eventos

Segundo lugar de la categoría de Fotografía.

Redacción.- Más de 120 piezas de 70 creadores componen la exhibición “The Judge Show”, que organiza la asociación Ajijic Society and Arts (ASA) y que permanecerá hasta el tres de marzo en las instalaciones del Centro Cultural Ajijic (CCA).

La exposición abrió con un cocktail de bienvenida en lleno total, en el que la mayoría de los espectadores fueron personas de la comunidad extranjera quienes pudieron apreciar las expresiones artísticas vigentes.  

La exposición abrió con un cocktail de bienvenida con un lleno total.

Por 37 años, el Judge Show ha impulsado la creación de los talentos locales -destacando la participación de extranjeros radicados en la ribera del lago de Chapala- donde se premian las distintas técnicas como lo son la fotografía, escultura, joyería, oleos, acrílicos, acuarela, pastel, entre otros. 

Jaramar Soto created a magical night of 15 songs in a unique, intimate concert 

Patrick O’Heffernan (Ajijic).- The renowned Mexican singer Jaramar Soto made a surprise appearance in Ajijic Friday night, at an intimate concert organized by singer-songwriter Yanin Saavedra at her home. Supported by her long-time accompanists Luis Javier Ochoa on guitar and Alejandro Fernández Figueroa on violin, the Latin Grammy-winning Jaramar treated the audience in Saavedra’s living room to 15 stunning songs, mostly composed by her. 

Clad in a simple black lace dress, she swayed, sang, smiled and mesmerized the people on folding chairs only feet away from her with a voice that everyone in Jalisco knows and loves. From the mischievous “Máquina” to the soulful “Echar el Ancla”, she filled the house with music usually heard in grand theaters in Guadalajara, Mexico City or Los Angeles. In between songs, she told stories of the songs, her life, art and her dreams.

Jaramar, born in Mexico City but now based in Guadalajara. Is a singer, dancer, composer and visual artist who has recorded 15 solo albums, among them El hilo invisible (with el Cuarteto Latinoamericano, for which she won  the 2016 Latin Grammy for Best Classical Music Album. 

Her visit to Ajijic is the result of her friendship with Saavedra and her continuing desire to develop new projects and touch new audiences. Yanin Saavedra and her partner, bassist Gilberto Rios, produces a continuing series of intimate concerts bringing artists from around Mexico in genres, ranging from electric dream pop to folk to classical. Jaramar earlier appeared on the Ajijic-based radio program Music Sin Fronteras.

Photo: Archivo.

Redacción. – Each February, the Art Society of Ajijic offers an opportunity for local artists and craftspeople to let the public see and buy their work in a unique two-day event. Over the past eight years this event has grown beyond Ajijic and now includes surrounding towns. This weekend the Ajijic Society of the Arts’ 9th Annual Studio Art Walk will visit over 30 locations throughout Lakeside and art walkers will have the opportunity to meet close to 100 artists in mixed media, oils, acrylics, photography, sculpture, jewelry, handicrafts and more.

Some artists  in the Art Walk will be displaying their work in their own studios, while others will be hosted by other artists, art collectors in their homes, or business such as restaurants, with some locations featuring several artists. A full-color. 50-peso catalogue of the artists serves as the ticket to Art Walk.  The catalogue also includes a map of the Art Walk locations and photos of art on display. The Art Walk takes place Saturday, Feb. 22 and Sunday Feb 23 and runs from 10 am to 4 pm each day.

Funds raised will go to support the Lake Chapala Society’s (LCS) Children’s Art Program founded in 1954 by Neill James.  The Program has helped thousands of Mexican children explore their creative talents and has produced many well-known local artists and has helped position Ajijic as a center for art. The legacy of this program can be seen in the lives and paintings of its many famous graduates whose murals now adorn public buildings and beautify villages in the area.

ASA Art Walk Catalogues are available at the Lake Chapala Society, the Art Connection in Centro Laguna Mall, Superlake Market, Diane Pearl Colecciones, Ken Gosh Galleries and the LCS Café.

El Ecléctico Fest registró un lleno total en la Plaza Principal. Foto: Bram Valencia.

Redacción.- Por el pago de las actividades realizadas durante el día asignado al Gobierno Municipal, dentro del novenario de las Fiestas en Honor al Señor del Monte, el municipio erogó 250 mil pesos. 

Música, el castillo, fuegos artificiales, protocolos religiosos y demás conceptos, fueron lo que el municipio financió el pasado 13 de enero que, según cifras de Tesorería, el gasto se redujo de 322 mil pesos en 2019 a los 250 mil de esta edición.

También se realizó el Ecléctico Fest que, a decir del Presidente Municipal, José Miguel Gómez López, no corrió en su totalidad a cargo del ayuntamiento, sino que la mayor parte fue absorbida por los organizador, quienes salieron con número rojos. 

“Se redujo (el gasto), no obstante la fiesta del lunes que nos tocó, la verdad salió con números rojos Israel (el organizador) del Ecléctico Fest. Se hizo con un escenario que, el puro escenario vale más de 70 mil pesos y los artistas que vinieron, se hablaba de entre 350 mil pesos y un millón de pesos para un evento de ese tipo”, explicó el primer Edil durante la primera Sesión Ordinaria de Cabildo, celebrada el pasado 4 de febrero. 

Las autoridades esperan realizar un festejo similar para el próximo año con el mismo presupuesto, ya que en esta ocasión no se contó con el respaldo del gremio de los carniceros -con quienes tradicionalmente comparten el día-.

Luz Preciado y su esposo, el creador Thomas Mutschlechner, se mudarán a Austria. Foto: cortesía. 

Redacción.- Una venta de arte marcará la despedida de dos estimados creadores plásticos de Ajijic, quienes pondrán a subastar varias obras en un acontecimiento enmarcado por un ambiente de música y un cóctel de bienvenida.

Dado que, por motivos personales, la artista de Ajijic Luz Preciado y su esposo, el creador Thomas Mutschlechner, se mudarán a Austria, llevarán a cabo el remate de su obra artística, compuesta por impresiones, postales, tazas y pinturas originales.

Obra plástica de Luz Preciado, de la serie “Sin Tabúes”. Foto: archivo.

“Amenazo con volver, pero quiero agradecer a las personas que me apoyaron, a los colegas artistas que estuvieron conmigo siempre, me  ayudaron a crecer a mejorar; a toda la gente que compró mi obra, valoró mi trabajo -tanto mexicanos como extranjeros-. Espero volver a pintar en la ribera”, sentenció vía telefónica, Luz Preciado.

La fiesta de despedida, ambientada con su música de Los Bad Hombres y el Tequila Último Pecado, se llevará a cabo el 16 febrero de 3:00 pm a 8:00 pm, en el domicilio: La Bandera núm. 69, en San Antonio Tlayacapan.

Ven, apoya y despide a dos estimados pintores de la ribera.

Logotipo de Tequila Último Pecado, patrocinador de la fiesta de arte.

La cata de vinos se realizó con un lleno total.

Redacción.- En una agradable tarde-noche, los clientes del restaurante Jardín de Ninette, disfrutaron del maridaje de tres vinos y tapas españolas, acompañados por la Sommelier Cecilia Rodríguez y el chef Oscar Pérez Nafarrate, quienes compartieron sus conocimientos sobre la cata de vinos y la variada gastronomía que se sirve en el restaurante ubicado en Ajijic.

Además, las decenas de invitados a la velada -celebrada el 30 de enero- disfrutaron de un performance, donde pudieron convivir con músicos talentosos de la ribera, ya que la idea es continuar con este tipo de eventos en el restaurante, donde se pueda convivir con artistas y además comprar su arte, como informó en pláticas pasadas con este medio, el chef Oscar Pérez Nafarrate.

El chef Oscar Pérez Nafarrate sirvió tapas españolas.

Pérez Nafarrate fundó, desde hace más de doce años, El Jardín de Ninette que ha sido nombrado por los integrantes del festival Chili Cookoff, en tres ocasiones, como mejor restaurante de la Ribera de Chapala.

En el performance participó Leonor Zertuche (propietaria del lugar) con baile flamenco.

El restaurante cuenta con diferentes eventos mensuales donde se puede disfrutar de la tranquilidad del jardín trasero o su acogedor comedor.

Las próximas veladas de arte y catas de vinos en el Jardín de Ninette:

14 de Febrero: Menú especial de 5 tiempos con maridaje.
26 de Febrero: Veladas con arte. 5:00 pm. Exposición: Sin Barreras $300 (incluye tapas y performance), a partir de las 7:00 pm. la entrada es gratuita.
27 de Febrero. Cata maridaje de vinos 3:00 pm $300.
20 de Marzo. Cata Maridaje con Mezcal Rufina $

Más información en: (376)7664905.
La dirección es: Carretera Oriente 52 B, en Ajijic, frente a Farmacias Guadalajara.

Maria Jose Valdez at La Cocherra Cultura.

Patrick O’Heffernan (Ajijic).- This weekend, the La Cochera Cultural gave the people of Lakeside a magical night of dance, music, and laughter. The event was  Flamenco! with  dancer María José Valdés, singer Julio de la Isla and guitarist Carlos Iván de León, assembled by producer Emilia Gálvez, who also danced and played the cajón. Valdés was a special treat for the Ajijic audience because, despite being renowned throughout Mexico, it was her first time dancing in Lakeside.

The magic materialized almost immediately as Morelia-based Carlos Iván de León kicked off the first song on his guitar and the tapatio singer Julio de la Isla’s vocals sailed over the guitar riffs and throughout the center. His voice was mournful, although Gálvez said later that the lyrics are not always as sad they sound, but because of the singing style and the differences between Spain’s Spanish and “Mexicano” they can be hard to understand even for Spanish speakers.

Foto 2 Visiting dancers from Spain dancing in hiking boots at La Cocherra Cultural.

Gálvez joined in on the cajón, her hands and fingers weaving a subtle percussion fabric with the vocals and guitar notes. Then the dance began. María José Valdés virtually attacked the dance floor, her body and her feet speaking a powerful language of angular poses, sharp motions and explosive contact with the wood beneath her feet.  Known for her performances at the “Bailadores del Mundo” during the Flamenco Summers of Love of God 2019, the Aguascalientes resident displayed a technical perfection and the emotional depth that stunned the crowd. She swung her movements around the anguished vocals and aggressive guitar riffs of Carlos and Julio while Gálvez created a percussion backdrop on the cajón that molded itself to Valdez’s movements.

But there was more magic to come, there were two young dancers visiting from Spain who were there just to watch and enjoy, but Gálvez coaxed them onstage, despite the fact that the male dancer was wearing hiking boots and the young woman street shoes  Footwear aside, they wowed the crowd not only with their exuberant and technically superb baile, but with laughter at their situation of clomping on the dance floor in hiking books and loving it.

Then Gálvez  and María José Valdés joined them and the four danced together and in pairs in an improvisational round.  Afterwards Galvez told us that dancing together with no practice was natural. “Flamenco is all over the world”, she said, “but there are structures within it we all understand and we get to improvise in the spaces in between the structures”. The audience did their own improvisation by alternating between clapping in time and shooting videos on their phones. The night ended with bows, laughter and phones full of once-in-a lifetime images.

Foto: Archivo.

Redacción (Ajijic, Jal).- “Artistas de Ajijic” será la exposición que se inaugurará el primero de febrero y que busca reunir fondos para la manutención Centro Cultural Ajijic (CCA).

La exposición colectiva se dio a conocer mediante una convocatoria dirigida a los artistas de la localidad, por parte del director del CCA, Alejandro Martínez.

Dicho escrito solicita a los artistas una aportación del 25 por ciento del valor de la obra, más 200 pesos por cada artista que desee participar.

Los creadores podrán presentar hasta dos piezas para la muestra de tema libre, en la técnica que deseen entre pintura, escultura o fotografía.

La recepción de obra se realizará en las instalaciones del CCA, del 27 al 30 de enero y la obra se montará el día 31 del mismo mes.

Para cualquier duda o aclaración, llamar al 766 23 73.

Foto: Cortesía. 

Redacción. – Formada por mexicanos y miembros de la comunidad extranjera, la Orquesta Típica de Chapala realizará su primer concierto del 2020 en el marco de sus 10 años de fundación. El miércoles cinco de febrero, a las siete de la tarde, los asistentes al auditorio del Centro Cultural Antigua Presidencia, podrán disfrutar de una tarde llena de música agradable.  

El costo de admisión es de 100 pesos; la Orquesta es autónoma e independiente y sus conciertos son con el fin de hacerse de recursos para el mantenimiento de sus instrumentos.

Las personas que asistieron al concierto en La Bodega de Ajijic el 20 de noviembre de 2019 podrán entrar gratis con su boleto anterior.

En el 2019, la Orquesta Típica de Chapala sufrió de un robo, en dónde se llevaron algunos instrumentos, por lo que con algunas donaciones, la orquesta ha salido adelante.

Los boletos se pueden adquirir el día del concierto o en las oficinas de la revista “Página que sí se lee”, en Chapala. Av. Madero 415-A (Sobre tienda OXXO) en Chapala.

Photo: Special.

(Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic). Lola Beltrán,  Luis Fonsi,  Mick Jagger, the Supremes, ballerinas from the Hernández School of Ballet in Guadalajara and even President Trump rocked the Auditorio De La Ribera for three days this past weekend with music and dance during Lip Sync12, the 42^nd annual production of what is the largest and longest running lip sync review in the world.

Produced and directed by former comedian/actor/model Michael McLaughlin, now in his 12^th year of directing the show, Lip Sync is the year’s major fundraiser to improve the Auditorio. This year the program and the cast were more diverse than ever, a goal of McLaughlin’s in an effort not only to raise funds for the Auditorio and local charities, but to bring the Mexican and Ex-pat cultures together. The program consisted of 25 acts, some with multiple singers and dancers.  Audiences thrilled to “Despacito”, “You Don’t Own Me”,  “All That Jazz”, and “Spoonful of Sugar.  They also sang along, dodged golf balls, laughed at a search for car keys, and got up close and personal with dancers who came off the stage in a Billy Porter number.

Whether the songs were in Spanish, English or German, they resonated with the crowd.  All of this was moved along smartly by McLaughlin while he joked about the performance of Canadian hockey teams, got down on  his knees to talk with a tiny dancer from the Hernandez School of Ballet and gave the women in the audience advanced warning of when they could run to the men’s room and avoid the line in a woman’s room at intermission.

Photo: Special.

Lip Sync12 ran like a well-oiled machine but Michael says looks can be deceiving. Getting the more than 50 people it takes to produce the show syncing together onstage and backstage took three months of work, but not necessarily a tight organization.  “I thrive in chaos”, he says.  I enjoy chaos more than a structured program myself and the show is actually kind of loose.  I don’t really direct, I just try to get the actors on and off stage at the right times.”

They did hit their cues, right down to Donald Trump lip synching “Senorita”, coming in exactly on time (it was an edited video, no waiting for Air Force 1), in line with McLaughlin’s belief that  “The art of directing can be described as ‘Keep’em moving onstage”.

And that is one of the secrets of Lip Sync’s popularity. “I try to keep the acts short,” he says, “and short introductions for the songs, which are an average of three minutes long.”  He has also added dancers and dance numbers in recent years and throws in a few surprises, like the golf balls hit into the crowd during “Thanks for the Memory” and flying in Mary Poppins for “Spoonful of Sugar.”

Despite the short 3-month production preparation time, many of the actors — all of whom were local this year except the Hernández Dancers – start working on their acts and costumes much earlier. Liddy Townsend who lip synched Lola Beltrán’s “Por Un Amore” said she starts about six weeks before production begins and sings the song about 30 times a night – driving her neighbors crazy.

Over the 12 years Michaels has produced Lip Sync, it has paid for improvements in sound and lighting and the acoustics of the hall.  This year he wants to help pay for a new floor in the dance studio – about $7000US – because the existing one has holes in it.  And of course, the expansion of the woman’s room on the priority list. The Jalisco Secretary of Culture has announced plans for upgrades to the facility and the funds raised by Lip Sync will be spent in coordination and with the permission of the Secretary

Michael claims that the hardest part of this is the creativity part – selecting songs and acts and surprises.  “After 11 years of shows, I have to up the ante entertainment-wise for the paying public,” he says.  That should be no problem based on this year’s performance and because the  great record he has to build on.