Festival Internacional Cervantino
The festival originates from the mid 20th century, when short plays by Miguel de Cervantes called entremeses (singular entremés) were performed in the city's plazas.
The richness of the mines in colonial times started a tradition of theaters and other cultural venues to satisfy the desires of the middle and upper classes.
However, the tradition of the Entremeses was the main reason why Guanajuato was eventually chosen, meshing the two ideas to produce the modern event for the first time in 1972 with performances by artists from fourteen countries including Mexico.
[7] The Cervantino had its greatest growth from 1976 to 1982, during the presidency of José López Portillo because of the efforts of his wife, Carmen Romano, who promoted it abroad.
[8] It quickly gained the attention of noted artists, with Berlin Philharmonic director Herbert von Karajan offering to appear at no cost.
However, efforts were soon made to lobby for their inclusion, especially by the Universidad de Guanajuato, and now artists from this university and other parts of the city and state regularly appear.
[12] In the 1980s, these included Lazar Berman, Mercedes Sosa, the New York Philharmonic, Joan Baez, Gilbert Bécaud, Mario Lavista, Guillermo Velázquez, Los Leones de la Sierra de Xichú, the National Ballet of Canada, Nikolais Dance Theater, the Bolshoi Ballet, Sankai Juku, Theater Scena STU (Poland) and the Marionette Theatre of Hungary.
There were structural and financial changes made during the rest of that decade, and by 2010, the Festival was able to recuperate much of its former status, attracting major artists from around the world.
Three states, Chihuahua, Michoacán and Querétaro, along with three countries, Argentina, Colombia and Chile, were the special guests as they celebrated their bicentennials in the same year.
[3] The 2011 version brought together 2,800 artists from 29 countries, in genres such as classical and folk music to techno, open-air theatre, expositions, recent plays and other works from the 20th century by well-known writers.
[16][17] Artists include The Oslo Camerata, Geir Henning Braaten, Knut Reiersrud, Mari Boine,[17] a dramatization of Il Postino by Pablo Neruda,[18] the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra focusing on 19th century Russian music, especially Tchaikovsky,[19][20] the DeMUG Baroque Ensemble, and an exhibition of Oaxacan painter Francisco Toledo in the Museo del Pueblo.
[4] Acts have been booked from all parts of the world of a wide variety from classical music, Mexican folk dance, Chinese acrobats and more.
[4] Acts include those from genres such as opera, music, dance, theatre, street spectaculars, visual arts, film and literature along with various academic events.
[27] It has an annual Artistic Creativity Contest for Youth put on in collaboration with the Edinburgh International Festival and The Anglo Mexican Foundation.
In 2011, these included German electronic music groups Moonbootica and Schlachthofbronx sponsored by the Goethe Institute and rock musicians Sierra León, Finde, El Otro Yo and Rubick .
[27][28] Theatre for youth include Vivarium Studio performing L éffet de Serge, Mauricio García Lozano and Teatro Farfullero presenting La pequeña habitación al final de la escalera and Circo Aereo and Les Objets Volants, a Finnish/French group with acrobats, comedians and other circus performers.
[15] Based on the program sponsored by the Lucerne Festival, the Cervantino Academy's purpose is to train professional level instrumentalists in classical and contemporary music.
[29][30] The program sponsors individual students, classes, workshops, practice sessions and concerts, including at the Festival Cervantino, both by small ensembles as well as in an orchestra.
The program has invited maestros from both Mexico and abroad, including Irvine Arditti, Steve Schick, Norio Sato and Salvatore Sciarrino.
[36] The project is based on the original Entremeses Cervantinos done by Enrique Ruelos starting in the 1950s which relied on community participation to produce plays such as those by Shakespeare but modified to the local culture.
