World Travel Guide

City Guide  - Mexico City  - Culture
Culture

Mexico has a rich cultural heritage - from vibrant Pre-Hispanic folk-art to the works of the great muralists of the twentieth century, there is a colourful art tradition as well a thriving music and literature scene. Tiempo Libre (www.tiempolibre.com.mx), a comprehensive listings guide to all cultural events taking place in the city, comes out every Thursday and costs M$10. The monthly programme, Guía de Programación, is available free from the Bellas Artes bookshop and tourist offices. Ticketmaster (tel: (5) 325 9000; website: www.ticketmaster.com.mx) sells tickets for most major events in Mexico City and publishes the monthly entertainment guide, ¿Qué hacemos? ('What shall we do?').

Music: The Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México (OFCM) (Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra) and has its own concert hall, the Sala Silvestre Revueltas, Periferico Sur 5141 (tel: (5) 606 8191 or 4363; website: www.ofcm.com.mx). Perhaps the most typical Mexican music is the mariachi, where roaming groups of trumpeters, violinists, guitarists and a singer peddle their tunes (see Live Music in the Nightlife section for venues). The state-owned Auditorio Nacional, Paseo de la Reforma 50 (tel: (5) 280 9250; e-mail: auditorionacional@com.mx; website: www.auditorio.com.mx), is the biggest music and entertainment venue in Mexico City.

Theatre: There are plenty of theatres to choose from, although virtually every play staged in Mexico City is in Spanish. Alternatively, there are a number of Teatro-Bars which offer a more informal environment and content for the non-Spanish speaker, as they stage variety shows and cabarets with singers, dancers, comedians, ventriloquists and magicians. La Planta de Luz, Plaza Loreto, in San Angel (tel: (5) 616 4761), has such shows from Monday to Thursday, complemented by La Bodega, Popocatépetl 25, in Condesa (tel: (5) 511 7390), on Fridays and Saturdays. El Hábito, Madrid 13, in Coyoacán (tel: (5) 659 6305) has Thursday and Friday shows, while at Teatro La Blanquita, Avenida Lázaro Cárdenas Sur 16 (tel: (5) 512 8264) they perform nightly.

Dance: Colourful traditional indigenous dances are an important part of many Mexican regional fiesta. The Palacio de Bellas Artes is home to the Ballet Folclórico de México, a bright and spectacular performance of Mexican music and dance from all over the country, which take place Wednesday and Sunday. The box office opens at 1100, where tickets can be purchased for M$180 for the balcony (these are not recommended as some of the set is obscured), M$250 and M$320.

Film: American and other foreign films (with the exception of animations) are shown in their original language with Spanish subtitles. Cineteca Nacional, Avenida México, Coyoacán (tel: (5) 688 3272; website: http://cineteca.conaculta.gob.mx), Cinemanía, Plaza Loreto in San Angel (tel: (5) 616 4836), and Centro Cultural Universitario, Avenida Insurgentes Sur 3000 (tel: (5) 665 2580), all screen classic and art-house films. For blockbusters, Cinemex Casa de Arte, Avenida Presidente Masaryk 393 (website: www.cinepolis.com.mx) is a modern multi-screen cinema in the Plaza Masaryk; tickets are usually about M$20 and half price on Wednesdays.

Cultural events: The Festival del Centro Histórico, takes place in March and is a three-week festival of classical and popular music, dance, exhibitions and other cultural events. The festival attracts performers from all over Mexico and events are staged in the plazas and theatres throughout the historic centre. Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated on November 2 and is a day when the souls of the dead are believed to return to the earth. It is a fabulously colourful and cheerful celebration. Families build altars in their homes and lay decorous garlands on the graves of their loved ones. The Zócalo becomes the focus of the national celebration.

Literary Notes
Pre-Hispanic poems and history have survived in the form of codices, colourful inscriptions painted on skin or bark paper, but History of the Conquest of New Spain is considered to be the first work of Mexican literature. Written by Bernal Díaz del Castillo, one of Cortés' lieutenants, it is an eyewitness account of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Mexico boasts a number of internationally acclaimed writers including the 1990 Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz, an essayist who wrote an in-depth examination of Mexican myths and the Mexican character, The Labyrinth of the Solitude (1950). Carlos Fuentes is Mexico's most famous writer - his book, Where the Air is Clear (1958), is set in Mexico City and follows the lives of a number of its inhabitants through the decades after the Mexican Revolution. Laura Esquivel is the author of a more contemporary hit, Como Agua para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate, 1990); the film based on the novel also became an instant international success.



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