There seems to be no
end to cultural events in Caracas, thanks largely, it seems to the
socialist revolution which is of a 21st century hue. My
first weekend saw a free Salsa-esque concert in a restored (and
government owned) hacienda in a park in Caracas. This past weekend I
was lucky to enjoy cultural events on Friday, Saturday AND Sunday.
Friday night saw an invitation to a Shabbat, the day that marks the
7th day of the Jewish week and the day of rest. There
appears to be a wealthy and vibrant Jewish community in Caracas, into
which the sister of my friend has married. Being a festive occasion,
this particular Shabbat was also serving to mark the recent Bar
Mizvah of my friends nephew. These are Sephardi jews, originating in
Morocco. The food was appropriately Moroccan, the families present,
warm and friendly, the apartment luxurious. This had nothing to do
with the revolution, except perhaps that it indicates business has
continued to flourish as the socialist revolution has advanced.
Though had I questioned the hosts perhaps they would have indicated
harder times under Chavez. Now that I think of it, someone present
did make mention of Caracas being a horrible place these days. I
can't say I see that so much myself.
On the contrary, it
seems the revolution has reclaimed the streets of Chacao, not
directly mind since Chacao has proved a stronghold for the
anti-Chavistas. But to compete with the Chavez move towards culture
for the masses, the streets of Chacao are buzzing with free cultural
events, restaurants, businesses, nice shops and a reliable police
service. People have reclaimed the Plaza in Los Palos Grandes and
since families tend to live in high rise apartments it is the
place to be between 3pm and 7pm. It rings with upward of 50 people
'om-ing' to the free yoga classes in the square and the sound of children
at free storytelling and drawing activities 3 days a week. As a
volunteer with the children's activities group told me, “this is
Disneyland” compared to the rest of Caracas.
And
so, as appropriate to a district that is competing with El
Presidente, Saturday was an evening 'Por El Medio de la calle 2011'
in the Plaza La Castellana al Mercado de Chacao. There were bands,
street theatre, dance and photo exhibitions from 5-11pm. The
atmosphere was great and the streets hiving with young people which
meant only one thing by the time I got there – it was young
people's music, a hip hop band had taken the stage and the last of
the street acrobats was packing up. Still, it was a great (short)
night out!
And
so to Sunday and fruits directly from the tree of the revolution. In
a theatre down town, I queued for free entry to a fusion of classical
and indigenous music and dance, or rather, dancer. There were no
pre-performance political speeches and if the performance was in any
way political it passed most of the audience by. Everyone knew it was
'of the revolution' but there were certainly non-supporters enjoying
it too. More of which in another post. This work of fusion was all
confusion and the two Amazonian Indian's and the 6 classical
musicians dressed in bizarre outfits with bits of feathers and such
like, really were from two different worlds. The awful, all but
naked, female dancer was from another world altogether. Without
lyrics the music was to speak for itself and the audience to leave
totally renewed spiritually (thanks, presumably to the special gifts
of the Indians). I know at least two members of the audience who left
trying to stop themselves from laughing at how ridiculous it was.
But that was a sort of spiritual renewal too in a way.
Thank
you El Presidente for valuing culture of all hues and for making it
free to all.
19
September 2011, Caracas
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