Border / Zone… between us

16112882_459015117820393_2403868806841955938_oClaudia Lavista from Mazatlán’s Escuela Municipal de Danza tells me she’s heartbroken she won’t be in town for our Mazatlán Women’s March on Saturday evening. We do hope you will join us, and bring your whole family, all your friends and colleagues. If you are coming with a group from the same workplace, school or club, please wear your uniforms to show your group pride. Otherwise, there is no clothing recommendation. Do, however, bring the sign you would like to carry. “Defending Dignity,” “Women’s Rights are Human Rights,” “Diversity and Inclusion,” etc. Get out a piece of cardboard and a marker, and exercise your voice. The march is NOT political, please, and is peaceful and respectful. We will meet at 4 pm on the malecón where Alemán intersects it, in front of the Hotel Freeman, and walk to the Cliff Divers/Glorieta Sanchez Taboada.

This post, however, is about an event AFTER our march, at 8 pm. Claudia tells me, “It’s our first cultural action against the Trump wall idea!” And does it look beautiful! (BTW, Colin, kudos on the pics!) The performance is a collaboration between Vermont’s Middlebury College and our own EPMD (professional dance school). Click on any photo to enlarge or view a slideshow.

Here is the full event description:

EPDM and Dance Company of Midleburry Present Border | Zone… entre nosotros

Please join us for this evening of new contemporary dance performance, Border | Zones… entre nosotros on Saturday 21st of January at the Angela Peralta Theatre, 8:00 pm. Tickets are 200 pesos and can be purchased at the box office 9am-3pm and 5-7pm or Saturday 9am-2pm.

Centering on themes of the boundaries and borders between nations, people, and ideas, this performance was produced as part of an international collaboration between Middlebury College (Vermont, USA) and the Mazatlán Professional School of Contemporary Dance (EPDM). The project features an exchange between the students of the Dance Company of Middlebury (directed by Scotty Hardwig) and choreographers Omar Carrum and Claudia Lavista, who have created choreography with the company.

During the last two weeks, the Dance Company of Middlebury has had the opportunity to study in Mazatlán and integrate with the classes, teachers and students of the EPDM — this provides them both with a new cultural lens and introduction into the training methods and high-level of artistic creation at the school, as well as an opportunity to work with internationally renowned choreographers like Carrum and Lavista. This exchange also allows for the students of both schools to experience different processes of studying and training in dance, the different approaches of the two schools, as well as connect to other international student dancers and perform together.

For this performance, Hardwig has created a new work, “Sun Breaks Down,” in collaboration with the student company, and the evening will also feature a repertory work by Carrum and Lavista entitled, “Dulce, Disonante, Entorno,” alongside works from the students of the EPDM. This performance will be followed by a tour of these works in the United States by DCM, as well as by EPDM student dancer Paola Reyes Guzman who will be performing a new original work by Xitlali Piña Poujol.

Formed in 1980, the Dance Company of Middlebury includes student dancers, selected by audition, who create new work annually under the direction of professional faculty choreographers and designers at the Middlebury Dance Program. This model creates a pre-professional environment for students to engage in intensive dance training, experiencing the inner workings of the choreographic process from varied perspectives. Each year, DCM premieres a new piece in Vermont in conjunction with a national or international tour.  This year’s company, directed by Scotty Hardwig, includes dancers Miguel A. Castillo, Mandy Kimm, Deborah Leedy, Amanda Lorena Neira, Andrew Pester, Otto Pierce, Liv Reuss, and Emily Schreffler.

Border Zone | EPDM | MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE from DELFOS DANZA CONTEMPORÁNEA on Vimeo.

Behind the Chamber 2017: Schubert

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UPDATE: Sadly, one of the members of this group suffered a heart attack last weekend. INSTEAD of Casa Haas, the event will be held at noon in the Angela Peralta Theater. It will be the Ventura Quartet, that plays boleros, ballads, huapangos, rumba… I believe you should take your Temporada Campbell tickets to the TAP to exchange them for a seat assignment.

The sixth concert in this year’s 2017 Temporada Campbell will be held on Sunday, February 19, 2017 at noon and 6 pm in Casa Haas. Schubert’s Octet and six of the composer’s other pieces will be played by Xavier Tortosa and Helena Muntaner Payers on violin, Ester García Salas on viola, Octavio Hidalgo on cello, Mikhail Magaev on double bass, Luis Zamora on clarinet, Austin Isaac Way on bassoon, and Alfredo Fenollosa Behauent on french horn.

I interviewed Maestro Gordon Campbell in a sneak peek of the concert. To hear his “Behind the Chamber” interview about the performance click on the video below.

The full concert series takes place through March 12, 2017. You can purchase your tickets for specific concerts (300 pesos each) or a series pass (2000 pesos) at the Angela Peralta Theater box office—open 9am-3pm and 5-7pm—or online at CULTURA Mazatlán.

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Support the Camerata
Tax-deductible donations to recover costs of the Camerata and the community chorus are received by the Patronato Philomusica AC, Banco Bajio account number 14166839. Your donation is tax-deductible in Mexico and worldwide. Please help support the high caliber of arts in our community by pledging generously!

To watch other Behind-the-Chamber interviews click here.

Women’s March Mazatlán

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(inglés y español) Sábado, 21 enero 2017, a las 4 de la tarde frente el Escudo en Olas Altas, una marcha hasta la Glorieta Sánchez Taboada/el Clavadista. ¡Vengan e inviten a todos! ¡Mazatlán está en el mapa y se cuenta entre los más que 600 marchas internacionales! Detalles y registración gratis aquí. En México, habrán marchas en México, Ajijic, Campeche, Chetumal, La Manzanilla, Mérida, Oaxaca de Juárez, Playa del Carmen, San Miguel de Allende, San Pancho, Todos Santos, Tuxtla Gutierrez, y Zihuatanejo. Página en Facebook está aquí.

Saturday January 21, 2017, at 4 pm, meet at the Sheild in Olas Altas, on the malecón in front of Hotel Freeman, and march to the Glorieta Sanchez Taboada/Cliff Divers. Join us and invite everyone you know! Mazatlán is on the map and counts itself among the over 600 international marches! Details and free registration here. Marches in Mexico include Mexico City, Ajijic, Campeche, Chetumal, La Manzanilla, Mérida, Oaxaca de Juárez, Playa del Carmen, San Miguel de Allende, San Pancho, Todos Santos, Tuxtla Gutierrez, and Zihuatanejo. Facebook page is here.

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Women’s March Global invites individuals and organizations committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion and those who understand women’s rights as human rights to join our local coalitions of marchers in representing the rights and voices of progressive people around the world. As concerned citizens standing up for human rights, Women’s March Global is a proactive international movement, not a U.S. election-specific protest per se, which has galvanized people to defend women’s rights and those of others in response to the rising rhetoric of far-right populism around the world.”

El sábado 21 de enero de 2017 millones de personas se reunirán en Washington DC y en cientos de ciudades alrededor del mundo. Este es un evento local para aquellos que creen en la misión y los valores de la “Women’s March on Washington” y quieren mostrar su apoyo. Lea más sobre la Women’s March on Washington aquí: www.womensmarch.com.

16112816_227802494344632_8977447224765482083_oEn solidaridad con las mujeres de todo el mundo, nos reuniremos a las 16:00 en el Escudo de Olas Altas y marcharemos pacíficamente por el Malecón y la Madre Océano hasta la Glorieta Sánchez Taboada/los Clavadistas, donde nos uniremos en un círculo de Amor y Paz. Este es un evento no político, no violento, con el propósito de mostrar apoyo y respeto por los derechos humanos básicos de las mujeres, las minorías, los marginados y los que son diferentes, dondequiera que vivan. Nos solidarizamos con la protección de nuestros derechos, nuestra seguridad, nuestra salud y nuestras familias, reconociendo que una comunidad vibrante y diversa fortalece y enriquece a la sociedad, a nuestros países y al mundo.

Maestros, traigan a sus estudiantes; Madres, traigan a sus familias extendidas; Niños, traigan a tus amigos. Adultos jóvenes, por favor, participen y ayuden a lograr un cambio positivo en nuestro mundo. Hombres de todas las edades, marchen con nosotros en solidaridad y apoyo a todas las mujeres en sus vidas que aman y valoran. Esta es una marcha inclusiva y todos son bienvenidos!

Tendremos una pancarta con el logotipo de la marcha de Washington y el texto que dice, SISTER MARCH EN MAZATLAN, MEXICO ~ EN SOLIDARIDAD CON LOS MEXICANOS, liderando la marcha. El grupo de planificación también hará algunos carteles para que los manifestantes lleven. Y le animamos a que haga su propio signo en el idioma que prefiera (o ambos). (Nota para los extranjeros: Manténgalo corto, respetuoso, legible, y dirigido a nuestras preocupaciones, ya que los extranjeros están prohibidos por la ley de la participación en la política mexicana.) Sugerencias para los lemas incluyen declaraciones de valores que queremos; Por ejemplo, “Honestidad / Honestidad”; O “Dignidad / Dignidad”; Derechos Humanos Para Todos; (Derechos Humanos para Todos); “Los Derechos de la Mujer son Derechos Humanos” o “Derechos de las Mujeres Son Derechos Humanos”.

¿Quiere decir algo sobre la propuesta muralla construida por EEUU a través de la frontera mexicana / estadounidense? “No al Muro” (No a la pared) es corto y dulce.

No es una protesta específica de las elecciones estadounidenses per se, sino un movimiento internacional proactivo que ha galvanizado a la gente para defender los derechos de las mujeres y los de otros en respuesta a la creciente retórica del populismo de extrema derecha en todo el mundo.

“La historia de Mazatlán está llena de inmigrantes procedentes de muchos países (España, Alemania, Francia, Filipinas), siendo acogida en la comunidad y esta inclusión ha construido una ciudad que se enorgullece de su patrimonio multifacético. La tradición continúa hoy con los jubilados americanos y canadienses acudiendo a la ‘Perla del Pacífico’, integrándose en una comunidad cálida y hospitalaria y construyendo el futuro juntos. Es este sentimiento de inclusión y aceptación lo que me motivó a organizar nuestro Marcha de Mujeres Mazatlán.

La verdad es que para construir un futuro mejor para nuestros hijos y para nosotros mismos debemos hacerlo juntos, con respeto, honestidad y dignidad para todos. A pesar de aquellos que quieren construir muros que se separan, literalmente o ideológicamente, en última instancia, todos somos un solo gente, viviendo en un planeta. Parece lógico que las mujeres, las madres, estén difundiendo este mensaje de unidad.

Como Mazatlecas – nacidas aquí o ‘pata saladas’ – nos unimos orgullosamente con mujeres alrededor del mundo en apoyo de las mujeres en nuestras vidas que nos dan tanto”.
—WMM organizadora Janet Blaser

Encabezadas por los organizadores de la primera vez y los activistas experimentados, las marchas reunirá a personas de todos los orígenes, razas, religiones, identidades de género, edades y habilidades. Si bien son dirigidos por mujeres, todos son bienvenidos a asistir.

¿Necesita más ideas? Revisa:

http://theamplifierfoundation.org/experiments/womens-march/
https://www.facebook.com/WomensMarchesAroundTheWorld/ 

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On Saturday, January 21, 2017, hundreds of thousands will gather in Washington D.C. and in hundreds of cities around the world. This is a local event for those who believe in the mission and values of Women’s March on Washington and want to show their support. Read more about the Women’s March on Washington here: www.womensmarch.com.

In solidarity with women around the world, we will gather at 4pm at the Escudo in Olas Altas and march peacefully along the malecon and Mother Ocean to the Cliffdivers’ Plaza, where we will join together in a circle of Love and Peace. This is a non-political, non-violent event with the purpose of showing support and respect for the basic human rights of women, minorities, the disenfranchised and those who are different, wherever they may live. We stand together in solidarity for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families — recognizing that a vibrant and diverse community strengthens and enriches society, our countries and the world.

Teachers, bring your students; mothers, bring your extended families; children, bring your friends. Young adults, please take part and help effect positive change in our world. Men of all ages, march with us in solidarity and support of all the women in your lives that you love and value and couldn’t live without. This is an inclusive march and everyone is welcome!

We will have a banner with the Washington march logo and text that says, SISTER MARCH IN MAZATLAN, MEXICO ~ EN SOLIDARIDAD CON LOS MEXICANOS, leading the march. The planning group will also make some placards for marchers to carry. We encourage you to make your own sign in whichever language you prefer (or both).

Note to foreigners: Keep it short, respectful, legible, and directed at our concerns, as foreigners are forbidden by law from involvement in Mexican politics. Suggestions for slogans include statements of values that we hold dear; for example, “Honestidad/Honesty”; or “Dignidad/Dignity”; Derechos Humanos Para Todos; (Human Rights for All); “Women’s Rights are Human Rights;” or “Derechos de Las Mujeres son Derechos Humanos.’’

Want to say something about the proposed US built wall across the Mexican/US border? “No al Muro” (No to the Wall) is short and sweet.

This is not a U.S. election specific protest per se, but a proactive international movement, which has galvanized people to defend women’s rights and those of others in response to the rising rhetoric of far-right populism around the world.

“Mazatlán’s history is one that’s full of immigrants from many countries – Spain, Germany, France, the Philippines – being welcomed into the community, and this inclusion has built a city that’s proud of its many-faceted heritage. The tradition continues today with American and Canadian retirees flocking to the ‘Pearl of the Pacific,’ integrating into a warm and hospitable community and building the future together. It’s this mood of inclusion, and acceptance, that motivated me to organize our Women’s March Mazatlán. 

The truth is that in order to build a better future for our children and ourselves we must do it together, with respect, honesty and dignity for all. Despite those who want to build walls that separate, literally or ideologically, ultimately we are all one people, living on one planet. Somehow it seems only logical that women – mothers – are spreading this message of unity.

As Mazatlecas – whether born here or ‘pata saladas’ – we stand together proudly with women around the world in support of the women in our lives who give us so much.”
—WMM organizer Janet Blaser

Spearheaded by first-time organizers and seasoned activists, the marches will bring together people of all backgrounds, races, religions, gender identities, ages and abilities. While led by women, all are welcome to attend.

Need more ideas? Check out:
http://theamplifierfoundation.org/experiments/womens-march/
https://www.facebook.com/WomensMarchesAroundTheWorld/

Nitro Coffee in MZT

 

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The beautiful Hailey Fontes with a glass of Rico’s Nitro Coffee

You are more hipster than me if you have heard about Nitro Coffee, invented in 2012 and evidently taking the world by storm. I’d never even heard about it until this morning at the Mercado Orgánico, where Rico’s Café had an icy cold keg of the nitrogen-infused, cold-brew coffee that’s creamy, frothy, and a beer lookalike. In fact, when Marianne (owner of Rico’s) offered me a glass, I told her I couldn’t drink alcohol so early in the morning!

Nitro Coffee debuted in Austin in 2012, when it was served by Cuvée Coffee on tap at the Slow Foods Quiz Bowl. Draft beverages are all the rage these days—wine, kombucha, sparkling tea—and it’s great to see that Marianne and her brewmeister husband Rogelio are keeping Mazatlán up with the times. When you fill a glass with Nitro Coffee, it’s beautiful: foamy, with waves of color filling the glass. Check out the video below to see:

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A keg of Nitro Coffee

 

I normally drink coffee with cream, but Nitro Coffee is so smooth that I thoroughly enjoyed it served black. It was almost like drinking a glass of Guinness, but with a caffeine kick! Rico’s is not yet offering Nitro Coffee at their cafés, but it will be at the Mercado Orgánico, and I suggested they make it available by the keg for private parties (I was sad not to be able to get a keg of Tres Islas Beer for the holidays, but fortunately for them demand outstripped supply).

By the way, Rico’s is planning to get their expresso machine to the Plaza Zaragoza so we can enjoy their organic, local-roasted coffees any way we want them. They just need to figure out the electricity and water situation, which is taking a bit of time with the turnover in municipal government.

 

AC/DC in Mazatlán!?

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AC/DC is easily one of the most recognized names in Rock & Roll. Their music can be heard all over the world, all over the radio and all over Mazatlán, streaming out of bars, nightclubs, pulmonías, aurígas and cars. To many they are Rock & Roll, with an appeal from today’s youth (like my 21-year-old son) to those who rocked to the band’s first album in 1975. After the original lead singer, Bon Scott, died in 1980, Brian Johnson stepped in and became the “voice” and “sound” of the band until his sudden retirement last year. Axl Rose stepped up to finish the tour, but the future of the band is now in doubt. One thing seems to be for sure: the days of hearing Brian Johnson belt out You Shook Me All Night Long are gone. But wait….

What if I told you that you could see a group called Highway to Hell, with a lead singer who can hit high notes like a young Brian Johnson? What if I told you that group will be playing in Mazatlán at the International Convention Center on Saturday, January 28? Would it help to know that this group not only sounds like AC/DC, but looks like them, right down to Angus Young’s schoolboy outfit and Brian’s hair? They have performed all over the world and are respected enough by the real AC/DC to have shared a stage with Brian Johnson and Cliff Williams (bass player, soon to be retired). They rocked Hermosillo in November (https://youtu.be/2fcxqdQeLNg) and recently played to over 10,000 in Mexico City. This is the closest you can get to seeing AC/DC and it is coming to you real soon.

How does something like this come to happen? The commitment and energy of a local expat and longtime music fan, Ray Wright of El Sol La Vida, is making this happen. He has partnered with Tecate, the Mazatlán International Center and TV Azteca. If it’s a success, and I’m sure it will be, he promises to bring more acts to Mazatlán. I had a chance to catch up with Ray recently, and here’s what he had to say. Pay special attention towards the middle for a special promise from the band if the event is a success:

To see AC/DC on their last tour was price prohibitive. Even back in the 80’s, I’m sure I paid over $20 US (plus parking) to see a concert. Call it flashback pricing or whatever you like, but Ray is able to bring us this amazing outdoor open-air event with multiple bands and a DJ, encompassing six hours of music, for only 200 pesos. If you are a VIP rocker these days, 600 pesos gets you a seat at a table. The tables are for eight people, so why not invite some friends to come along as well? Either way you can’t go wrong with affordable food and beverages easily available. Here are the quick facts:

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Saturday, January 28, 7:00 pm
Mazatlán International Center
Tickets 200 pesos (VIP 600) – available all over Mazatlán:

Gran Plaza (beginning Friday, January 13) – look for a special kiosk
Mazatlán International Center
Bikinis Bar in the Golden Zone (Thursday – Sunday 6 pm – 4 am)
Athina Spa – Calla Bellisario Dominguez 1600 in El Centro
Reason’s Hair Salon in the Marina
Surf’s Up Cafe
TBM Offices in Marina next to Dock 7
or by calling Ray Wright 669-146-1626

Schedule is more or less as follows:

Doors open at 6:00 with DJ Nhas starting at 6:30
Opening Act: Local band, Beggars Banquet 7:30 – 9:00
Highway to Hell takes the stage around 9:30 and plays until around 11:30 or midnight
DJ Nhas returns and will play music as long as people are buying beer!

Let’s face it, living in Mazatlán rocks (pun intended). But it means that to see an international performer or band, you have to travel to Monterrey, D.F., or even the United States. Tribute bands are a way to fill the void without traveling. And if you’re going to see a tribute band, you should see the best of breed, which Highway to Hell certainly is.