Category Archives: Entertainment

Join My Photo Exhibit!


¡Puro Mazatlán, chiquita!

Click the link above to play the song while you read; it has a delayed start, so please be patient.

Please join me next week, Thursday March 1st at 7 pm in the Galería Peralta for the opening of a terrific photo show about the beauty and uniqueness that is Mazatlán. That evening will be the inauguration of my third one-woman photo show—the largest I’ve ever had (36 photos), sponsored by our beloved CULTURA Mazatlán, and this time in my own hometown!

Photo Exhibit by Dianne Hofner Saphiere
Yo Soy Fuereña Nací de Aquí Muy Lejos
I am a Foreigner Born Far Away from Here
Galería Peralta
(2nd floor of the theater)
7 pm Thursday March 1st
Free of charge

We will have music, drinks and eats at the inauguration, plus quite a few of the photo subjects tell me they will be present to talk with visitors. Sadly there is no elevator for handicapped accessibility, only the stairs. The exhibition will continue for six weeks, through 14th April. If you’d like reminders, just respond to our event on Facebook and you’ll get them. If you can’t make the grand opening, you can come another day to view it and sign the guest book.

I was so very honored when CULTURA Mazatlán Director Raúl Rico called me into his office last fall and asked me to do a photo exhibit on any topic of my choosing, in any gallery. Of course I chose our beloved adopted home as the subject of the expo; but for a theme? What better than our unofficial city anthem, the Corrido de Mazatlán? So many of us love that song, you here it everywhere around town, and I could make “mini-galleries” of photos according to the stanzas of the corrido. Raúl fortunately loved the idea, and I’ve been working hard ever since.

The gallery is huge, with 15 different walls for displaying photos under these stanzas:

  1. Donde el Pacífico es algo sin igual / Where the Pacific is beyond compare
  2. Para esta gente que es puro corazón / For these people who are all heart
  3. Y hasta en el faro se escucha mi canción / As far as the lighthouse you can hear my song
  4. Hay que bonito Paseo del Centenario / How beautiful is Paseo del Centenario
  5. Hay que bonita también su catedral / How beautiful also its cathedral
  6. Aquí hasta un pobre se siente millonario / Here even a poor person feels like a millionaire
  7. Aquí la vida se pasa sin llorar / Here life passes without tears
  8. El gran orgullo de ser de Mazatlán / The great pride to be from Mazatlán
  9. Que lindo es todo lo que hay en Mazatlán / How gorgeous is everything in Mazatlán

While many of you know me from this blog or from seeing me around town, here is my photographer’s bio:

Dianne has worked with people from over 100 countries during a 38-year career facilitating cross-cultural collaboration for major multinational organizations. USA-born, she has lived in Mazatlán since 2008, spent seven childhood summers in Coyoacán (Mexico City), and twelve years working in Japan.

Dianne documents daily life, community events and “human cultural treasures,” often through the lenses of ethnography. One critic says of Dianne’s work, “There is poetry all around us. Dianne pays attention and calls attention to that in a way of beauty. That is art.” Another says, “Looking Thru Di’s Eyes opens us to things we too often fail to notice. Dianne’s images transmit to us the soul of her subject; we feel we are experiencing it with her.”

Dianne has had solo shows in Paris and Vienna; her work has been selected for curated group exhibitions in Mazatlán, Tijuana, Culiacán, Paris, Vienna and Casablanca, as well as several state and local calendars. Her latest project is an edited volume of photographs called “Cliché or Consequential,” which focuses on debunking stereotypes from around the world. Proceeds will benefit refugees. Dianne’s photos can be purchased at Casa Etnika (Sixto Osuna 50) and Baupres Gallery (Heriberto Frías 1506).

Please invite your friends and family and come join me! I look forward to seeing you there!

 

Nature in All Its Glory

27982748_10160137908320637_2440691768523619203_oDo you love birds, animals, marine life, plants? Then head over to the Centro Cultural Multiversidad downtown at 21 de Marzo #36 for Cielo, Mar y Tierra: Vision of the Naturalists. They have a photo exhibit on the second floor with photos from five biologists and an actress (yes, but her photos are good!).

Especially now, when it seems our governor is intent on cementing over everything he can in Mazatlán, treasuring the very natural resources that bring so many tourists to our port seems more important than ever. Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow (sorry, I only took my cell phone).

Francisco Amador-Cruz
Edith Flores-Wence
Oscar Guzón
Cutting the ribbon to open the expo

The opening last night was at 7pm, and attended by a couple of hundred people, I’d guess. It was typical: everyone had to wait, crowded into a corridor, but when they eventually opened the gallery it was worth the discomfort. All six photographers spent time with their photos, in order to tell those of us attending the backstory of each photo and answer our questions. It was a terrific chance to get to know a few experts in our local flora and fauna, and to learn a few more places to go out and take some photos!

Once you’ve enjoyed the gorgeousness that our environment has to offer, you might be wondering what you can do to help preserve it. First, I’d urge you to encourage our governor to stop cementing over estuaries and tearing down historic forts in order to cement over that area, too. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly long term for our planet, is to make every effort you can to stop using plastic. You’ve seen the horrible photos of the plastic “black hole” out in the Pacific, and we know how awful our beaches get after a big party weekend. Today I saw a photography project that uses beauty to profile the horrific reality of plastic’s effect on Sian Ka’an federally protected reserve. Click here to view it.

 

Miss Universo Carnaval 2018

God bless you, Thalia! Last night was the BEST EVER Miss Universo Carnavál (Gay Carnaval Queen) pageant, full of trans-gendered and trans-sexual pride and pure human joy.

I was born into this world with a whole lot of privileges. I’m white, I’m straight, I’m fairly intelligent. While born into a working-class family, we had a solid home and food, and all our necessities. I’ve received a good education.

Despite these facts, I’ve had my share of identity crises, as has most anyone. I’m sensitive, so at times I’ve listened too much to what others have to say, rather than following my heart. I have worried about how I appear, how I look, that I live in Mexico as a woman and don’t regularly put on makeup or dress up. I’d like to think now, at 57, I’ve reconciled most of these identity issues. I’m happy in my own skin. But, still… that triple chin, those extra kilitos…

Thus my complete and utter admiration for these drag queens born into our hetero-centric world, many of whom have had to struggle with gaining acceptance from family and friends, say nothing about themselves. Their identity questions were so much more fundamental than my own comparatively trivial ones, and most of them seem to have come out of that challenge more beautiful, confident and resilient than I could dream of being. When we are a bit different from the dominant “norm,” we are presented with loads of possibilities for exploration, creativity, and love, if we can find the presence of mind and strength of heart to see them. Click on any photo below to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

The gowns! The dresses! The swimsuits! The makeup! The hair! The shoes! The guts! The maturity! The confidence! The strength!

We saw chubby queens and skinny queens, buff queens and those with a roll or two. We saw cross-dressers and those who have undergone reassignment and cosmetic surgeries. In the dressing room we saw queens stuffing themselves into girdles and support hose, balancing fake boobies and butts, and those who’ve survived the pain of implants. I congratulate each and every one of you. You have more joie de vivre and bravery than I could ever aspire to have (and that’s a high bar, lol)!

Last night the money collected went to pay hospital bills for a local lady who is ill in the hospital in Culiacán. Thus, this fun event is actually a labor of love by the members of “Belleza con Propósito,” “Beauty with a purpose.”

This event always takes place just prior to Carnaval. Put it on your calendar for next year. I always announce it on the VidaMaz Facebook page. The last few years it takes place at Castillo de Lulu in Playa Sur. The event is BYOB: bring your own drinks. A lady sells hibiscus tea/agua de jamaica and tostilocos (chips with ceviche), but other than that, bring your snacks. Entrance is usually 60-70 pesos and goes to a good cause, and donations are gratefully accepted.

The pageant includes self presentation, dresses, swimsuit, evening gown, and questions. In between stages of the pageant we enjoy entertainment by dance troupes and drag queen performers, this year including Cher. I’m guessing the crowd last night numbered about 150-200, a good mix of locals and internationals. The judging table always includes local celebrities and politicians as well as members of the international community.

The organizer of all this is Thalia Fedorova Chequer-Zahap. I can not imagine the work that goes into this, the details, the pressure. And she pulls it off with incredible grace and beauty.

May we all grow more tolerant, more accepting, more respectful, of ourselves and others. May we all reach out to help a fellow human, today and every day. And may we all enjoy life to its fullest!

Oh, and CONGRATS to Miss Colombia, Yeimi, our Miss Universo Carnaval 2018!

 

Modern Dance This Weekend

DSC_6607You like to help talented young people succeed, just like I do. Many of you know Isa Medina, our local stellar interpreter and translator, and her husband, Jorge, who does the magnificent wrought iron. Elisa, their daughter, is one incredibly talented young woman. She has studied dance for years, and has traveled the world quite extensively while performing her craft. Bless her soul, she also organizes events here in town that bring all of us the benefit of her connections and the talents of her and her colleagues.

This week she has helped bring us two choreographers from Costa Rica and Romania, plus twelve contemporary dancers from Guatemala and throughout Mexico, for three different performances. The shows are:

  1. Saturday January 20, 8pm in the Art Museum
    This performance is entitled “Componiendo el Plural.” The team of dancers will exhibit their creative projects and individual work. Cost is 80 pesos that will pay for the lighting and help defray travel costs for group members. The Art Museum is at Sixto Osuna 71 in Centro Histórico.
  2. Sunday January 21, 1pm in Casa Haas
    This function, titled “Entre Quijotes,” is for children. Be sure to let all the kids in your life know about it! Directed by Andrea Catania, from Proyecto LasAfueras in Costa Rica and Romania, and Adrián Arriaga from Colectivo Clá in Costa Rica, entrance is 100 pesos. Casa Haas is on Heriberto Frías 1506B downtown.
  3. Tuesday January 22, 6pm in the Teatro Universitario
    UPDATE: Please spread the word! Today’s modern dance performance in the UAS (Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa) has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.
    The third event is the most informal and it’s free! It will be an open house/demonstration of the residence project, “Bitácora en Común.” It will be held in the theater at Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, on Leonísmo street facing city park/Bosque de la Ciudad, just beyond north of the roundabout with the deer statue.

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Today I visited the group in the theater at UAS to watch them rehearse. They were having so much fun, enjoying themselves so completely and joyfully, that it reminded me of watching the manta rays have their party. The dancers include:

  1. Andibii Gallardo (Mazatlán, Sinaloa)
  2. Rodrigo de la Cruz Abúndez (Cuautla, Morelos)
  3. Cristina Zamora (Guanajuato, Guanajuato)
  4. Yunuén Mejía (Morelia, Michoacán)
  5. Noemi Sánchez (Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes)
  6. Elisa Medina (Mazatlán, Sinaloa)
  7. Fernando Leija (Tampico, Tamaulipas)
  8. Alejandro Chávez (Tijuana, Baja California)
  9. Mayra Barragán (San Diego, California)
  10. Kenia Navarro (Cuernavaca, Morelos)
  11. Yutzil Pablo (Guatemala, Guatemala)
  12. Brayan Córdova (Guatemala, Guatemala)
Below I’ll share a few of the photos I took during rehearsal today. Click on any picture to enlarge it or view a slideshow. Let me know what you think of the performance!