Guadalajara Reporter

Flamenco!

A sensational show featuring flamenco dancer Antonio Jimenez “El Chupete” takes the stage of the Auditorio de la Ribera on Wednesday, December 16, 7:30 p.m.

Presented by the Music Appreciation Society (MAS), the show also features Cristina Moguel and Marine Luevano, both highly accomplished flamenco dancers. The trio will be accompanied by Ernesto Bravo on guitar, Alvaro Rubio on percussion and cantor/singer Manuel Jose Gago.

Born in Osuna, Spain, Jimenez began dancing as a child at flamenco festivals and fairs in Andalucia. He is just back from Buenos Aires, Argentina and the United States, where he has been performing as principal dancer with the Madrid-based Noche Flamenca company.

Moguel studied at the famed Amor de Dios academy in Madrid and has conducted more than 70 “Project Ole” flamenco teaching programs at schools across the United States.

Luevano is a native of Mexico and has performed in major cities in both this country and internationally. She now lives in Cuernavaca, where she continues to teach and dance.

Tickets to see this acclaimed group of dancers – they played recently to full houses at Restaurant 4 in Ajijic – are 300 pesos each and available from the MAS at the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) Tickets, Etc. booth, at Charter Club Tours or at the auditorium prior to the performance.

Get set for an exciting and passionate evening.

On the plaza

Don’t forget to stop at the Ajijic plaza on Sunday, December 13, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and gander at the imagination and skill of members of the Ajijic Society of the Arts. The media covers the gamut from photography and painting, to jewelry design, fabric arts and sculpture.

El Gallo

Ken Gosh opens his El Gallo Gallery for the first time this season with an exhibition of his and his students’ watercolors on Sunday, December 13, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery is located at Guadalupe Victoria 30 in Ajijic.

Theater

The Lakeside Little Theatre (LLT) has chosen the replacement play for the final presentation of the 2009-2010 season. Bob Coull will be directing Michael Cooney’s “Cash on Delivery,” a fun-filled farce about a con artist, welfare fraud and a whole lot of mistaken identity.

Auditions will be called on Friday and Saturday, January 8 and 9. Performance dates are April 3 through April 11 of 2010.

For scripts and information contact Coull at 766-2875 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Registration is at 9:30 a.m. and auditions begin at 10 a.m. sharp at the theater complex located in San Antonio Tlayacapan just off of Allen W. Lloyd Drive.

You need not be a member of LLT to audition but must be a member to participate in the play. Memberships cost 100 pesos for the entire season and will be available at the auditions. Season ticket holders are automatically members of LLT.

LLT encourages and welcomes everyone interested in acting, new or experienced, to attend auditions for any of this season’s plays.

Golden Strings

The Golden Strings program and Centro Regional para Estudios Musicales (CREM) will join together for a concert on Sunday, December 13, 8 p.m. at Auditorio de la Ribera del Lago in La Floresta. The program will be enhanced by a group of singers from Los Cantantes.

Tickets are just 80 pesos each and are available at the LCS Tickets, Etc. booth and at the door.

For additional information call (376) 763-5093.

VIVA

Rosemary Keeling, president of VIVA la Musica, has let us know that there are still a few tickets available for the “Live from the Met” broadcasts in Guadalajara. “The Tales of Hoffman” will be shown on Saturday, December 19 at noon, and “Der Rosencavalier” on Saturday, January 9, also at noon. Both will be shown at Teatro Diana. VIVA provides the tickets and bus transportation for 300 pesos for members and 350 pesos for non-members. Contact Keeling at 766-1801.

Mexican artists

More than 20 members of Expo Chapala Artesenal (ECA) will gather on Ajijic’s principal plaza to exhibit their particular brands of creative art on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, December 17, 18 and 19, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The brainchild of Chapala Mayor Gerardo Degollado, ECA unites local Mexican artists, who stage two exhibitions a year and also join in the Maestros del Arte event.

Besides paintings, their works include sculpture, clay art, jewelry, textiles and more. It’s really something to see. Be sure to set aside some time from your schedules to visit the show.

Foursome

“Four Artists, Four Talents” is the name of an exhibition scheduled to open at Galeria Dos Lunas, Colon 13 in Ajijic, December 12, 3 p.m. The show will feature sculpture by Rainer and Antonio Bandera, along with paintings by Claudia Nery and Linda Kauffman. The show will also feature scarves designed by Christa Louise and handmade by local residents. The exhibition will be in place until December 31.

Photographic

A small photographic exhibition of framed works by Libby Townsend will be staged in Ajijic’s smallest gallery (the Guadalajara Reporter office at Plaza Bugambilias) on Friday, December 18, 5-8 p.m. The collection features scenes from Townsend’s travels and life in Latin America and is entitled “A Love Affair.” The photos, in color and from interesting perspectives, are all un-manipulated. The prices are fair and the photos will fit in a suitcase or carry-on. Look for refreshments.

Get naked

The Naked Stage continues its minimalist play readings with “‘X’ -Mas Turkey with Hams” on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, December 18, 19 and 20 at 3 p.m. The readings are held in the garden at Zaragoza 3A in Ajijic.

Ticket donations are 50 pesos for open seating. There is a no-host bar. Reservations are a must.

For more information call (376) 766-2044 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

This play is not suitable for children.

Keep your ear to the ground and your eyes on this column concerning “An Afternoon with Woody” coming up in January.

At the station

Two events coming up soon at the Gonzalez Gallo Cultural Center in Chapala (the old train station) could be of interest to local families.

The first is “Little Red Riding Hood,” a play for the entire family on Sunday, December 13, at noon. The second is a concert by the Youth Symphonic Orchestra of Mexico on Wednesday, December 16, 4 p.m. (see story page 27).

Both events are admission free and bound to spark up the season.

Jocotepec exposition

A photographic exposition entitled “Quienes Somos y Como Somos las Mujeres de Jocotepec” (Who we are and How we are, the Women of Jocotepec) opens Monday, December 14, 6 p.m. at the Casa de Cultura on the plaza in Jocotepec. The show is connected to a symposium on women that took place earlier this year.

Early deadlines

Information needing to be published in Laguna Chapalac and Ribera art review for the Christmas issue (to be on the stands on December 23) should reach Jeanne Chaussee no later than Thursday, December 18. Items for publication in the New Year’s edition (to be on the stands early December 31) need to reach Jeanne Chaussee no later than Saturday, December 26.