byron, a preview of an opera we will have the chance to hear in full at the Teatro Juarez on September 5. The University of Guanajuato awarded the work with its prize as the best project submitted. The composer, born in Italy but who has lived for many years in the United States teaches music theory at Stanford. During the first half of the program, he and his wife played pieces of his for viola and piano to an appreciative audience.<br />
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The Museo Iconográfico presents musical Thursday evenings starting at 8pm, $40 max. Two weeks ago I went to hear the a Mexican piano team play a concert for four hands (at one piano). Beautiful music, all new to me, by Dvorak, Moszkowski and Rachmaninoff, followed by a piano version of <i>The Nutcracker Suite</i>.<br />
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And coming up, mark your calendar, the annual Symposium of Cervantino Studies (go to the Iconográfico website for details. On September 25 to open the symposium, Alberto Cruzprieto, a fine pianist will present a concert at 7:30m, open to the public <i>gratis</i>. Get there early for a good seat..Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-74591603776145862582015-04-13T07:45:00.000-07:002015-04-13T07:54:47.914-07:00Guanajuato: Viol da Gamba Comes to Town<a href="http://www.corilon.com/shop_userdata/1/items/347_1_11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.corilon.com/shop_userdata/1/items/347_1_11.jpg" height="200" width="125" /></a>To be up close to the musicians, try an early concert at Maz+Ahuas, the gallery in Casa Cuatro..Last Saturday at 7, at a da gamba concert, I decided the angels in heaven don't play harps, they play the instrument I was hearing. This time, there was no paper program, I don't know the name of the musician I heard, only that he and the keyboard player during the latter part of the concert will be playing with Armando Lopez' Los Tiempos Pasados in this year's Cervantino Festival. For this concert, he was dressed conservatively in black, but with roguish dark sunglasses perched on his head.<br />
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Like a cello, the viol de gamba (viol of the leg) is played, yes, between the legs but a closer look shows how the two instruments differ. With the viol da gamba,: the player holds the bow palm up, the instrument has a flat not rounded back, has no stand supporting it on the floor, six strings rather than four, and what is not apparent to the eye, it is tuned differently.<br />
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Thanks to a tip from another writer covering the Cervantino Festival a few years ago, I went to hear Jordi Savall, the world's most renowned viol player and his group play music from the age of Cervantes. How happy I was to have another chance to hear beautiful music written centuries ago for this instrument. Let's not forget it was contemporary music then!<br />
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<br />Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-30809390061120431942015-03-22T17:32:00.003-07:002015-03-22T17:33:58.804-07:00Guanajuato Theatre: World-class Evening at the MIQOne Friday each month is Theater Night at the Museo Icónografico. If the line for last Friday's performance in Spanish based on<i> estadounidense</i> David Mamet's <i>The Duck Variations (</i><i>!Patos! Historias Desgraznadas) </i>was typical, arrive a little before 7pm to insure getting a ticket.<br />
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At the MIQ, The museum patio serves as the stage, with the audience sitting on two sides, so the audience is in an intimate setting close to the actors.<br />
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When Mamet wrote this two-character play, he was in his thirties, but already with a command of dialogue. Two old men sit in a park, talking about almost every subject under the sun. Somehow they keep bringing ducks (which neither know much about) into their conversation. So, even when the theme is death, the two couldn't be more alive, playing off each other<br />
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Bruno Ruiz adapted the work, in which he and Kaleb Osguera played the characters as young men. They worked together as if they were trapeze artists, both of them masters of physical theatre, timing, expression and their lines.<br />
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The set and props were simple and the lighting effective, with the visible, topical ending coming as a great surprise. Thanks to Carlos Vidaurri who arranges the theatre programs at the MIQ and to the Mexico City team who brought this Cervantino-quality production to Guanajuato.Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-43384182126437438532015-03-12T19:36:00.003-07:002015-03-12T19:37:30.632-07:00Guanajuato: first of the yellow corn<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmbzY5g7E8azgD7SZNhSB_bcggEv-vi-V2ox96qjvT1l-VWFtWtP0YWu4xq1LLnJ9F1d0nrdq0Jzq3HbHrCTWSUZcvuJ1ZZmn2s863vpShoDBf4pmUeIgiHwhBz8HV_E-CmA68/s1600/yellow+corn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmbzY5g7E8azgD7SZNhSB_bcggEv-vi-V2ox96qjvT1l-VWFtWtP0YWu4xq1LLnJ9F1d0nrdq0Jzq3HbHrCTWSUZcvuJ1ZZmn2s863vpShoDBf4pmUeIgiHwhBz8HV_E-CmA68/s1600/yellow+corn.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a>Oh, but I love the corn on the cob I grew up with! Available now along calle Alhondiga near the main bus stop. On a stick with the coatings of your choice - cream, mayonnaise, grated cheese, chile. Or in the interior of the Embajadoras market, ready to boil or microwave.Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-7853384036535477462015-03-05T18:04:00.001-08:002015-03-22T22:14:34.418-07:00Guanajuato to Celebrate el Día internacional de la mujer Sunday, March 8 Head for the Jardin on International Woman's Day, always a lively scene.<br />
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You will see the tables set up under the trees where women have come into town to sell their wares. I always head for the jam at the table set up by the Santa Rosa Women's Cooperative. By the way, it's doing very well these days, thanks for a partnership with a Mexican business that buys much of what it produces, but they will still change your pesos into jam or wine.<br />
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By the way I'm also a fan of the goat cheese a woman sells Thursday and Sunday mornings outside the Mercado Hidalgo (left side looking toward the entrance.) Unpasteurized, but I've never had any problem, although I have with the cheese she sells made from cow's milk.<br />
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postscript: Turns out the big hit of the day was the Guanajuatense singing group, Hijas de la Guayaba, who performed <i>son </i>at a special concert at El Museo del Pueblo. The chapel was full and the music captivating, some of it accompanied by dancing. What a group of accomplished women--and music is only their avocation!. .<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three Hijas backed by Chavez Morado's mural</td></tr>
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<br />Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-18809886906432720322015-03-03T09:08:00.000-08:002015-03-05T18:07:28.797-08:00Guanajuato food during La Cuaresma (Lent)Last Friday when I went by Lauri's restaurant, located at the beginning of Paseo de la Presa just past where the buses come out, I was surprised to see that no one was eating pozole, the usual Friday offering.Why?<br />
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Because we are now in the Lenten season and every Friday Lauri offers a Lenten menu (maybe the other days too, I'll check today). Shrimp-tomato soup (big shrimp in this restaurant), nopales and fish; capirotada, the sweet bread pudding of the season for dessert. Comes with tortillas and agua fresca. Informal seating below where you can watch the action, more formal above. 55 pesos.<br />
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To read more about Mexican food during <a href="http://mexicocooks.typepad.com/mexico_cooks/2009/03/comida-mexicana-para-la-cuaresma-special-mexican-food-for-lent.html">Lent</a>, see the photos and explanations at Mexico Cooks! Look for capirotada in other restaurants too. Each cook makes it differently but the basic ingredients are dry bread, eggs, piloncillo, raisins, cloves and a sprinkling of cheese.<br />
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The <i>viernes de dolores, </i>when students party and everyone eats ice cream, is March 27, two days before Palm Sunday. The holiday is especially meaningful to the mining community. If you go to to ex-hacienda in Cata, you will see the seed painting there and take your turn in line for your ice cream cone.Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-56638819958344340272015-02-03T08:34:00.002-08:002015-02-03T08:37:04.340-08:00Moon will be full tonight after Cine ClubLook up when you come out of Cine Club's Turkish film tonight even if you don't stay for the whole film--this one's three hours long. This cycle of international films is NOT at the usual place but at the Principal instead.<br />
Starts at 4 & 7:30.Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-20980090485468869712015-02-02T16:12:00.001-08:002015-02-02T16:15:37.861-08:00Good news for me . . . and I hope my readersAs some MEXIGUANA readers know, I publish online. Today I received an acceptance from <a href="http://www.madscientistjournal.org/">Mad Scientist Journal</a> for a <b>fake classified ad for a past-o-tron</b>. I'll even get a token payment. The ad will appear in the summer edition of this witty webside that parodies science writing every week..<br />
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A reprint of my flash fiction story, <b>The Revenge of the Pasta</b>, is due online later this month on <a href="http://www.indianavoicejournal.com/">Indiana Voice Journal</a>. I sneaked in because my family vacationed in the Indiana dunes one summer...<br />
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My story <b>Dr. Octopus, </b>that I read locally at an open mic night here, will appear mid-month on <a href="http://www.shortfictionbreak.com/">Short Fiction Break</a>..<br />
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<br />Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-78069386402003138852015-02-01T10:37:00.002-08:002015-02-01T10:38:27.990-08:00European Clown Yann (Jan) Costa at the Juarez tonight 7pmOne of my favorites. Here's a photo I took of him at the Off-Cervantino a few years ago. The event tonight is probably free; part of the Festival of Urban Actors.<br />
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<br />Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-88501265873294956642015-01-29T08:11:00.002-08:002015-01-29T08:12:19.866-08:00Cine Club UPDATE: Tonight's Leviathan (Russia) starts at 4:30, 7, 9:30Note the times. This long movie received eight stars on <a href="http://www.imdb.com/">IMDB</a> . The.main character, who lives in northern Russia by the Barents Sea, attempts to keep his repair shop despite the bureaucratic cards stacked against him. Said to have wonderful cinematography and two slow scenes but mostly fast-paced. Without music except two pieces by Philip Glass.Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-91482867866848120252015-01-27T21:05:00.000-08:002015-01-27T21:05:22.299-08:00University of Guanajuato Cine Club's Annual International Film Festival<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
UG’s Cine Club annual International Film Festival is underway in the small theatre Euquerio Guerrero at the back of the patio between the main UG building and the Compañia church.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After looking at the program notes online, my top pick is<b><i>, Ida</i></b>,
a Polish film shown to a small audience during the Guanajuato
International Film Festival (GIFF) last summer.At the time, I was told the film would start a half hour late; when I
returned in twenty minutes, I had already missed the beginning. </div>
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I plan
to go to this powerful movieagain on Sunday, <span style="text-indent: 0in;">February 1--and not just for the part 1 missed.. </span></div>
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As the producer
explained at the Juarez in July, getting the film funded took years; no one
wanted to back a film to be made in black and white. The producer and director
stuck to their guns, resulting in this film with its period feel. It has two
intertwined themes, the decision facing a novice nun who learns her Jewish
family brought her to a convent when she was a baby to shelter her from the
Nazis, and the bitter look backward by her aunt, who took part of the harsh
Communist regime that controlled Poland after the Second World War.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Shooting the film
in black and white (<i>blanco y negro</i> in
Spanish) was an inspired decision. A leading Polish actress plays the aunt. The
young woman playing the nun is on screen for the first time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The festival ends
February 7, with each film shown for one
night. Showings generally start at 5, 6, & 9.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For a complete
schedule of the festival, go to <a href="http://www.extension.ugto.mx.%20%0D%20%0D/">www.extension.ugto.mx.
<o:p></o:p></a></div>
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Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-26298843727443234092014-12-10T09:37:00.001-08:002014-12-20T15:48:56.467-08:00Keeping warm in Colima<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNcXKmJY-s_1DQC8QXlR3GNZgp5NqEVeDG_STmydLTsznp6W8bhz8A4Ni4OAWJQp4q6sDjakymDj_Ans36swzSHgeGRqOZXHa5_Mpkrmcs3uMGl1JlPi6WE9xV1NaybQMCNslC/s1600/swan1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNcXKmJY-s_1DQC8QXlR3GNZgp5NqEVeDG_STmydLTsznp6W8bhz8A4Ni4OAWJQp4q6sDjakymDj_Ans36swzSHgeGRqOZXHa5_Mpkrmcs3uMGl1JlPi6WE9xV1NaybQMCNslC/s1600/swan1.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"And everyone dancing"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After the Feria del Libro in Guadalajara, a massive event that I have never mastered, I went on by bus to Colima, one of my favorite places to visit in Mexico. Like Guanajuato, the state and the city share the same name. But there most similarities end..The city is flat and tropical, with three plazas strung out along the main street. One of them has swan fountains spurting at each corner. I was so taken with the swans the first time I visited the city, I wrote a short poem:about people dancing in the plaza at night surrounded by the fountains. When I went back this time on a Sunday evening, there was a CONACULTA dance event happening in front of the handsome city hall with six hundred in the audience.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGH1BFENEimWdoxhhWZotfBST78QvSkC2K2OrwI6X-2JkIuJ5Kro2HQgVCmmiexMAoyyImTGy57W-G66Uj08PqHIangZj4mNUI02IdobUAqHDjFvivR5K9xxu31Qo3_3pF4Mg/s1600/IMG_0692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGH1BFENEimWdoxhhWZotfBST78QvSkC2K2OrwI6X-2JkIuJ5Kro2HQgVCmmiexMAoyyImTGy57W-G66Uj08PqHIangZj4mNUI02IdobUAqHDjFvivR5K9xxu31Qo3_3pF4Mg/s1600/IMG_0692.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj42rJxOmDShbGcGsiPgQqkvZZpYiz-XWwaD8kWkLEN5mcZUd4zocPpfIKl1ePOiE9oHqLBtcspfQ-xzROmBcqsk8UoqfG9mCb_YPSnHfMgzUS0li88Df9cRWgdjolJ4YT-ODgd/s1600/IMG_0693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj42rJxOmDShbGcGsiPgQqkvZZpYiz-XWwaD8kWkLEN5mcZUd4zocPpfIKl1ePOiE9oHqLBtcspfQ-xzROmBcqsk8UoqfG9mCb_YPSnHfMgzUS0li88Df9cRWgdjolJ4YT-ODgd/s1600/IMG_0693.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a>During the hot part of the day I walked to the Regional Park with its round swimming pool and shaded picnic area with zoo and nature signs, my favorite park so far in Mexico.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRabmYb38WE_1HP6KsWwcl3I8D06jhWR5VX8BhXPfpjAd26Ji8lmO0LMkXVlQmq9aho5ehlemW4qvNrYrxjLfA-k6lVTlUMec-tc-GkPlptiLAAXf1xHdMtOSQkJ5OIaOJyUmd/s1600/IMG_0653.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRabmYb38WE_1HP6KsWwcl3I8D06jhWR5VX8BhXPfpjAd26Ji8lmO0LMkXVlQmq9aho5ehlemW4qvNrYrxjLfA-k6lVTlUMec-tc-GkPlptiLAAXf1xHdMtOSQkJ5OIaOJyUmd/s1600/IMG_0653.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comala boy and his horse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From Colima, I went uphill to Comala, the place whose name Juan Rulfo borrowed for the ghost town in his acclaimed novel <i>Pedro Paramo. </i>I don't know how it looked after the Cristero Wars, but nowadays the streets are lined with trim white houses topped by red tile roofs, a uniformity I associate with Purepecha cities like Patzcuaro. I learned that because this is festival time in Comala, weekend visitors from Colima stay away. So first I went across the bridge over the flowing river, then ate in solitary splendor at the splendid restaurant <i>Piccoli Suizo </i>opened five weeks ago by its Swiss chef who recently relocated from el DF at the request of his Colima-born wife. <br />
<br />
So does Colima have a down side? Several: hard to get to, three hours or more by bus from an international airport, a siesta almost necessary in the hot and humid climate.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhO2GynU2WrUbmmaiY-jVvFzlywzrfm-NlzE6pbqd5-jI0jIVIXGzvl62XNWcLxi1ditN1CmmyW-4gkG9nEiqozB80QiBb1c6R_7U0LPDOBCyHVQDcbjo6suTyAlndNE1gnn_O/s1600/onion+soup.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhO2GynU2WrUbmmaiY-jVvFzlywzrfm-NlzE6pbqd5-jI0jIVIXGzvl62XNWcLxi1ditN1CmmyW-4gkG9nEiqozB80QiBb1c6R_7U0LPDOBCyHVQDcbjo6suTyAlndNE1gnn_O/s1600/onion+soup.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This bowl of onion soup cost more than <br />
I usually pay for a comida in Gto. The buttery<br />
rolls made on site were delicious</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've only touched on a few of<br />
Colima's delights as a place to visit..<br />
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Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-34252430038690827822014-11-30T19:19:00.001-08:002014-11-30T19:59:54.596-08:00Morelia Music Festival's Magical FlutesMind-expanding. the phrase may be trite but the saturating effect of hearing four flute-players perform contemporary and Baroque music on a variety of flutes was anything but banal. The four flautists were Alejandro Escuer from Mexico, Claire Chase and Camilla Hoitenga from the United States and Giovanni Antonioni from Italy.<br />
<br />
If you went to Luminico in the Juarez earlier this month, you saw and heard Alejandro Escuer playing his flutes. Yes, plural--nowadays flute players play several, often changing from one to another during a single piece. Or to put it another way as Escuer does. says "My breath is my instrument.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESALQoPI_ktCZaJDu7yCr7Gf0n9jNXb96ktxo1TKXQpfmZRi_BLiH5SvNXkEPbqiP4Ha8Mw2Qk5U6Ux3pdKwiGiVRlK2W4m77bULwkzrn2tN3UxCKmaFoBlngJsZfvh2Asmgg/s1600/ALEJANDRO-ESCUER-CONCIERTO-4922-300x199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESALQoPI_ktCZaJDu7yCr7Gf0n9jNXb96ktxo1TKXQpfmZRi_BLiH5SvNXkEPbqiP4Ha8Mw2Qk5U6Ux3pdKwiGiVRlK2W4m77bULwkzrn2tN3UxCKmaFoBlngJsZfvh2Asmgg/s1600/ALEJANDRO-ESCUER-CONCIERTO-4922-300x199.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing a long flute wiith notes an octave lower<br />
than on a usual C flute. (FMM photo)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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When asked whether children like hearing contemporary music, the extroverted, innovative musician-academic grinned and mimed their dancing. He went on to explained that the flute is an expressive instrument similar to the human voice, He reminded us that flutes and drums are instruments, which go well together, are the instruments with the longest history and are found in every culture. (in face although he didn't say this, archaeologists think a pierced bone may be a flute dating from prehistoric times.)<br />
<br />
Ror the launching of Escuer's new CD <i> Flying</i>, composer-musician Rodney Sigal, music critic ]Juan Arturo Brennan and Sergio Vela (for a while the director of the Cervantino, now the Morelia festival's director) spoke, followed by the flautist playing four of the pieces, including one by Gabriela Ortiz, composer of a piece Ana Cervantes' commissioned for <i>Vuelos de la Monarca</i>.<br />
<i><br /></i>
Camilla Hoitenga and Claire Chase played works by the Festival's honoree, Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho the concluding weekend of the Festival. Saariaho achieves with percussion and harp. At her press conference, when asked how she composes, Saariaho the composer explained that she writes from her imagination, of course using the thorough knowledge of instruments learned during her training.<br />
<br />
I never imagined I would hear work by a Finnish composer not named Jan Sibelius..<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTQI-z3WPyXJKRjlMefhTWSAv8-pgnGNxdMTOy_vGRxCxypksXA8kMHUACneY34CWLIxdBMz3Z8bCHvpK8Gn_VITIDEz6_4T_HsoTbRFInIx7F2-Vtsm-VDtoOGp48JOJSeeI/s1600/mmf+ClaireChase_photocred_DavidMichalek2Resized1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTQI-z3WPyXJKRjlMefhTWSAv8-pgnGNxdMTOy_vGRxCxypksXA8kMHUACneY34CWLIxdBMz3Z8bCHvpK8Gn_VITIDEz6_4T_HsoTbRFInIx7F2-Vtsm-VDtoOGp48JOJSeeI/s1600/mmf+ClaireChase_photocred_DavidMichalek2Resized1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Claire Chase, musical entrepeneur <br />
as well as flute-player</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Chase's ensemble ICE (international Contemporary Ensemble), played Saariaho's Terrestre, along with several other of her pieces. Six Japanese Gardens for percussion and synthesizer mesmerized me, as did a piece for at least a dozen percussion instruments.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO1yRrbTgeIMunmHgvplYtybP5QtvDBASubWfZi9z6fz9YGdBywEYKT9cY0Zvpl-w9Qjo83Xak1_owoOaQ-tBq_IVu9HEotNXer20NGW4BdnX9GZzb_atbTX3GGy3ie9qSQlrb/s1600/mmf+camilla+hoitenga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO1yRrbTgeIMunmHgvplYtybP5QtvDBASubWfZi9z6fz9YGdBywEYKT9cY0Zvpl-w9Qjo83Xak1_owoOaQ-tBq_IVu9HEotNXer20NGW4BdnX9GZzb_atbTX3GGy3ie9qSQlrb/s1600/mmf+camilla+hoitenga.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camilla Hoitenga (Saariaho says Hoitenga knows <br />
just how to play her pieces</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The composer who worked closely with Camilla Hoitenga on parts of Aile du Songe, the concerto for flute and orchestra, which she then dedicated to Hoitenga. The flute player,.wearing a dark blue gauzy dress perfect for the bird-themed Aile du Songe, performed Saariaho's concerto with the National Symphony for the first part of the closing concert.<br />
<br />
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as the final part struck me as as incongruous as pairing a butterfly with an elephant. I had difficulty shifting gears, but I admit the Festival director and his committee knew how to end the Festival with a bang.<br />
<br />
Stepping back to the earlier concert of the final day, recorder player Giovanni Antonini with the Italian Barroque orquestra Il Giardino Armonico received a standing ovation from chamber orchestra's delighted audience in the colonial patio of the Palacio Municipal. The ensemble at last responded to their chanting. I wouldn't have known from listening to the encore with closed eyes, but with them open I could see how tired Antonioni was.When I checked the age of this youthful-looking grey-haired musician, I found he was seventy-two. Flute playing isn't for sissies, although when the brother was twelve, he quit because some boys said that it was..<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_ZncOqeNA0wNTsIvoWMxJHKFNytGW6kDA2K-jOsYpuJ3aqp8uHF8DXcsfKAbCNGOoAGNMvb5PT87ljSTnOLULZDZlsn_2moIGyxgPADn6qfBm728-It4PejaeLMMvWWolh6C/s1600/Italian+flute.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_ZncOqeNA0wNTsIvoWMxJHKFNytGW6kDA2K-jOsYpuJ3aqp8uHF8DXcsfKAbCNGOoAGNMvb5PT87ljSTnOLULZDZlsn_2moIGyxgPADn6qfBm728-It4PejaeLMMvWWolh6C/s1600/Italian+flute.JPG" height="320" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The group also included srings (one each), <br />
harpsichord and triomba (above)<br />
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******************************************************************************<br />
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For me, the frosting on the cake was meeting Juan Arturo Brennan who used to write the OSUG program notes until, as he said, he was fired. If he were asked, it was clear to me he would love to start writing them again.</td></tr>
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<br />Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-81982680908173762792014-11-24T09:13:00.001-08:002014-11-25T15:23:10.391-08:00Morelia Music Festival: Brodsky Quartet: Bartok and Late Beethoven + Other Tidbits <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggP8ksEolC6e5eRh-hvZv-IKeDdh93ZYRmm9Wkjd7RaFYkOerTAZjYeUo05CNg8DSXmiuOsagJsYgvTO5UYzwq5kH1JtOaYGfF4KDZRI5TlmXSGkZnzQV4KUdREsBwysmBNpXv/s1600/IMG_0628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggP8ksEolC6e5eRh-hvZv-IKeDdh93ZYRmm9Wkjd7RaFYkOerTAZjYeUo05CNg8DSXmiuOsagJsYgvTO5UYzwq5kH1JtOaYGfF4KDZRI5TlmXSGkZnzQV4KUdREsBwysmBNpXv/s1600/IMG_0628.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
The four accomplished, affable British musicians who make up the Brodsky Quartet take pleasure in explaining the music they play, whether to the press or to their audience. After their <i>rueda de prensa, </i>I asked Ian Belton, the Second violinist, to explain the Quartet's Russian name. Forget the Nobel prizewinning poet, Joseph Brodsky. Instead the name honors Russian born Adolph Brodsky who was invited to Manchester at the end of the 19th century to be concertmaster of the symphony, then later directed the Royal College of Music in Manchester for a quarter of a century.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJHVF4d9IA9lut7_dNE4UqLlJsOSjk8B8rMtz7itWE9UsU6m5ceN9Y8N0YUlwlHH_ZuhPAx2ewKSpmxxonPgNPqAqA4Ws6CuURan9t91Z-IyogBebCZVl8zBa7c_zOUtCAXXlW/s1600/IMG_0633.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJHVF4d9IA9lut7_dNE4UqLlJsOSjk8B8rMtz7itWE9UsU6m5ceN9Y8N0YUlwlHH_ZuhPAx2ewKSpmxxonPgNPqAqA4Ws6CuURan9t91Z-IyogBebCZVl8zBa7c_zOUtCAXXlW/s1600/IMG_0633.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The others played standing, with the cellist on a platform, <br />
her head level with theirs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Playing a program that led up to two of the greatest string quartets ever written, Bartok's Quartet #5 and Beethoven's late quartet, # 14, the Brodsky started with two short pieces from Bach's Art of the Fugue (for which Bach never specified instruments) and the haunting work <i>Preghiera </i>by the contemporary Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud.<br />
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Later, over a humdrum lunch, the eyes of a young travel writer shone as she expressed her excitement about hearing the rhythms and melodies of the Bartok. For me, the whole balanced program was a delight.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdK-yOKzPLEOfuVdxLNuOz9u9exxWs_psIrFJqHZNE2h4-v3Aw8QrrpNprNCjRNpVHv-vmFVbb-p4K8oDd4kaCiqQaqKO5Y94pfbLr8J0noukZzwg0J5km3CSdfgVQODnseny/s1600/IMG_0629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdK-yOKzPLEOfuVdxLNuOz9u9exxWs_psIrFJqHZNE2h4-v3Aw8QrrpNprNCjRNpVHv-vmFVbb-p4K8oDd4kaCiqQaqKO5Y94pfbLr8J0noukZzwg0J5km3CSdfgVQODnseny/s1600/IMG_0629.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Violiinist Daniel Rowland holding the attention of the audience</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-46356875587361685582014-11-24T08:17:00.001-08:002014-12-20T15:58:19.680-08:00Morelia Music Festival 26: A Sock to Shostakovich<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ4JYnZeA7WeW11sjLPedqSMGyMtKTxxf_zaJ73tzY8K3mJ-6MWwR2ajr7bvx7F6I5q7EXd_qdgSgWnxKWUWrU-HP1liInoc1YSHJozbU7y1mE1ZIDeaMuVZIjupPfwviI9jGU/s1600/IMG_0622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ4JYnZeA7WeW11sjLPedqSMGyMtKTxxf_zaJ73tzY8K3mJ-6MWwR2ajr7bvx7F6I5q7EXd_qdgSgWnxKWUWrU-HP1liInoc1YSHJozbU7y1mE1ZIDeaMuVZIjupPfwviI9jGU/s1600/IMG_0622.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Moscow Quartet members left for the US at the beginning of the 90s</td></tr>
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At their press conference, one of the four women comprising the Moscow Quartet explained that being a musician has nothing to do with gender, "not in our playing of the instruments, not in our lives." Even so, as part of the audience, I found hearing a quartet entirely made up of women gave me a special connection to the music. Hearing these Russian women put their souls into playing Shostakovich totally absorbed me.<br />
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I hadn't known how much muscle went into playing a Shostakovich quartet. So you can imagine my consternation when the gun-like sounds of fireworks pierced the walls of the patio of the Municipal Building for three minutes while the Quartet played the final movement of Quartet #3. The musicians, although clearly dismayed, kept playing. But, oh, what mindless scheduling by the Festival!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sisters, the 2nd violinist and violist </td></tr>
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Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-85792390019014460402014-11-09T08:11:00.000-08:002014-11-11T08:58:17.075-08:00Aprons/Mandiles Expo-Venta BaratilloYou can still see some of the 20 aprons, each one different and a tribute to creativity in Gto. Barbara MacPherson and Kate DeLos were the hardworking organizers. Karenia Fernandez and Norma Carmona also took part in the inauguration last Saturday.<br />
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I loved the extra dimension the overhanging exhibit brought to the Baratillo. Looking forward to it again next year.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8wtBe5Z3cRm4crDhn3_dZDmPxFaYzNKc5Wqs0aW40iOaKv7ZuAt0ZAA9YQMCa0DZxS257AYjIXk8xi5idkQutOvGcPBGDH15BgpjDouMv9J77BctrxinUc820Qo6qrSyDhyS/s1600/IMG_0588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8wtBe5Z3cRm4crDhn3_dZDmPxFaYzNKc5Wqs0aW40iOaKv7ZuAt0ZAA9YQMCa0DZxS257AYjIXk8xi5idkQutOvGcPBGDH15BgpjDouMv9J77BctrxinUc820Qo6qrSyDhyS/s320/IMG_0588.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Real autumn leaves from the US used here</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apron made by a friend</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barbara, Kate, Norma & Karenia Fernandez</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Blue Moon" by Mexiguana</td></tr>
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Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-1776620469416168762014-11-01T18:12:00.001-07:002014-11-01T18:20:43.602-07:00Books Now Organized in English Language Library<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwezNxwplUMCNjscjodD8z09QdgXYldYXwcT-0BK8mDJHUnpDA5cvh9NgTIsF92UinpO1pGZg8PTYNlYok0UGokv56X1xMxnk_qDRUvs6WoLLkTvMilhr-EGZiFM9uK23T0Jnn/s1600/IMG_0560.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwezNxwplUMCNjscjodD8z09QdgXYldYXwcT-0BK8mDJHUnpDA5cvh9NgTIsF92UinpO1pGZg8PTYNlYok0UGokv56X1xMxnk_qDRUvs6WoLLkTvMilhr-EGZiFM9uK23T0Jnn/s1600/IMG_0560.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looks topsy-turvy here but it isn't</td></tr>
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Open M-Th 10-4, except Wed 11-4. Chances are you'll find something to read. The library even has a few excellent reference books.<br />
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Donations of books in good condition, especially fiction and non-fiction 1990 or later, are welcome. Feel free to write your name and the date of your gift at the back of the book.<br />
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Because space is tight, there are many free giveaway books for the taking.<br />
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Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-29582609308011156442014-10-31T19:45:00.001-07:002014-11-01T08:18:53.646-07:00Cervantino 2014: Great Ride While It LastedI have to admit I was pessimistic beforehand about this one, but I am already full of memories of even more events than I wrote about. One of my favorite FIC junkies feels the same way and so did people who knew the one or two events that would make them happy.<br />
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Jorge Volpi, the director of this year's Cervantino, opened the Festival in the presence of the Crown Prince and Princess of Japan, expressing grief about the traagedy of the Normal School students. As director, Volpi made sure that FIC 42 would fertilize culture in Mexico: Not only Proyecto Ruelas, which developed actors and drew large audiences, but the Critics workshop and the Academia orchestra, both providing opportunities for talented Mexicans and others to hone their skills. And, once again, the FIC commissioned an opera and a dance work.<br />
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Here's a heartwarming story I heard: A friend took a retarded teenage girl she knows to the Butoh performance at the State Auditorium. The young woman was entranced, responded appropriately according to my friend. Maybe there's a lesson here. Maybe more of us should think of inviting someone we know who says"I'm not going to anything." a common response around here.<br />
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Grumbles: The untimely closing of most art exhibits the principal one, especially from people who work. And as always to select photos to download akes a long time because a slideshow is lacking.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scene from Rasgado's opera Paso del Norte</td></tr>
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When the new agenda booklet arrived, Ii found it practical. The <i>sabana</i> made planning easier, though.<br />
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An under-the-radar event I found very powerful:: the opera composed by Victor Rasgado of Oaxaca<br />
based on a play that told the true story of twenty Mexicans who died of suffocation when the train car in which they were going clandestinely to the US was shunted onto a siding. Poetic lyrics, powerful acting and singing by Lourdes Ambriz and others. Supertitled even though it was in Spanish.<br />
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I kept finding that one FIC event played off another. Just one example, seeing the staging of the soldiers in Coriolanus and then in the scenes I saw in Mexiamora. Once again, I was fascinated by how much the costume design contributes to the effect a work has. Hats off to the unsung hero(ines) who design and make these clothes.<br />
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We were lucky with the weather this year, although the one rainy day almost wiped out the Tea Ceremony.Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-77300280740918469982014-10-24T08:32:00.002-07:002014-10-24T17:31:36.233-07:00Cervantino 2014: Ballet of Belgrade's Mesmerizing Night of Dance<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1VtGpVzP3kBXSFdipwFjRa74Pr-X31Yg8bEbX7SwQ5FH-7Rd_BIfGByB9UC1Ba7XKoXA2asEO00nHwAwGKARvJgrfP6cIR6nZIBrqve4ACrjKCJvflSOyrFjyNnnwrPJ239GH/s1600/CR-FICAlejandro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1VtGpVzP3kBXSFdipwFjRa74Pr-X31Yg8bEbX7SwQ5FH-7Rd_BIfGByB9UC1Ba7XKoXA2asEO00nHwAwGKARvJgrfP6cIR6nZIBrqve4ACrjKCJvflSOyrFjyNnnwrPJ239GH/s1600/CR-FICAlejandro.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FIC$@ photo by Claudio Reyes</td></tr>
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I watched <i>Alexandro, </i>Alexander the Great's life as imagined by choreographer-librettist<i>. </i>Ronald Savkovic, through my skin -- as sheer dance without a thought about meaning. For the first hour of the 80 minute millennial ballet. I felt I was in the presence of a work of genius, a word I don't use lightly. Words fail me, except for saying that Savovic sees the work as semi-autobiographical. Instead, I''m providing a link with two dozen photos of this contemporary ballet as a reprise if you were there and an up-close look if you were elsewhere.<br />
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<a href="http://kontraplan.com/site/2012/01/29/alexander-by-ronald-savkovic/">http://kontraplan.com/site/2012/01/29/alexander-by-ronald-savkovic/</a>Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-19841287249889619872014-10-22T14:44:00.001-07:002014-10-22T14:50:24.058-07:00Cervantino 2014: Unhappy Endings <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I knew the music but was seeing the ballet<br />
for the first time. FIC42 photos -Claudia Reyes</td></tr>
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I have written so enthusiastically about FIC42 that I may be losing credibility with you, dear readers, So, even though this has been an incandescent Festival, I do have some reservations.<br />
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First of all, as reporting on each event takes more time than you might think, I skirt writing up theater or dance events that bore me. Think 1.8 of the two dance productions I've seen so far this year at the State Auditorium.<br />
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I broaden my perspective as I go to more dance and theater. I thought that although Coriolanus gripped me most of the way through, the end of this modern version let me down when it failed to suggest the noble funeral given the superhero. After seeing how Tiger Lillies staged the aftermath of Ophelia's death, I was even more skeptical of the company's decision.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPX9tUYWxMCZPitnQudbfkN8XZaDZ_okU4qvGrDlmD5Y8TBlTajc889lRFlPnq1jI0qEEUJmoUQQTx8tTBWvrvFbAo5HEBZmuQ-vXr4D_ELjTzEHsmUsppJvR1a-2kPjSIXHGs/s1600/CR-FIC42Romeo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPX9tUYWxMCZPitnQudbfkN8XZaDZ_okU4qvGrDlmD5Y8TBlTajc889lRFlPnq1jI0qEEUJmoUQQTx8tTBWvrvFbAo5HEBZmuQ-vXr4D_ELjTzEHsmUsppJvR1a-2kPjSIXHGs/s1600/CR-FIC42Romeo2.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this small photo, a closer look would show<br />
Romeo is grimacing not smiling</td></tr>
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At Edipo, I felt unhappy about the staging at the end. As always, Edipo/Oedipus gouged out his eyes, but then suddenly the backdrop shone a brilliant sky blue. I nay have an idea of what the director intended but he didn't knit the themes of the play together as I would have liked.<br />
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Again, during the final scene of the nearly perfect Romeo and Juliet ballet, at the end suddenly a great deal happened very fast. I consider the problem to lie with Prokofiev (or some say Stalin), not the choreography or dancing. In fact, the company from Monterrey kept me wide-awake until after eleven when the ballet ended. <br />
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<br />Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-78601864359576687122014-10-20T20:16:00.002-07:002014-10-21T07:11:21.456-07:00Cervantino 2014: Shakespeare Two Ways [Proyecto Ruelas; Tiger Lillies/Theatre Republique] <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgShWz76kOrlvpbi_mN_1MaB9GJstWYVrU0bX8Nj7ZdXZif-JCGHcric6h1YhOZvH3oyqzmWz2Vi8lItGgIyvhBiZnWSMyujVZF9IaAKzhIJFnRrA1icL49P7ERXnEw4aCsUJGX/s1600/FIC42Ruelas.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgShWz76kOrlvpbi_mN_1MaB9GJstWYVrU0bX8Nj7ZdXZif-JCGHcric6h1YhOZvH3oyqzmWz2Vi8lItGgIyvhBiZnWSMyujVZF9IaAKzhIJFnRrA1icL49P7ERXnEw4aCsUJGX/s1600/FIC42Ruelas.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Energetic, costumed actors in scene from HEnry V</td></tr>
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I thought I was in heaven or at least in the Old Globe Theater as I watched scenes from Shakespeare performed without a set for the audience on all sides in Plaza Mexicamora. We were watching young actors from the Guanajuato neighborhoods Arboledas, Cupulas, Martires 22 de abril, Lomas del Padre and Cervera, directed by Luis Martin Solis (please forgive the lack of accents) put on scenes from Shakespeare. We saw scenes ranging from tragedy (Lear and Hamlet) to comedy Two Gentlemen from Verona)and the history play (Henry V) shown at the right.<br />
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I wish I had a photo of Lear's fool, but the creature in a teddy bear costume moved too fast for me or was facing away at strategic moments. The actors had been trained to act for an audience on two sides, my only quibble with the production. At any rate, I hope I'll be seeing more of this this budding actress.. .<br />
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By the way, this was my second time watching stripped-down Shakespeare in a Cervantino. Several years ago a Colombian company put on a colorful Hamlet originally prepared for high school audiences in their own country. At last, I could follow the plot.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6dx9Ut3Qnk88AMFSbbRIE4BX7r-0EJjvvuzw9i-H-8q4eAGsMNHcS6ftERHRGiBS7R5IfiDp1uPN9sfFd6yidAEAFDmJnGzXp_1ZFT4hxvs45eN4y_Ou9f6HhOBkb2O4C3Ns/s1600/FIC42Tiger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6dx9Ut3Qnk88AMFSbbRIE4BX7r-0EJjvvuzw9i-H-8q4eAGsMNHcS6ftERHRGiBS7R5IfiDp1uPN9sfFd6yidAEAFDmJnGzXp_1ZFT4hxvs45eN4y_Ou9f6HhOBkb2O4C3Ns/s1600/FIC42Tiger.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FIC Photo, Carlos Juica</td></tr>
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Press tickets were limited, so I only entered Teatro Principal during the intermission of Tiger Lillies/Teatro Republique's production of Hamlet, notable in a different way from Proyecto Ruelas, but I soaked in enough to know I won't forget this emotionally complex, theatrically exciting evening at the Principal. .<br />
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The theater itself will never look the same to me again. The five person cast used the full depth of the stage with the three musicians in the foreground at either side. Unfortunately the Cervantino photographer focused on the characters instead showing them in front of the visually simple but technically complicated set that heightened the power of the production. I don't have a photo, either, of the projection of huge ocean waves against the back wall for Ophelia's death by water, imaginatively shifted to the open sea instead of the tranquil English Avon familiar to Shakespeare..<br />
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The dramatic intensity of the play came from the singing of the pianist-narrator who could have come from 1930s Berlin, from the actors (Hamlet spoke impeccable British English) and the Queen was perfectly cast,and from the musicians pounding out their sometimes punk, sometimes blues music, at the side of the stage.<br />
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For me, this Hamlet was a thoroughly satisfying evening in the theater with all facets reinforcing each other. Mercifully, Fortinbras wasn't brought in at the end to mitigate the sight of the corpses littering the stage. While Hamlet was dying, his pause before saying "The rest is silence" was perfect.<br />
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<i>Note: by typing Theatre Republique into Youtube you can see a short clip that gives a visual sense of the production. Tiger Lillies Hamlet will take you to Tiger Lillies' whole Hamlet album.</i><br />
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<br />Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-992318808183387482014-10-19T16:30:00.003-07:002014-10-20T17:55:59.927-07:00Cervantino 2014: Kora player Sona Jobarteh at the Alhondiga<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS62GYwvcB5e3WZ9sDKzLim9Wy5ZKjKcw54wV8B03V_OyII8ZFbw6gu152qinKRo5JkNQP0qNZGgWzPICEAVAfH8I051AcnFYiCPbCNZmozTLokbqs9wjbxWlWaHlTJJ4XNq9C/s1600/FIC42kora.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS62GYwvcB5e3WZ9sDKzLim9Wy5ZKjKcw54wV8B03V_OyII8ZFbw6gu152qinKRo5JkNQP0qNZGgWzPICEAVAfH8I051AcnFYiCPbCNZmozTLokbqs9wjbxWlWaHlTJJ4XNq9C/s1600/FIC42kora.JPG" height="320" width="184" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A classically trained musician, Sona Jobarteh is the first Mandinka woman to play the kora, by tradition a man's instrument</td></tr>
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Sona Jobarteh, the granddaughter and daughter of kora players, played her melodic 21-stringed instrument in the press room before going onstage at the Alhondiga. There, backed by five male musicians--two drummers and three guitarists-- she played, she danced, she sang--in short, she charmed her audience.<br />
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In Gambia, traditionally the kora was played to accompany oral storytelling, epics really, recounting the history of families. Sona explained that in the days of kings, the royal <i>griot </i>(bard) was an important asset to the royal family and continues to be for individual families. Her father, a <i>griot, </i>accompanied himself on the kora.<i> </i>Sona's family is proud of her for maintaining the family's musical heritage.<br />
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Foreigners have become interested in the kora but she said Madinkas have an advantage in learning the instrument because they have grown up hearing kora music. "The technique does not take so long to master, but the musical side is much harder."<br />
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Sona Jobarteh currently has three women among the students she teaches. She emphasizes that besides their learning to play, she sees a rise in the women's self-esteem.<br />
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After listing to Sona Jobarteh, I believe the Wikipedia article on Madinka music understates the importance of kora music to Gambians and others in West Africa. Here's a more reliable <a href="http://djembefola.com/jeliya.php">link</a> that can lead you to more about the kora. .<br />
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Your comments on this and other Cervantino events please!..Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-69699226921197168472014-10-15T20:11:00.000-07:002014-10-15T20:14:15.979-07:00Cervantino 2014: What a Show They Put On!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQZgCXORuXOUGMFGn6rBjeAaKSP5gUO85uS1qfg2K5gyoRodo-ep0mmWGxqekt1BtpKwsdn-8C9q_lfE6uCXREjHHIbomkECUGLZ05JTz-vpKPtomeIHgIfM4hNUYczBJVyoL/s1600/FIC42+puppets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQZgCXORuXOUGMFGn6rBjeAaKSP5gUO85uS1qfg2K5gyoRodo-ep0mmWGxqekt1BtpKwsdn-8C9q_lfE6uCXREjHHIbomkECUGLZ05JTz-vpKPtomeIHgIfM4hNUYczBJVyoL/s1600/FIC42+puppets.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Director Koryu Nishikawa with two singers and samisen player</td></tr>
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The Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo folklore puppet company is a team, depending on more than puppets and puppeteers. The singers, who sit on a platform, give voice to the puppet characters. Meanwhile, the twanging, rhythmic samisen sends signals to the audience.<br />
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The main part of the evening was a two-course event: the first a play about a jilted maiden who turns into a giant sea serpent worked by three puppeteers, the other a comic piece with a pair of characters reminiscent of Don Quixote & Sancho Panza.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlHNqZqhXhnh9u-LtNfU8YOFYkwDahynWacSuvBLymuKBfqpwId53K2sOuQvlRU3rfQrZ2Fb69TMiSAdw_VxrhpiEFu4HU612UF-Q0F1YqXm4XdKeiy4Kqn61sszW_sgl1v6lN/s1600/FIC42Mexicanpuppet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlHNqZqhXhnh9u-LtNfU8YOFYkwDahynWacSuvBLymuKBfqpwId53K2sOuQvlRU3rfQrZ2Fb69TMiSAdw_VxrhpiEFu4HU612UF-Q0F1YqXm4XdKeiy4Kqn61sszW_sgl1v6lN/s1600/FIC42Mexicanpuppet.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The puppetmasters are always visible, sitting on rolling boxes behind the puppets</td></tr>
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After what seemed like the curtain call, two members of the company walked up the aisles holding yellow butterflies on flexible poles over the heads of the audience while people watched a comical monster ham it up onstage. When the creature finally lumbered off waving a Mexican flag, more laughter and more applause. To top it all off, as the grand finale, Koryu Nishikawa, a fifth generation Kuruma Ningyo ("rolling car" puppetmaster, delighted the audience with his dancing puppet wearing Mexican clothes.<br />
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Puppeteering is not for sissies. Years of practice underlay the success of this ninety-minute show. .<br />
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Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-28798389137134140302014-10-14T22:14:00.001-07:002014-10-15T07:07:22.288-07:00Cervantino 2014: New Yorker's Alex Ross on Writing about Music <div class="MsoNormal">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2awQFTIbnkCrMLHRGiAXEIs_cQ96kpLpad-hNwqx8fRwW5iPnOxoxxdB444ynaC14RpM1LD5Dt1hVTFHeshCatzWYr1osVxXOmEn8L2elHqH5S1jqFpMJpjkEBlo-HvNusQgP/s1600/FIC+42+Ross.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2awQFTIbnkCrMLHRGiAXEIs_cQ96kpLpad-hNwqx8fRwW5iPnOxoxxdB444ynaC14RpM1LD5Dt1hVTFHeshCatzWYr1osVxXOmEn8L2elHqH5S1jqFpMJpjkEBlo-HvNusQgP/s1600/FIC+42+Ross.JPG" height="320" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex Ross & interpreter at press conference</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With the Cape Verde beat, hiphop, post-Shakespearean
choral music, and the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas already behind us, what a pleasure to listen to a speaker who has considered
how so many musical forms meet in this millennium. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Alex Ross, the <i>New Yorker</i> music critic and currently
the only one writing full-time for a magazine in the United States, opened
the Cervantino’s Training Workshop on Criticism in the Performing Arts and
Music. His topic: <i>The Present State of
Music Criticism. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The respected, widely read critic started by saying “Journalism is a declining industry, Critics in general
have been disappearing from the printed page, including music critics." </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">"My job is
to report honestly on unrepeatable events </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">What I listen to represents a great
deal of work by the composers and performers. A critic has the responsibility to
explain.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He mentioned
that until the beginning of the nineteenth century, performers mostly played the
contemporary music of their era. By 1875, however, work by dead composers
dominated the scene, as it still does. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-deIPM9OCOaqHajuOiAIPyZk9tNm6EBwVKr2Wm1a0grnbthoP37IPCXJqkncjcnORFQu4olrdTxHItZAT-wlZe0Lap9b1RnYKs07fCWMpLbJxUXwUIamCCXoKVNGxDQG0LYAd/s1600/FIC42+Volpi,Ross.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-deIPM9OCOaqHajuOiAIPyZk9tNm6EBwVKr2Wm1a0grnbthoP37IPCXJqkncjcnORFQu4olrdTxHItZAT-wlZe0Lap9b1RnYKs07fCWMpLbJxUXwUIamCCXoKVNGxDQG0LYAd/s1600/FIC42+Volpi,Ross.JPG" height="320" width="163" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joroge Volpi taking Alex Ross to see the Juarez</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">A former English major, the speaker advised workshop members to use strong, colorful, precise
language, saying they should read great prose and poetry. On his desk beside a
style guide, he keeps a book of poems by his writing hero, Wallace Stevens. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ross,
who started at the <i>New Yorker</i> when he
was twenty-eight, gives his editors credit for guiding him in writing well. “From
them, I learned a minute change can make a difference.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He said writing for an audience with varying degrees of musical knowledge is a challenge. Writing a review can take three to four days. “I am
fortunate in not having to meet a daily deadline.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Afterward, an
audience member asked Alex Ross about studies on educating children to a broad range of music.
“I wish I knew of some,” Ross replied with interest, adding that children
often respond well to music by Stockhausen and other contemporary composers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[For a
deeper look, see Ross’s <i>The Rest Is Noise:
Listening to the Twentieth Century (2007) </i>and <i>Listen to This</i> (2011), available in both print and ebook editions].<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7113216.post-37372682760482975652014-10-12T21:11:00.001-07:002014-10-12T21:14:48.804-07:00Cervantino 2014: Two Festival JewelsMany Cervantino events I remember for years have taken place in the smaller spaces. This year is no exception. I came out of the Cervantes walking on air after watching the dance company Tumakka't DAnza Contemporanea perform <i>Rua de Lavradi</i>o, named for a street in Rio de Janeiro. Afterward, everyone I<br />
knew was smiling except for one sober-faced fellow who turned out to feel the same way as everyone else.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNlJuZucBxk3UImmbjg-G-LF5Yy7TfLADYwsJGeh6MqO_dEimq6vf6zYkT4bRjB-zAo4UkPZ3706x84jeg75YTZdnn3KZ0x5xKHjC2zVaBwdIrJKyj7xT7PBw3vqTlQYcgIgXf/s1600/FIC+@014+Rua.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNlJuZucBxk3UImmbjg-G-LF5Yy7TfLADYwsJGeh6MqO_dEimq6vf6zYkT4bRjB-zAo4UkPZ3706x84jeg75YTZdnn3KZ0x5xKHjC2zVaBwdIrJKyj7xT7PBw3vqTlQYcgIgXf/s1600/FIC+@014+Rua.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">dance photos courtesy of FIC 42, G. Morales</td></tr>
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The Festival commissioned the work from choreographer Fernando Melo, born Brazil but who lives in Europe. The dancers in the troupe hail from Mexico, Venezuela, Panama and Cuba and Belize. Mauricio Ascencio of Mexico City working with Melo, created a set of five planks that the dancers used first one way and then another.This multi-talented guy also designed the costumes and the lighting.<br />
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Altogether, a lucid, colorful performance, adding up to fifty minutes of pure pleasure and for sure a jewel in this year's Festival crown.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2EWVdD5WLBzUNVWApsdw673NUN4GxQun421VTP0BO3qCDDVMUKv2C1Unxqb6sGKX9Af2oAMB1ucelluAtEp6xtxzzIoB6oifu6p-bkZrqwkTccMrjfJHCRhL10OrAVOVqszR8/s1600/FIC42CC+Ohnishi-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2EWVdD5WLBzUNVWApsdw673NUN4GxQun421VTP0BO3qCDDVMUKv2C1Unxqb6sGKX9Af2oAMB1ucelluAtEp6xtxzzIoB6oifu6p-bkZrqwkTccMrjfJHCRhL10OrAVOVqszR8/s1600/FIC42CC+Ohnishi-.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ohnishi combines an American hairstyle with her habit of bowing.<br />
Photo courtesy of FIC 42, Christa Cowrie</td></tr>
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In the Salon de Consejo of the University the audience listened to the Japanese musician Takae Ohnishi play music from France and contemporary pieces by composers of Asian ancestry. She played suites by Louis Couperin (1626-1661), the the uncle of the other Couperin and by Antoine Forqueray (1671-1745), interlaced with a piece by the eminent 20th century Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, whose work is familiar to Salon audiences; the Cervantino program describes him as one of the authentic sound poets of our time; <i>Rain Dreaming</i> comes from one of his less experimental periods.<br />
<br />
After lulling us into a meditative state with the French pieces and the first movement of a work by Lei Liang,<br />
Ohnishi cut loose with the jazzy, contemporary rhythms employed in the rest of Liang's piece and in the short pieces by Machiko Asaoka. I'll never listen to a harpsichord again without forgetting these other possibilities.<br />
<br />
Tadae Ohnishi is one of many musical border crossers. Born in Japan, she now lives in San Diego and tours her homeland.Rochelle Cashdanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18397115307510331854noreply@blogger.com0