An Aztec Opera Beautifully Relays the Birth of Two Volcanoes
LA Plaza de Culturas y Artes debuts a new production that offers a contemporary twist on this centuries-old story.
The twin volcanoes outside Mexico City, Popocaltepetl and Ixtlacihuatl, are named for characters from a Nahua legend whose misfortune recalls the deepest of Greek tragedies. According to the legend, an Aztec emperor sent the warrior Popocaltepetl into battle, promising him his daughter Ixtlacihuatl’s hand in marriage if he returned victorious. While he was away, another warrior with the intention of sabotaging the union sent a fraudulent message back to the emperor saying that Popocaltepetl was dead. When Ixtlacihuatl heard this, she died of sadness. Popocaltepetl returned and, finding his beloved dead, carried her body outside the city, where their star-crossed love is preserved in the form of the two volcanoes.
Beginning this weekend, LA Plaza de Culturas y Artes will debut a new production that offers a contemporary twist on this centuries-old story. Presented by Brown Fist Productions, El Circo Anahuac: An Aztec Opera fuses multi-media theatrics with classical music, circus performers, puppetry, and trilingual lyrics written by Librettist Nahuatl poets. Notable contributors include choreography by Janelle Gonzales, music by David Reyes, a libretto by Maria Elena Yepes, and sets designed by artist Lalo Alcaraz, creator of La Cucaracha, the first nationally syndicated and political daily Latino comic strip.
When: Sunday, October 7, 5pm; Saturday, October 13, 7pm; Sunday, October 14, 5pm (tickets $30–$50)
Where: LA Plaza de Culturas y Artes (501 N. Main Street, Downtown, Los Angeles)
More info at Eventbrite.
