Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Wednesday 29 august 2018
Impromptu opera regales Mexico City market-goers

By AMY GUTHRIE he says. impromptu operas in 2019.
Associated Press One day in June, the opera The idea is to awaken inter-
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The crew appeared for a sound est in the arts by bringing
tenor breaks into song next check at the market where opera and dance perfor-
to bunches of bananas Pedraza sells shoes. Pedra- mances to places where
strung high above ripe pa- za, who is 50, approached people gather, such as
paya. Wearing a red mar- the group's artistic director. public markets and metro
ket apron, he approaches He auditioned on the spot stations. Diaz calls them
a woman wrapped in a and was invited to join the "spontaneous interruptions
purple shawl and sere- troupe. Pedraza's wife runs in social life." The fine arts in-
nades her for 90 seconds the store while he's out sing- stitute is also coaching kids
while clutching her hand ing. to make puppets and other
and looking her in the eyes. The singers are on tour as crafts at city museums.
Tears stream down the part of a pilot program that Lydia Rendon, a mezzo-
woman's face. Tenor Dante Alcala performs in a taco stand of the Argentina began in June and con- soprano in the troupe who
The opera performance market in Mexico City, Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018. cludes in November. Juan is also a music therapist,
Saturday is part of an effort Associated Press Carlos Diaz, coordinator of describes opera as music
to bring the arts to every- the community cultural ac- that makes people vibrate
day life in Mexico City. A expected to hear "such that you have to exercise tion program for Mexico's both emotionally and phys-
troupe of four singers sur- beautiful voices" while continuously to always national fine arts institute, iologically "like a magical
prise shoppers at one of the browsing the fruit aisle. maintain the same range," says he is planning more acoustic massage."q
city's 300 public markets, The tenor is a market ven-
chopping beef while they dor himself: Francisco Pe-
belt out romanzas, courting draza sells shoes seven Art group to rebuild Berlin
fruit vendors with arias or, in days a week near the Ba-
the case of the tenor, mov- silica of Guadalupe. He
ing a woman to tears with trained to sing opera via Wall in German capital
lines like "eyes that cry don't private lessons from the
know how to lie" from the age of 16 until 30, but he
Spanish-language opera felt excluded from the tight-
"La Tabernera del Pueblo." knit opera circle in Mexico. phone they're given may
After the song, the tenor He performed when and lead them to a fake con-
hugs the women — a to- where he could, often as ference of scientists or a
tal stranger before the ser- a backup singer for bands meeting with a counselor. If
enade — and kisses her on that play regional Mexican they reject that offer, they
the cheek. Shopper Ana music. will be suggested another
Garcia, 65, says she never "The voice is an instrument event.
The artists' group DAU,
which is behind the project,
says it wants to distribute
between 1,500-3,000 "visas"
per day.
Inside the walled block,
there will also be viewing
platforms from which visi-
tors can peer outside into
In this Nov. 14, 1989 file photo two East German border guards Berlin — in contrast to the
patrolled atop of Berlin Wall with the illuminated Brandenburg
Gate in background, in Berlin. Cold War platforms where
Associated Press people could peek into
East Berlin from the West.
By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER The artists are not interest- The district that will be
Associated Press ed in creating a "Disney- walled in lies on the city's
BERLIN (AP) — The German style East Germany," said downtown Unter den Lin-
capital is getting its infa- Thomas Oberender of the den boulevard and will
mous Berlin Wall back — at Berliner Festspiele which include the famous State
least for four weeks. organizes many perform- Opera, the Kurfuerstenpal-
A group of artists said Tues- ing arts events in the capi- ais palace and other his-
day they're planning to tal. Instead, the intention is torical buildings. The artists,
build a facsimile of the wall more focused on creating who envision special dis-
around a downtown Berlin an experience of traveling pensations for people who
block in mid-October. to a foreign country and work or live inside the zone,
Visitors of the art installation losing the sense of free- are still waiting for the final
must buy "visas" online start- dom. OK from the city's authori-
ing at 15 euros ($17.50.) "Maybe it's not going to be ties for their project.
When entering the walled so exciting overall," he said. The wall will be torn down
area, they'll have to ex- "However, I think it will be." on Nov. 9 — 29 years af-
change their cellphones Visitors will not know in ad- ter the original Berlin Wall
for a smartphone which will vance what kind of events came down. The original
provide individual instruc- will take place on the day wall was built by commu-
tions for a tour including they're "in the city inside nist East Germany and di-
documentaries, exhibits or the city," as the project has vided the city from 1961 to
concerts. been dubbed. The smart- 1989.q