Letters

Editor,

Many thanks to Carlos Rodríguez Alamilla, manager of the Café Santa Ana for inviting us to perform our review, “The Joy of Latin Dance,” on Wednesday, June 4. It was a great honor and pleasure to dance before a standing room only public that could not have been more warm and appreciative. We'd love to hug every one of those people!

Anyone interested in studying danzón, tango, or salsa can call me at 154-5840 or email at leonardtr@hotmail.com. I can then direct them to the appropriate colleague and comrade for complete information about classes. Also, we will keep Atención informed of any developments in Latin dance that are of general interest. Once again, thanks for all the support.

Con ritmo y sabor,
Leonardo Rosen

Editor,

What a wonderful response I got! I am always glad when people react.

Let's go back to the caves and never change anything. While a number of foreigners who made San Miguel their home would like Mexico and San Miguel to remain as it is/was forever, I am not one of them. There are a lot of wonderful things we treasure and there are others. “We” for me includes all residents of San Miguel alike, natives or foreigners. Have you not noticed that there is a new Mexico being shaped around you? A Mexico where more opportunities will be available for the new generations? Did you ever think how San Miguel’s future generations will be able to make a living? The good old times will simply not do.

The process of change was initiated the minute some outsiders from Mexico or from some other country moved here. We, the residents of San Miguel, are part of this process of change.

Did you ever talk to your Mexican neighbors about the noise pollution and its effect on babies, young children even animals and yes, adults? Do you know that there are Mexican children who are hiding under their beds when the firecrackers are so loud and endless? Do you know how dangerous these firecrackers are and how many accidents are caused by it? Traditions can be a wonderful thing, but they will change as we have to change, they have to benefit the majority of a people.

Do you know that in our neighbor city of Celaya, firecrackers have been outlawed for some years? Guess what, they live very well without. Many traditions have changed over the years and centuries and so will this one.

One of the biggest sources of income and employment of San Miguel is tourism and like in most of Mexico, tourism is the major industry here with the best job creation potential now and in the future. Traffic, noise and pollution are not tourism or people friendly in any place, not even in San Miguel.

Herbert R. Bolz

Editor,

Wouldn’t it be great if San Miguel had a theater space in el Centro where professional plays can be presented for more than four or five performances, where we can play host to traveling companies and festivals from within Mexico and abroad, where professional instrumentalists and vocalists are able to perform in an intimate space, and where professional Mexican actors and playwrights also have a voice?

There is no such venue in this wonderful city that many claim to be a center for arts. The Ángela Peralta, although impressive, can only be reserved for three performances and no matinees. Teatro Santa Ana, although an ideal size, can only be booked for one week, and because of a tin roof it has definite limitations when it rains. Hotel Jacaranda is now closed for renovations and the future of that tiny theater is in question. 

And that’s it folks! Although Iguana Productions has presented successful and long-running productions in San Miguel in alternative venues in the last three years, some of these no longer exist and spaces lie dormant.

Does anyone know if there are spaces on second floors, in restaurants, hotels, or office buildings that can be converted into a “black box” 50–99 seat theatre? After thirty-five years as a working actor/director in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto I feel that this off-Broadway style theater is the ideal size. Moreover, it has a modular moveable stage and seats that allow for many different configurations.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a theater that tourists seek out when coming to San Miguel, because they know they’ll be enjoying first-class entertainment?

If there are other like minded theater lovers out there with ideas, please email me: alanjordansma@yahoo.ca. Iguana Productions website:www.theatersanmiguel.com

Alan Jordan
Artistic Director, Iguana Productions

Editor,

The tree butcher has been unleashed again; this time in the green area in front of El Chorro. The magnificent trees, which I had assumed would escape the butchery that their fellows in Parque Juarez suffered last year, are now the latest victims. In spite of the fact that their huge limbs did not overhang any buildings, busy streets or walkways, they have been thoughtlessly hewn away. In spite of the fact that the branches held the nests, eggs and young of many egrets, their mighty limbs have been cruelly amputed.

I wonder if the responsible party is part of the same government that sponsored the green event in El Jardín a short time ago, where little children were taught the value of protecting our fast-disappearing natural environment. If they teach by example they are presenting a very mixed message.

Jerry Davis

Editor,

Some here in San Miguel know of my brief relationship with commentator Tim Russert and how my written contribution about my father was chosen and published in his New York Times bestseller Wisdom of our Fathers. What most don’t know is that my submission was initially rejected because of its length, yet after Tim read it he contacted me. He raised my spirits saying he insisted to Random House that my piece be included. When Tim sent me my complimentary copy, he included a touching, hand-written note. That was Tim, “solid,” a dude who possessed every-man appeal, whether it be toward wretches like me, or presidents, popes or potentates.

Ironically, Tim’s sudden passing occurred on Fathers Day weekend. Russert’s respect for fatherhood goes without saying. The loss of Tim is a tragedy for his family and colleagues, yet a colossal loss for America and perhaps the world. During these days of too-often idiotic insanity, the world could use legions of men like Russert—level-headed men who put egos aside, who remain civil, who are comfortable in their own skin and who have a firm grip on just who they are. Russert possessed a tender heart. Too bad he didn’t realize how tender his heart actually was.

Recently I was diagnosed with heart disease and underwent open-heart surgery. Unlike Tim, I was lucky to get patched up. I continue to urge fellow sanmiguelenses, who sense they could have a problem due to age and lifestyle, to get checked out. (You know who you are.) Sad to say, it’s too late for Russert, but if you are reading this, it isn’t too late for you.

Lou Christine