Just dance (a spontanious encounter with choreographed movement)

No more English. For four hours each day I have been emersed in Spanish in what has turned out to be a amazingly productive review class. My use of tenses has improved, and I'm remembering vocabulary that I thought I had long forgotten. Lucky for me the brain has a way of retriving information once dusted off. While at IMAC, I have met some fantastic new friends who are learning English, and with whom I can practice my Spanish and they their English while happening upon great locales and events in the city.

Wednesday was another great example of this city's ability to provide dwellers with a opportunity to encounter great art just around the corner. The 13th Annual International Dance Festival was happening all last week at different venues throughout the city. After sipping Sangria at Cafe Benito we passed by their large (airplane hanger huge) space dedicated to art and city events where I had seen a BMX expo a couple weekends ago being set up for an event. In my best Spanish I asked what was happening and discovered there would be a dance performance later that evening.

By 8:30 that night the space was packed, lights were dimmed and music was cued. On stage were the five dancers of Spacio Cerio, a spectacular contemporary dance company. Watching them move effortlessly through knowingly difficult moves while they performed "Fracturas" was a reminder of just how much we can express through our bodies, of what kind of gut-wrenching emotion can be conveyed without saying a word.

Saturday, the Ballet Folklorica gave me another reminder of how, through music and movement, histories can come alive. I found comfort in the rhythm. It was constant even as it changed. And as much comfort as I found in the music, I was intrigued by the costumes. Bright, flowing skirts surrounded the dancers as they turned their way across the stage. The gracefulness of the women dancing was perfect juxtoposed to the men hitting the floor with their feet creating a purposeful noise that combined with the musicians created a beautiful scene.

In the center of the city, Teatro Degollado, was the best place to see this performance. The theatre is overwhelming, the way historic 100-plus-year-old theatres are supposed to be. Unbelievable paintings on the ceiling, elegant chandelliers in the lobby, classic red cushioned seats and box seats once reserved for the rich and famous. Imagine all the people who have spent their Saturday nights in this theatre week after week, year after year. All the people who have smiled, cried, and held the hand of the one they loved sitting in the seats all around me. There is something comforting in knowing that we all are striving to find the same thing, happiness, and that in many ways we all find it, if only for a few hours at the theatre, through similar means.