ANYÉL and the magic of music
By Linnea Kullberg, Oct 27, 2006

ANYÉL Children’s Choir concert Saturday, October 28, 11am, Jardín kiosk ANYÉL presentation Wednesday, November 1, 3pm, Sala Quetzal, Biblioteca Pública Insurgentes 25

ANYÉL is alive and well and living in San Miguel. Who is ANYÉL? What is ANYÉL? Where is ANYÉL? All these answers and more will be revealed in a delightful hour presented by Elsmarie Norby, director of ANYÉL, along with teachers, administrators, parents and children.

The audience will get to see and participate in some of the magical moments that the children experience in their classes. There will be true stories from teachers and parents about some of the amazing things that have happened in the lives of children because of this unusual hour in their week. Norby, director of the ANYÉL Children’s Choir, will take the audience through a few parts of a rehearsal. The girls from the Santa Julia orphanage will sing with their teacher, Fidel. In this brief time, we will all come to understand how and why the ANYÉL musical experience awakens, inspires and challenges each and every child, without exception.

Licenciado Jesús Correa, mayor of San Miguel, and director of Education and Culture Veronica Agundis will be present to give a surprise announcement concerning the new administration’s support for children’s music in San Miguel. An informal time for questions, comments and discussion will follow, with information about the ways we can all participate in this beautiful adventure. ANYÉL is a planter of musical seeds, and any of us can bloom at any time! There is no charge, but donations will be gratefully accepted.

On Saturday, October 28, at 11am the ANYÉL Children’s Choir of San Miguel will sing from the kiosk in the Jardín. New members aged 7 to 16 will be welcomed and can register.

Collar del Viento plays pre-Hispanic music

Pre-Hispanic Music Concert, Collar del Viento

Wednesday, November 1, 7:30pm, Teatro Santa Ana, Reloj 50, 50 pesos

Archaeological evidence suggests that the ancient Aztecs maintained a school of music at Tenochtitlan, their capital city. No doubt the young musicians in training studied the pre-Hispanic instruments that we find today in the museums of Mexico—instruments such as the teponaztli, a type of wooden drum carved from a large tree trunk, and the quiquiztli (conch shell trumpet). These instruments and many others will be played at a recital of pre-Hispanic music by Collar del Viento (the Wind’s Necklace).

The ensemble consists of six youngsters ranging in age from 11 to 18 years who play pre-Hispanic music on replica instruments. Four members of the group have been playing together for over five years. The group is instructed by two professional Mexican musicians from Pozos, Néstor Vargas and Gonzalo Gómez.


Collar del Viento performs in costume and face paint utilizing the traditional ritualistic effects of incense, flowers and candles. After the performance the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions and examine the instruments.





Sizzling and sensual tango and jazz fest

Eat and move your feet—with passion. November 1 through 5 San Miguel hosts the Passion of the Americas Tango and Jazz Festival featuring dancing, music and food at a variety of locations.

Tango has exploded in Argentina and is thriving from China and France to Hawaii and New Zealand, inundating every continent and many islands in between. “I believe the state of Mississippi was the last hold out on tango,” says Christina Johnson, owner of Beyond Tango, LLC, and director of the Passion of the Americas Festival.

"But since I moved there from San Miguel, over two years ago, I have been teaching it in both Mississippi and Louisiana. “We even had a “hit and run” milonga in downtown Natchez, a traditional and quaint tourist town on the Mississippi River. The word “milonga” is probably rooted in an African language, just as the word “tango” is of African origin. Milonga has two meanings: 1) a kind of rhythmic dance that developed early when tango trios consisted of a flute, guitar and drums, and 2) a “tango social party” where one goes to meet and dance tango socially with one’s friends. A “hit and run” milonga involves going spontaneously to a café, bar or street, plugging in yo
ur boombox, dancing for about 40 minutes, and then going somewhere else. This opens tango to the public so that everyone can see it and anyone can join in. Our milongas in San Miguel will include the teachers as well as all levels of dancers.

Rather than hold a convention-style festival, Christina had another kind of vision. Why not have small groups study with the very best teachers, dance to the most accomplished tango musicians and offer a variety of events that pair well with tango? Why not have the events in exotic and intimate locations? 

On Wednesday, November 1, the innovative Passion Orchestra—made up of celebrated musicians Blas Rivera, Gerardo Perez, Monica Fuentefria, Fernando Goicoechea from Uruguay, Argentina and Spain—performs at the tango milonga from 5 to 8pm at Ristorante Bella Italia, located at Canal 21. Antonio Lozoya, from San Miguel de Allende, plays bass with the orchestra. All participants and teachers from this year’s festival from the US and Canada will be dancing. The 175-peso cover includes a drink. 

On November 2 from 5:30 to 8pm, D’Vino wine bar and the Food Factory host a milonga with a CD mix of tango. Delicious foods and wines from bold to sparkling are available for purchase from the menu. There is no cover charge. 

On November 3, we feature Food of the Gods at Patsy’s Place, Patsy Dubois’s culinary hacienda off the road to Dolores Hidalgo in the country (call 044-415-153-5303 for directions if you drive yourself). The cost of 500 pesos includes transportation, a prepared meal of several courses, and an atmosphere of Mexicano delight. Included is a tango surprise you will never forget. Reserve ahead and purchase by calling 044-415-101-2039. As of October 23, there were only 10 places left.

Also on November 3, Passion of the Americas Tango Jazz Orchestra will play at a tango milonga party at 8:30pm at La Carpa. Tickets are on sale at OM Gallery, 21-A Recreo, for 200 and 300 pesos; 300-peso seats have tables and are closest to the orchestra, and 200-peso seats are further back and include stadium seats and single chairs.

On November 4, Passion Orchestra director Blas Rivera gives a lecture titled “Insights into the Life of Astor Piazzolla,” exploring the famous composer/musician’s life and music as he tells personal stories that relay an understanding of his genius. Piazzolla is widely considered the most important tango composer of the latter half of the 20th century. His compositions revolutionized the traditional tango with a modern style, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music in a style termed nuevo tango. The one-hour lecture begins at 4pm at the Warren Hardy School, San Rafael 6, and costs 150 pesos.

Also on November 4, our visiting tango group and the public will see an unusual musical group: Caracol de Fuego. See the sidebar for information on this concert of pre-Hispanic music. 

Wrapping up the festivities on November 4, the Passion of the Americas Tango Jazz Orchestra presents a performance by tango masters Cecilia Gonzalez, Paulo Araujo, Hsueh-tze Lee and Eduardo Saucedo. The show at La Carpa starts at 10pm. Tickets are on sale at Om Gallery, 21-A Recreo, for 200 and 300 pesos.

The festival ends November 5 with a presentation titled “The Parallel Histories of Tango and Jazz,” by Dr. Vangy Franklin. For those who are curious about the roots of music and culture, Franklin’s presentation holds fascinating information about American jazz and Argentine tango. Franklin’s passion is the study of characteristics that make people similar, and she finds that New Orleans and the ports of the Rio de La Plata share many similarities as melting pots for music. Both of these kinds of music incubated in Paris because of unacceptability to polite society on its home shores, and then came back to North and South America to be widely accepted in rapidly changing societies. 

Who were the people involved? Where did they come from? What did they have in common? What were their lives like? How did technology change acceptance of the music? And the dance? 

The talk takes place from noon to 1:30pm at Villa Jacaranda, Aldama 53; cost is 150 pesos.

Caracol de Fuego brings Nahua heritage to tango
By Tim Hazell

Concert by Caracol de Fuego

Saturday, November 4, 6–7:30pm, Casa Mision, Tercera Privada Pila Seca 17

150 pesos

For more than a decade, the musicians of Caracol de Fuego (Conch of Fire) have been performing their unique ethnic and pre-Hispanic music at festivals, concert halls and ceremonies throughout Mexico. The four members of this premiere ensemble use instruments from Mesoamerica's great civilizations to weave rich tapestries of ethnic sounds.

The musicians, who manufacture their own instruments, are also involved as educators in government-funded programs that reach out to the Mexican community. One example is the newly established program of pre-Hispanic instrument instruction at the Biblioteca Pública, held Mondays from 4 to 6pm in the Teatro Santa Ana and Saturdays from noon to 2pm in the Sala Quetzal. The revitalization of pre-Hispanic culture is very much a part of changing perspectives and contemporary attitudes. Caracol de Fuego uses instruments from pre-Columbian cultures, not to simulate the music of the past, of which we have no written record, but to combine these sounds in an expression appropriate to our time.