La Noche Blanca conquered once again in a day where dance, music and other artistic disciplines got 58 thousand people to take to the streets and reaffirmed why Mérida is considered a reference point for art and culture.
The Cultural Department reports that of the 58 thousand people who took to the streets of Downtown in search of different artistic and gastronomic experiences, 18 thousand did so last Friday the 21st during La Víspera, and 40 thousand the following day, during La Noche Blanca. The event featured the talent and creativity of more than a thousand artists and exhibitors.
Art for everyone is what thousands of people found, who from before 8 p.m. took to the streets in search of the best seats to enjoy the more than 200 events prepared for the night of Saturday, October 22, including 17 especially dedicated to dance.
There was programming for all ages, which was reflected in the attendance at the art programs in the 100 open venues, where children’s shows, visual arts exhibitions, dance and music premieres, such as the “Noche Swing, Mambos y Boleros” designed especially for the day by the Mérida Big Band and Créssida Danza Contemporánea, as well as casts with regional comedians and the preservation of the Mayan language with traditional games, shadow theater, and music.
Among the guest countries, Cuba was present from La Víspera, with the presentation of the “Dr. Armando Hard Dávalos” Medal to Alberto Lara Bazaldúa and Dr. Eloísa María Carrera Varona, awarded by the José Martí University of Latin America, for their academic contributions to research, in an emotional ceremony in which the brotherhood between Havana and the Yucatecan capital was also discussed.
From the Caribbean island, choreographer Eduardo Blanco got the first ovations at La Noche Blanca for the massive dance show “Nuestra América“, featuring 250 dancers and teachers from the Centro Municipal de Danza; later Ernesto Blanco did the same with his fusions of electronic music, Latin and Caribbean rhythms.
Mérida’s multiculturalism was present at various moments, such as the concert of Jewish music performed by countertenor Emmanuel Pool at the UADY’s “Felipe Carrillo Puerto” Theater, some with his Arabic oud in hand, and other pieces accompanied at times by pianist James Pulles.
Those who decided to stay up past 2 a.m. danced to the Chilean cumbia of the band Chico Trujillo, the tropical joy of local groups Censurado and Los Méndez, and the regional comedy of Tila María Sesto. The children’s shows were very well attended with children accompanied by their parents who applauded plays such as “Lagartijas en patines” (Lizards on skates). “Los hilitos de mi abuela X’manikté” and “Entre quesos y ratones”.
33 galleries extended their hours: from the Santa Ana neighborhood, where at the doors of Soho Galleries people armed themselves with brushes to create works of art, Le Cirque with its exhibition “La fiesta de la Vida” and a concert with a Cuban flavor in the Santiago neighborhood, to outside the historic center, in the Itzimná neighborhood, where Casa Gemela and Lux Perpetua Art Centre attracted visitors who enjoy the visual arts.
Those who walked through the historic center also encountered comical improvised situations with Yucatecan Mime Ramón Solano.
The gastronomic offer was another attraction, where more than 50 establishments affiliated with Canirac Yucatán offered a variety of activities, from welcome cocktails to a 10% discount on drinks when showing the commemorative bracelet of the cultural program.
The inaugural day of La Noche Blanca was led by Mayor Renán Barrera Concha, who recalled that the cultural initiative arose as an opportunity to occupy public space and for people to take to the streets to enjoy dance, theater, music, and gastronomy, an objective that has been achieved in each of the 14 editions held.
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