November 2012
Category Archives: November 2012
The Edge of Enchantment
By Brooke Gazer
Most visitors to Huatulco know that it has great beaches, predictable weather and some posh hotels and residences. What is less known, is that the entire region is a wealth of history, folklore ancient culture and mysticism. “The Edge of Enchantment” is an amazing book that invites us into the intriguing world of local native communities. The book takes its name from the indigenous belief that this region is in fact “Enchanted”. The author explains “almost every town and hamlet in Huatulco and Huamulela has its own ‘encanto’, a physical space where a fissure or charm leads to an unknown metaphysical world.” Continue reading The Edge of Enchantment
The Artistic Knife-Making Workshop of Apolinar Aguilar
By Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.
Apolinar Aguilar stands over a large iron anvil, heavy mallet in one hand and a pair of long metal tongs gripped around a length of red hot steel in the other. Behind him is a stone and clay hearth; and to one side, feeding air into it, is a rudimentary wood and skin blacksmith’s bellows. These are the tools of the trade in this grand master’s artistic cuchillería or knife-making workshop. Continue reading The Artistic Knife-Making Workshop of Apolinar Aguilar
MAYAN CALENDAR
By Vivien and Joel Hoyt
As the end of 2012 approaches, people are questioning the significance of the Mayan calendar. Historians tell us the calendar ends on December 21, 2012 and this has sparked many predictions. Sensationalist media is running rampant and the same naysayers who scared us about Y2K are busy again. I’m embarrassed to admit that in December, 1999 I stashed water, food, propane, batteries, etc. awaiting the big crash. Twelve years later I’m still here and choose to see things differently. Continue reading MAYAN CALENDAR
Less Is More: The Small Art Museums of Mexico City
by Carole Reedy
A vast and varied selection of art museums awaits you in Mexico City, part of its larger cultural program for citizens and tourists alike. While it’s impossible to do justice to all in one article, here’s a jewel box of small treasures, favorites of people who live here and the places they take out-of-town visitors. Continue reading Less Is More: The Small Art Museums of Mexico City
Artist Develops Her Own Style on the Costa Chica
By Brooke Gazer
Cristina Bayliss is an artist who arrived on the Costa Chica for a brief vacation 20 years ago and never left. Originally from the UK, she graduated from Bristol Art School in 1983. After teaching for three years she wisely decided that life was too short to spend disciplining children and moved on. Taking a position as a cook aboard a sailboat landed her in the Virgin Islands where she began selling her watercolors. Continue reading Artist Develops Her Own Style on the Costa Chica
A Sight to See: The Mural at Santa Maria Huatulco
By Neal Erickson
Santa Maria Huatulco, an ancient town in the south-central part of the State of Oaxaca, was “conquered” by Hernan Cortes for Spain in 1539. Today it is a city of about 33,000 people, and is the seat of government of the Municipality of Santa Maria Huatulco. In Mexico the municipality is similar to the United States’ county in local government, so in the U.S. it would be called the “county seat”. Just west of the Huatulco International Airport, the road to Santa Maria is perpendicular to the coast highway and heads north (taking this road south will lead you to San Augustin Beach). Approximately seven miles (10-11km) later, it enters the outskirts of town. Continue reading A Sight to See: The Mural at Santa Maria Huatulco
Sneak Preview THE TEMPEST: November’s Opera, Live in HD from the Met
By Carole Reedy
Combine Shakespeare’s 17th-century romance with the backdrop of Milan’s 18th-century Baroque La Scala Opera House. Then sit back and enjoy Thomas Adès’ 21st-century opera, a magical production both musically and visually.
This Met premiere and new production by Robert Lepage, most recently remembered for his staging of the ambitious Wagner Ring Cycle (which he created for the Met), promises to amaze, as does most of his work. Imagine this: In order to play tricks on his enemies, Prospero, an 18th-century impresario from Milan, surrounds himself with a scale-sized La Scala opera house on the island of his banishment. “A boxful of magic tricks” takes place, acrobats and dancers all around. Lepage explains that each of the three acts presents a different perspective—from the stage itself, from the auditorium, and from backstage and off-stage—to make up this “opera-within-an-opera house.” Continue reading Sneak Preview THE TEMPEST: November’s Opera, Live in HD from the Met
The Snipsisters are Back on the Oaxacan Riviera
By Liz Healey
After holding another very successful fundraiser in Calgary, Alberta, in May, Heidi Wagner and her Snipsister partner, Shelagh O’Brien, will once again be holding spay/neuter clinics in the Huatulco area in December, with the work done by Peace Mexico from Puerto Vallarta. Continue reading The Snipsisters are Back on the Oaxacan Riviera
The New Fall Nonfiction
By Carole Reedy
The new Fall fiction discussed in last month’s issue brought us a menu of delicacies, and the new nonfiction seems equally sumptuous, with favorite authors and subjects represented. It almost seems that nearly every significant author of the 21st century has published a new book this year. Here are a few of the outstanding selections: Continue reading The New Fall Nonfiction
