A taste of the largest Mexican folkloric festival
August 1, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

La Guelaguetza in San Miguel
Mexican folk dance spectacular
Fri & Sat, Aug 8 & 9
Plaza de Toros Oriente (Municipal Bullring)
Recreo 52
100 pesos

The Guelaguetza festival is known as the showcase of Mexican folkloric dance with days of spectacular performances from the major dance groups around the country. San Miguel audiences will be delighted with the opportunity to see some of Mexico’s most colorful and exciting dance troupes perform next weekend.

The Guelaguetza, meaning “reciprocal exchanges of gifts and services” in Zapotec, is an annual cultural celebration that takes place in the city of Oaxaca every July. Its origins come from celebrations related to the worship of corn. Communities from within the state of Oaxaca gather to present their regional culture in the form of music, costumes, dances and food.

Tickets for this unique performance are available at the stores Corazón Gitano, Hernández Macías 96 and Jade, Zacateros 8.

Gypsies live within their music 
By Maridel García

Dance/Concert
Gypsies: From India to the Alhambra
Fri, Aug 8, 5pm
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
150 pesos

Some societies experience networks in a manner different from the West. Small and haunted societies, some of which have powerful internal cohesion, are unable to live the journey as an exile. Their homeland is the journey, because they live within the music they generate: the Gypsies.

For them the fact of being in this or that area, in this or that country is fortuitous. Their society is out of space. What comes closest to their notion of space is the living experience, the vicissitudes they have crossed over time. Of those experiences they have no memory, but according to the present, in a culture that Gypsies experience through music as could be experienced eternity.

The present moment is what matters, the here and now. The philosophy of advance planning and technological innovation is alien to them. They are committed over time, which for them is the moment in which we live. The shape of that time is the mysterious and elusive shape of music, their music.

But where did they come from? They travel constantly, but they have to come from somewhere. Somewhere is point zero, the original homeland from where they began their journey. Scholars have told us they come from India and their language is the key. For its grammar and vocabulary, the gypsy language is close to Sanskrit and some modern languages such as Kashmiri, Hindi and Gujarati, Marathi and Nepali. For those who like to thoroughly review the history of peoples, the bad news is scant documentation of gypsies. But it is only natural. The writers of ancient India—oh, country of incomprehensible castes—were degraded if they dedicated a single thought or a single line to people like zotts, luris, nuris, jats. From their very beginning in India, the gypsies had a dark star.

You bewitched me
By Lourdes García

Flamenco Dance
Me Embrujaste
La Yerbabuena & Triana
Fridays, Aug 8, 15, 22 & 29, 5pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A

Angela García “La Yerbabuena” and Maridel García “Triana” are flamenco bailaoras and cantaoras. Since 1997, they have performed in many theaters and tablaos of Mexico.

On this occasion, they bring to Teatro Santa Ana their show Me embrujaste (You bewitched me) to share with the public the magic and embrujo (bewitching) of flamenco baile and cante.

For more information, visit http://anisyyerbabuena.blogspot.com.