Contemporary Dance Festival in Quito

From November 8 to November 12 in the "Nacional Sucre" and "Variedades Ernesto Albán" theaters, the International Contemporary Dance festival "Reencuentro con la Danza" is taking place in our city. The entry is 1 USD .

In the "Desde el Teatro" magazine, edited by the "National Sucre´s Theater Foundation", says that the festival will be executed with several reflections like liberty, lightness, opening, the sense of flying and in general the breaking of authoritarianism included in the process of creating art and in this particular case contemporary dance: a form of expression which is developed regardless sex, race and believes.

This year´s participants includes dance delegations from: Chile, Brasil, Venezuela, México and Ecuador.

This is the calendar:

• “Sujetaltac”

Compañía Movimiento (Chile)

November 8 • 20h30

Teatro Variedades Ernesto Albán

• “El cuerpo que escribe”

Tribute to the ecuadorian writer Jorge Enrique Adoum

• “Danza de viejitos” “La sombra en el espejo”

• “Kviera-danza urbana y Rosa Amelia Poveda (Ecuador/Alemania)

November 9 • 20h30

Teatro Variedades Ernesto Albán

• “Tenía que ser solamente contigo”Compañía de danza Quasar (Brasil)

November 10 • 20h30

Teatro Nacional Sucre

• “De Hadas, Duendes, Brujas y otras Criaturas disfrazadas en la ciudad” Ruby Tagle Wilinham (México)

November 11 • 20h30

Teatro Variedades Ernesto Albán

• “Shakti en Ascensión o Rainbow Revisited”Aktion Kolectiva; Laboratorio permanente de investigación de

Danza Contemporánea Teatro (Venezuela)

November 12 • 20h30

Teatro Variedades Ernesto Albán

"Vivamos las Fiestas en paz"

"Vivamos las fiestas en paz" wich in english means "lets live the parties in peace", its an initiative from the "Liceo International school" and the "Student´s Counsel network" to stop accidents related to alcohol abuse during the celebration of Quito´s foundation.

To Marco Dávila, director and founder of the project, the main strategy is to work closely with young people. The organization of activities to inform about the dangers of consuming alcohol like walks, dances, and music festivals, are part of the initiative.

These are the six main distinctive followed by the campaign:

THE BIG ACT:

It´s a walk arranged for all the schools involved in the campaign. November 21 it´s the date chosen to present the initiative in "Plaza de San Frcnsico" (downtown Quito). The school with more participants during the walk will receive USD 3000.

THE BRACELETS

5000 articles to promote the message of the campaign: stop alcohol abuse during december celebrations.

ADVERTISING

Several TV commercials are being released to aware young people about the dangers of drunk driving.

OTHER PROGRAMS

Traditional games like "cuarenta" and "carritos de madera" among other cultural activities like a band fight are being arranged.

DESIGNATED DRIVER

This is an initiative of the police department: a responsible young person will be designated to drive drunk people home during the holidays.

CONTROL OF "LAS CHIVAS"

The use of alcohol is forbidden in these vehicles.

In the year 2000 there were an estimate of 70 deceases and 500 injured people during Quito´s celebrations. In 2009, thanks to the campaign, this number went low to 22 deceases and 115 injured; according to the observatory of city security.

Fabulosos Cadillacs y Calle 13 in Quito´s hollydays.

Miguel Mora, secretary of culture, announced to the city councils an extend list of concerts and artistic presentations that are being prepared to celebrate the foundation of Quito, The line up will be formally presented in the next days, and the events will be taking place in the city at the end of november

According to the city council Fabricio Villamar, president of the Education and Culture Comission, all the shows are going to be free, but in order to get the tickets people must donate a book to a library in Quitumbe.

Performers like Carlos Vives, Vicentico y Fabulosos Cadillacs, Calle 13, Lito Vitale, Juan Carlos Baglietto, Willie Colón y Puerto Candelaria, among others, have been confirm. The shows are going to take place in Quitumbe between December 3 and December 6.

There are also going to be presentations of the "Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional", "Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil" and the "Ballet Ecuatoriano de Cámara".

The council Villamar informed that this year´s budget to celebrate Quito´s foundation is estimated of a million dollars.

Music festivals like Quitofest, Quitu Raymi y el Rockmiñawi are also in the municipally´s agenda.

Tauromachy in Quito

The mayor of Quito, Augusto Barrera, received the past october a petition from diverse social institutions and organizations to end bullfighting in the city. The petition is going to be part of a popular consultation process in which the residents will be the ones who decide the future of this practice. Barrera committed to make a decision about the topic in a month time. This is an extremely polemic matter in Quito,a lot of political, social and economic interests are involved; thats why Barrera is very precocious every time he is asked about it. Animal right activists from all over the country make manifestations this time of year against this practice, but the thing is that a lot of people also enjoy it and consider it a form of art; thats why a concession between people who support bullfighting and people who reject it, is not a possibility. Almost a month have passed since the release of the petition and no decision have been made. The town council is the institution in charge of the matter, some delegates from different social institutions like Fundación Regional de Asesoría en Derechos Humanos INREDH, Organización Político Cultural DiablUma, AnimaNaturalis, Antitaurinos Unidos del Ecuador, Cuidado con el CUCO y la fundación PAE, among others, are preparing a meeting to discuss this matter more seriously before Quito´s hollydays. We wonder how everything is going to turn out.

"Malayerba" Theater

This great theatre, located in Quito/ Ecuador, is home to the "Malayerba Theater Group" who have been active for roughly thirty years – although they have only recently acquired the theatre as a base for their operations. The Group focuses on issues that people in Ecuador and the surrounding countries face every day and it confronts a variety of social problems that need to be addressed.

The "Malayerba Theatre Group" was founded by three actors who all shared the same goals. They wanted to create a theatre that was completely independent and therefore uninfluenced by political and economical factors that surrounded them. This would give them the advantage of freedom of choice and the ability to truly give voice to the issues that exist around them. Most of the productions are written by Maria del Rosario Francés who is actually from Pamplona but who fled to Ecuador to escape the Franco regime. She draws her inspiration from the people who live around her and her works often cover the problems of oppression, mandatory migration and discrimination. These are things that have a lot of meaning to the people in Ecuador and the Malayerba Theatre Group wants their productions to appeal to people and draw them closer.

Things are not easy for the group since theatre is not as commonly accepted here as it is in northern countries. Each of the members of the group have other jobs by which they sustain themselves since they are unable to make a living from their theatrical performances alone. They were only able to gain their theatre building through the assistance of the "Hivos Cultural Fund" to whom they are deeply grateful. However, they continue to perform in poor neighborhoods, prisons, orphanages and countryside communities to ensure that the relevant issues are addressed and that people everywhere have access to theatre. The Malayerba Theatre is truly a theatre by the people for the people. You will find them at Sodiro 345 & 6 de Diciembre which is right next to the "El Belen Church."

If you are interested in finding more about this very interesting way of expressing yourself and making art, you can also receive classes with the group.

Quito Fest 2010

"Quito Fest" is a free and independent music festival that takes place in Quito, Ecuador. Ecuadorian bands as well as international bands participate in the festival. During the first years, it took place in the Parque La Carolina but since 2005 it takes place in the Parque Itchimbía as the attendance is bigger each year. It's the biggest music festival in Ecuador and it's organized by the "Musica Joven" foundation.

This year bands such as: Lamb of God, Veda, Alma Rasta, The Skatallites, Cabal, Curare, El Cuarteto de Nos, Monareta, Mad Brain, among others, were supposed to be attending the festival, but after the latest political developments in Ecuador, authorities decided to call it off.

Thanks to the effort of the Fundation and the city council in Quito the festival is on again with new dates: saturday 13 and sunday 14 of November.

The final line-up is still to be confirmed, you can find out more at:

http://www.quitofest.com/

"Zero Latitude" Film Festival 2010

        The  "Zero Latitude" Film Festival, named from its equatorial location in Quito, concentrates on shorts, student-film, animation, videos and feature-length films from across the Spanish-speaking world. Thought-provoking independent art-house films are screened at cinemas in Ecuador's capital.

This is an anual festival; October 14 it´s the date chosen for this year´s program, thats going to end on October 31. "Rabia", a movie of the ecuadorian director Sebastian Cordero, is the opening piece. 

        This is one of the most important events in Quito, and all the contents are being screened at the festival across four cities simultaneously. Along with Quito, the festival also takes place in Guayaquil, Ambato and Cuenca. Awards are given in categories such as full feature length films, animated films, advertising films, etc. Nearly 100 films are screened this year at the eight edition of the festival. 

 

The final line-up is confirmed, you can find out more at:

http://cerolatitud.com/ .  

         In Quito, films will be shown in:

• Multicines (CCI)
• Cine Ocho y Medio
• Teatro Variedades. 
  

Main Adress: Fundación Cero Latitud, Carondelet OE1-20 y Av. 10 de Agosto, Ed. Barón de Carondelet, Of. 401B, Quito, Ecuador
Tel: +593 2 2454179, +593 2 245 49 90

 

About me

I`m a twenty year old comunication student who is interested in showing to the world a little bit more about what`s going on in my city, Quito/Ecuador.