After Quebec last year, the Gallic flavor of the annual Festival Cultural de Mayo (May Festival) will continue as a host of talented performers are trucked in by invited guest country France.
Set to run from May 9 to 27, the festival kicks off with three performances from the Malandain Ballet Biarritz. This acclaimed contemporary dance troupe, under the guidance of famed French choreographer Thierry Malandain, will open the festival at the Teatro Degollado on May 9, and give two further shows – with a different program – on May 11 and 12.
The Compagnie Käfig is an innovative, all-male hip-hop ensemble, under the direction of choreographer Mourad Merzouki, that has become an international phenomenon, exhibiting acrobatic skill and dazzling virtuosity. The group appears at the Teatro Degollado on May 16,17 and 18.
Gergely Boganyi of Hungary is a world renowned pianist known for his interpretations of Chopin. He will give a solo recital at the Teatro Degollado on Sunday, May 19, 6:30 p.m.
Two highly renowned french musicians, pianist Francois–Frederic Guy and cellist Anne Gastinel, acclaimed for their interpretations of Beethoven’s sonatas, team up for a recital at the Teatro Degollado on May 21. Guy is feted for his immense interpretative authority and superlative technique, while Gastinel has received many distinctions worldwide and was designated unanimously in 1997 as the ambassador of French cello.
Guy returns to the Degollado on Friday, May 24 to guest solo with the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra, in a program conducted by Leslie Dunner of the United States.
French jazz legend Jean-Luc Ponty and his band grace the stage of the Degollado Theater on Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26 in a much anticipated show for lovers of the genre. Now 71, this virtuoso violinist and jazz composer has been recording and touring the world for five decades. He has played with many jazz greats and is widely accepted as one of the leading figures of jazz fiddle.
Mexican talent is not forgotten either. Local up-and-coming pianist Santiago Lomelin, 19, appears at the Degollado Theater on Sunday, May 26, noon.
“Compagnie Xy” is a 17-strong troupe of gymnasts and strongmen who erect human towers and then dismantle them again. Their show, “Le Grand C,” combines stunning acrobatics, music, dance and the art of the human pyramid into an unforgettable experience of modern circus. This will be a free event in the Plaza de la Liberacion on Saturday, May 11 and Sunday, May 12 at 8 p.m.
Les Sacqueboutiers are an early music wind and brass ensemble founded in 1976 in Toulouse. Their music is based around the cornet à bouquin (cornett) and the sacqueboute (sackbut), to which other instruments are added. The group gives free recitals at the Templo Expiatorio on Wednesday, May 22, 8:45 p.m. and the Templo de San Agustin on Thursday, May 23, 8:45 p.m.
The group’s Daniel Lassalle will give a master class in the sackbut, a trombone from the Renaissance and Baroque eras, at the Degollado Theater on Monday, May 20, 7 p.m. (registration required).
Les Souffleurs are poetic commandos, who, according to their website, “propose a poetic metaphor of the anonymous informative flood, by whispering poetic, philosophical, and literary secrets in people’s ears through hollow canes, therefore contrasting general uncertainty of particulars with tenderness’ provocative posture.” They are a collection of actors, writers, plastic artists, singers and musicians, who always wear black and appear in uneven numbers (from 1 to 31). They will be appearing at a wide number of different open-air venues between Saturday, May 11 and Sunday, May 19.
Away from the Degollado, electronic and pop-rock sounds Christine (France) and Propofol (Quebec) can be heard at the Laboratorio de Arte Variedades (LARVA) on May 16.
Four art exhibits from France will also grace the festival.
- “Paris Sur Seine, Des Anciens Quais A Plages” is a show of drawings, photographs and etchings illustrating many uses of the jetties of the River Seine. At the Alianza Francesa from May 7 to 31.
- Photos by Romain “Ojabierto” Thieriot at the Alianza Francesa from May 8 to 31.
- “French Artists in Mexico” features the drawings, paintings and graphic art of Fitzia, Jean-Yves Drouineau, Laurence De Vries, Simone and Henri Jean. At Galería Vértice from May 15 to June 28.
- “Festival International De La Photographie Culinaire” features photos of that perennial French indulgence: food. At the Ex Convento del Carmen, from May 11 to June 15.
A cycle of French-Mexican film co-productions will be shown at the Alianza Francesa from May 13 to 27, while “Viajes En Cortos” is a series of film shorts that can be seen at the Tren Ligero Juárez subway station from May 11 to 26.
The Casa Museo Jose Lopez Portillo will host wine tastings on Monday, May 20, at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. (registration required).
And well-known French Restaurant Pierrot (Justo Sierra 2355) will be serving a special “festival” menu from May 9 to 26.
The May Festival began in 1998 as an event to mark the designation of Guadalajara’s Instituto Cultural Cabañas as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.