Author Archives: Dianne Hofner Saphiere

We Burned Our Dancing Shoes!

DSC_0318… last Wednesday night at the Hotel Playa with the 24 new graduates of the Escuela Profesional de Danza. What a wonderful evening! It was a benefit to help send the kids to Florence, Italy, in July for a dance festival and ten days of workshops—they’ve been offered free tuition/scholarships and home stays. Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow:

I was most looking forward to dancing to my favorite local band, La Falsa Orquesta Cubana, and indeed, we danced to salsa, bolero, cumbia and conga till well after midnight. The highlight of the evening, however, were the three performances by the new graduates.

It is unbelievable how talented these young adults are! Representing ten different states of Mexico, they are, indeed, a national pride. I didn’t attend the Delfos fundraiser last weekend, but I’ve heard from 7-8 people how disappointing the choreography was. Not Wednesday night! This choreography rocked! There were three student-choreographed performances:

  1. Bripola, a two-person dance about the vibrations that occur when the strings of a small guitar are plucked and strummed.
  2. Diagram of the Trajectory of Laurence, another dance by two dancers, representing the steps forward, backwards, up, down and sideways through space.
  3. Passaro, a group dance representing the intense energy of flying birds.

Many of the graduates’ families came from out of state to support them, and donated items for the silent auction and door prizes. The dinner was also amazingly good.

THANK YOU to all of you who read this blog and bought your tickets and got a table together! Seeing the energy, excitement and talent in these young people gave everyone who attended such encouragement.

If you would like to support their effort to raise money for the airfare, you can deposit your donation to Bancomer #0193238377, in the name of El Espacio del Verbo. You can also donate from US$5 upwards via Internet on Fondeadora.

If any of the students would like high-resolution images of these photos without the watermark for your personal use, just let me know.

I do sincerely hope the event raised a lot of money for your journey. Best of luck! Show them just how talented Mazatlán and México are!

 

Reenactments of the Crucifixion On Good Friday

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Photo from Fernando Barraza

Religious tourism is such a powerful way to experience a culture, its history, people, and places. We’ve so enjoyed traveling throughout Mexico, including Oaxaca, Barrancas del Cobre, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, and Michoacán to participate in sacred events. Easter is the holiest of holidays in the Roman Catholic calendar, and Mazatlán and its nearby small towns do a lot to commemorate Easter.

Celebrations normally begin on Holy Thursday (March 24, 2016) with foot washing in the evening, and continue on Good Friday (March 25, 2016) with a reenacting of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Here in Mazatlán most parishes participate in these events; just contact your local parish to confirm time and place.

One of the biggest reenactments here in town has traditionally been PAJUMA (Pascua Juveníl de Mazatlán), a three-day diocesan event that takes place in the baseball stadium. On Good Friday the kids reenact the crucifixion of Christ in the stadium and then, still fully costumed, process silently from the stadium at about 5:00 pm, to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception downtown, passing by the Aquarium, along the malecón, the Fisherman’s Monument, and the pangas in Playa Norte. The procession then turns left and goes down through Plaza Zaragoza to the cathedral. There are not many places in the world you can see a Way of the Cross enacted along the oceanfront! I’ve called them and messaged them, but am unable to confirm if it will be the same schedule this year.

Since Mazatlán’s beaches get so very crowded, and the traffic doesn’t permit us to get around easily, Semana Santa is also a wonderful time to get out of town. This year, we’ll be spending Holy Week up around Los Mochis, to celebrate with the friends we made during the Konti celebrations a couple of years ago. But you do not have to go far to participate in some really incredible religious tourism celebrations. Why not spend a few days, and really get to know one of our region’s small towns and their traditions?

Reenactments of the crucifixion traditionally start at 11:00 am and continue until Jesus’ death, liturgically at 3:52 pm. Crucifixions (they don’t actually nail anyone here, just hang them up with ropes, which is still a difficult feat for those crucified) are held in:

  • Chametla (Rosario; 100 km from MZT)
  • Malpica (Concordia; 38 km from MZT)
  • Matatán (Rosario; 82 km from MZT)
  • San Ignacio (111 km from MZT)
  • Teacapán (Escuinapa; 130 km from MZT)

San Ignacio also conducts a Procession of Silence on Friday night at 7:00 pm. Cosála has one, too. I highly recommend that you avoid driving in the mountains at night; better to spend the night.

Photo from Fernando Barraza
Photo from Fernando Barraza
Photo from Fernando Barraza

Of particular interest to me this year will be the reenactment in Chametla, as my friend who is a favorite teacher to so many, Fernando Barraza, is directing the event. It is also the opposite direction from some of the troubles that have sadly been happening again lately in the mountains.

The celebration in Chametla this year is entitled “Calvario.” The play will involve over 60 actors who will walk over two kilometers, beginning on the main street, just down from the cathedral in front of the tostada stand called “Mangazo” or “El Chombi.” From there the procession will wind though town—it takes a different route each year—ending with the crucifixion this year on the hill in front of the cemetery.

If you go, I urge you to spend the night there or in nearby Pueblo Mágico, El Rosario. There is terrific hiking around the area, and lots to see; make a nice weekend of it.

Photo from Fernando Barraza
Photo from Fernando Barraza
Photo from Fernando Barraza

Happy Easter!

AWESOME Musical Event You Don’t Want to Miss!

By now you know how much Greg and I love to support young people and their success. One of the highlights of last summer for us was rooting on the Mexican national champions/Mazatlán team in the Pony Leagues in Indiana. We had so much fun!

Last week I shared with you the awesome news that 24 young graduates from our local professional school of dance are heading to Florence for an international workshop, on scholarship. I told you they only need the airfare and other travel expenses.

Now I have even BETTER news! You can help them get to Italy AND attend one of the BEST dance parties EVER! The date is Wednesday, March 16, and the venue is the Hotel Playa. Our absolute favorite local band, La Falsa Orquesta Cubana, will be playing. The 650 peso price includes a 3-course meal and dance performances. This is indeed going to be a night to remember!

I do NOT want to have you tell me after the fact, “Why didn’t you let me know?” So, please, share this news widely with all your friends! Get a table together and come, let’s dance and have some fun! And, oh yeah, support the kids 😉

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Two businesses have tickets on sale: Look Gallery and HelArte ice cream shop across from the Nid Art Gallery. Isa Medina will be selling tickets at Allegro Café on Wednesday March 9 from 9-11am, and at the same times on Tuesday March 15 at Allegro in the Zona Dorada. You can contact her and she will deliver tickets to you: isahudgins@gmail.com

Secondly, I want to let you know that TODAY, Friday during Art Walk, the about-to-graduate dancers will be performing short pieces and contemporary dance fragments at four different galleries around town: BAUPRES, DELIRIUM, LOOK, and NIDART. The kids and their friends/family will be collecting donations and selling tickets for the fundraising dinner. The schedule is:

  1. Baupres, Delirium and Nidart: dance performances at 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00 with live music in between/during the break.
  2. Look: continuous dance performance from 5:00 onwards to recorded music.

See you there!

 

Young Local Dancers Off to Florence—With your help

Espacio del Verbo
CONGRATULATIONS to the 24 dancers, from 10 Mexican states, who are among the 15th graduating class of the  Escuela Profesional de Danza de Mazatlán (EPDM). They have been invited to attend—on scholarship—the very prestigious OPEN FLR intensive dance lab in Florence, Italy!
This invitation is a huge coup for these young dancers, as it provides them the ability to work with other internationally acclaimed teachers, to meet premier dancers from all over the world, and it provides wonderful opportunity for future work. Not to mention that it showcases Mazatlán and México on the world stage!
They will graduate on July 1st, and the very next day they hope to fly to Florence—the dance lab takes place July 2-20. The organizers of the internationally acclaimed intensive saw the group perform their self-choreographed “El Espacio del Verbo” in December at the Encuentro Nacional de Danza. The invitation came shortly afterwards.

However, the young dancers need our help! Once they arrive in Florence, they’ll be on scholarship to the dance lab, and they will also be given housing. They will need to pay their airfare to get to Florence, and they only have 45 days.

The graduating class has already held a bazaar to raise funds, and they are planning a dinner. They’ve also set up a fundraising page, at which it’s very easy to donate any amount from 50 to 5000 pesos or its equivalent. The page is in Spanish, but I believe it’s intuitive to use even for non-Spanish readers. We’ve already made a contribution, and we hope you will, too!

If you’d like more information, you can email the group at elespaciodelverbo@gmail.com. You can also follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/espacio_verbo
We are so blessed to have the internationally award-winning Delfos Contemporary Dance troupe based here in Mazatlán. Claudia, Victor and Omar are a blessing to our community. Back in 1998 they founded the Escuela Profesional de Danza de Mazatlán (EPDM), and today we reap the fruits of their efforts, in the incredible dancing we are able to affordably witness here. Congratulations to the young dancers, and to their able teachers! We are very proud of you!

Body Painting at Baupres

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Fatima models Adrian’s art

First, let me tell you that my photos (Thru Di’s Eyes) are now on exhibit at both Baupres Gallery and Galería Libertad #312. Prints of digital photographs are available on acrylic, trovisel, paper mounted on foam core and matted, or in postcard format. I trust you’ll check them out. I am so very excited! Below are a few photos of the opening during ArtWalk last night. Click on any photo to enlarge or view a slideshow.

Me, Dory and Salvador
My photo of two Mayo Yoreme dancers, and other photos below, on acrylic
Some of the gang for ArtWalk
Dory, Martha and Salvador
Some of the photos printed on paper, mounted on foam core with matting

You may remember that I’ve studied photography with Salvador Herrera (1, 2). He’s a consummate professional and a terrific instructor. He teaches and exhibits at the gorgeously renovated historic building that houses Baupres Gallery, owned by the incredibly talented artist, Dory Perdomo.

Last night for ArtWalk, two of Salvador’s friends from Mexico City, Alexander ojodelince (ranked third nationally) and Adrián Art (national champion), who are in Mazatlán for a national body painting competition that takes place today and tomorrow at the Hotel Playa, demonstrated their art for us as part of Art Walk.

Have you ever watched body painters at work? It’s amazing! These two gentleman are true artists in every sense of the term! They have to paint on a three-dimensional, moving surface, attend to the human moods and needs of the “canvas,” and paint so the finished product looks good in both normal and black light.

Last night at Baupres, those attending ArtWalk were able to watch the artists and their models in action. The artists had actually started painting at 11 am, but when we got there about 4:30 they still had a couple hours to go. One of the models, Fatima, is a dancer, and the other, Kiana, is a model. Once they were finished, the models demonstrated the finished product to us, and the artists fielded questions. I so admired the models’ patience! I could never sit for eight hours while someone painted on me, and then another hour or more while other people photographed the result! Fatima, the one I talked to the most, seemed thrilled with the whole process. She is such a delight. She joked about not washing it off and walking around Mazatlán like that to see how people reacted. I wish she would!

Two artists and their paints and brushes
Alexander ojodelince
Airbrushing
Painting with a brush
“Before” of the turtle on her back
The tools of the trade; note the drawing as well.
An airbrush, one of the most important tools
Taking a break and getting some air
Airbrushing
Getting some neon lipstick
She loves the mask she gets to wear
Placing the mask
Fielding questions from a happy crowd

After the presentation, the two models proceeded upstairs, where by now it was dark, and we could light up the gorgeous body painting with black lights and take photographs. Salvador placed all the lights, so those of us with cameras were incredibly blessed. Even with a cell phone, the models and artistry were so well lit that the photos turned out incredibly well! Thank you, Salvador! What do you think of the results?

This is the second time Baupres has hosted body painting. They’ve also conducted classes in both body painting and photographic lighting. Be sure to get on their mailing list (via their Facebook page) so you don’t miss future such events. And most definitely visit the upstairs photo gallery there and at 312 Libertad! Thanks!

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