Sunday I went to my favorite circus again and was very sad to find out that they are taking a winter hiatus and I won't be able to share the wonderful experience with any of my guests that are coming to visit. I am however glad that I got to see it at least twice. This past week's show was just as innovative as the last one, and perhaps a little bit more off the wall. There were some technical difficulties which always proves interesting for an audience, especially when it is a show like this. By "like this" I mean, a group or performers who may or may not have met each other before and almost surely haven't done a run-through of the show. But it was inspiring nonetheless. There was an amazing fabric act - the variety of tricks down here in Argentina is very different from what I was familiar with back home. There are many more tricks that, in my opinion, depend more on the strength and/or flexibility of the performer, rather than a specific knowledge of the particular wraps. Hard to explain really, but quite beautiful to watch. Below you can also see pictures of the girl who did a really great handbalance/contortion act. I've seen acts like hers before, and probably some that were "better" in the sense that they were longer or included more tricks, but I've never been so close and you could feel how powerful and strong she was which was a new experience. Very glad I went and I even ran into a girl from my program who went on my recommendation!
Since one theatrical activity for the week didn't seem to be quite enough, Monday night I joined a friend at a theater in the Abasto neighborhood. We went knowing the place had a good vibe - or buena onda, as they would say here - but not knowing exactly what the show was going to be. It turned out to be a Brazilian puppet troupe and they put on an absolutely brilliant puppet show. It got me thinking. Last semester I took a class at Columbia called "Theatricality and Spectacle in the History of Russian Culture" during which, as you can imagine, we discussed topics and disciplines of all sorts, but a major part of the last unit we discussed a sort of puppet renaissance that happened in the early 20th century. Renaissance might not be the right way to phrase it because I'm not sure if there was ever a puppet golden age to begin with, but I'm just going to go with it. Anyway, the point is that one of the ideas of my final paper was that at this point in Russian history puppets really become something more than a way to tell a story to children ( I tried - and the key word here really is tried - to connect this to how the anime genre of films today) and that puppetry should be viewed as such even today. And to get back to where I began this slight tangent, I don't think I really believed my own thesis until I saw this Brazilian show. The puppets were simple: just hands draped in fabric. A love story about two old ladies (gender was actually debatable). There were no words, just a gibberish language and gestures and some hum-singing. But in the span of about thirty minutes I laughed really hard, smiled like crazy, and at the end, my heart broke a little bit. It was so spectacular that I went back last night to see them perform their other show, which they billed as being aimed more at children. It was also really great. Maybe not as great as the old lady love story, but still great. And until this week I don't think I really appreciated puppetry for the real art form that it is. I've always appreciated that it can be funny and inventive but now I really think that there should be more puppeteers out there bringing puppetry to the masses.
Circus and puppetry are definitely two art forms that are definitely on the fringe. Circus is less so with Cirque du Soleil's popularity in the last few years, but I still usually get an eyebrow raise when I tell people that I would run away with the circus in a heartbeat. No eyebrow raise when I tell them I'm a Visual Arts major. Well, okay, sometimes there is an eyebrow raise - being an artist is still kinda fringe, but maybe this is because they expect me to say Econ/PoliSci since I go to Columbia... who knows. Anyway, it seems like people really do consider not only puppetry but also circus as activities best suited for children's birthday parties. Both art forms have so much more potential and it was great to see that Buenos Aires, and Brazil apparently, seem to be embracing that. The circus shows and the puppet shows were filled with adults. Of course there were a few children there too, partly probably because children seem to go everywhere at all times of the night here. (Seriously, I would be out of a job if I lived here. I don't think anyone ever hires a babysitter, they just haul the kids along. And for the record, they are all super well behaved and never tired. They must nap all afternoon. But I will expound further on my child-rearing theories in regards to Argentina some other time.) The clowns, the stories, the imagery, the puppets - all of it was aimed at a mature audience. Slightly curious and more than just entertaining. This city has really put forth a strong showing in the arts and culture department. New York has its work cut out for it when I get back.
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