Hildegard stages a bridge between the Middle Ages and the current ecological crisis

Daniel López Aguilar

La Jornada Newspaper, Friday, June 27, 2025, p. 2

Hildegard: An air pierced by light unfolds a scenic ritual where sensory experience is interwoven with words and memory.

Inspired by the thought of Hildegard von Bingen, a 12th-century abbess, mystic, composer, feminist, and naturalist, the work summons a consciousness rooted in the earth, light, and life understood as an indivisible body.

The premiere took place last night in the Xavier Villaurrutia hall of the Centro Cultural del Bosque (CCB).

As a prelude, the performers, dressed as nuns, handed out small lottery-style cards to the audience containing contrasting pairs of words and images, such as pride and humility or bitterness and temperance, while offering sprigs of rosemary and thyme that symbolically connected with nature.

Clarissa Malheiros, playwright, director, and protagonist, devised this proposal to evoke the sensitivity of a figure whose life was deeply linked to spirituality, ecology, and ancestral wisdom.

“What Hildegard calls viriditas is the vital force that sustains the world, a greenness that permeates everything, an energy that connects the divine with nature,” Malheiros explained in an interview with La Jornada.

It's fascinating how his thinking intersects with Eastern traditions, such as chi and prana, and how his visions, a blend of spiritual and scientific knowledge, are still relevant today.

Far from constructing a biographical or historical narrative, the production weaves a network of images, sounds, and presences that seek to awaken an organic consciousness. From the initial card game to the distribution of plants with healing properties, a ceremonial, almost liturgical space is created for encounter with the earth and the soul.

On stage, alongside Hildegarda, the voices of women who have shaped contemporary environmental and social struggles emerge: Vandana Shiva, an Indian philosopher; Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya; and Berta Cáceres, an indigenous Honduran activist.

The work also evokes other defenders of nature, such as Margarita Murillo, Otilia Martínez Cruz, and María Bernadete Pacífico, who were victims of violence for their commitment.

Co-produced by La Máquina de Teatro and the National Theater Coordination of the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature, the staging is also the result of a collective creation.

In addition to Clarissa Malheiros, actresses Sol Sánchez, Paulina Álvarez Muñoz, and Narda Belinda Moreno star. Juliana Faesler is in charge of direction and lighting, Mariana Chávez-Lara of music, Cristina Faesler of costumes, Sol Sánchez of assistant direction, and Isaac López of production.

During the performance, the audience responded with prolonged applause, recognizing the symbolic power and restrained beauty. At the end, the actresses shared their reflections on the challenge of tackling such a vast and demanding figure.

Paulina Álvarez described Hildegard's visions as spiritual calls to nature and animals, while Malheiros spoke of the dramaturgical decisions that allowed the message to flourish in each viewer.

The creative process spanned almost five years and began with an unexpected discovery.

I couldn't understand why I hadn't heard of the multifaceted German before, until a geologist told me about her. Her life at the Rupertsberg Monastery, the secret language she created to communicate with the nuns, her 70 liturgical songs... All of this seemed to me like a bridge between the Middle Ages and our current ecological crisis , the playwright recounted.

He also highlighted the scientific dimension of the abbess, author of treatises on medicine and botany, and how her thinking proposes a form of comprehensive knowledge that is lost today.

"His theology includes a profound respect for plants, the humors of the soul, the states of matter, and light. It invites us to think of life as a living body, where everything is intertwined. We are at a critical moment in our relationship with nature."

Rising global temperatures, desertification, and other problems reflect a profound disconnection from the earth. Hildegard reminds us that we cannot live without nature, but nature can live without us.

The struggles of women environmental defenders, she added, are an inspiration and a calling. Their courage, their conscience, and their personal risk are monuments we honor from our creation and our contact with the public. We want to help make that voice heard and open hearts to a different way of being in the world .

Hildegarda: An Air Transversed by Light will be performed on Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 7:00 p.m., and Sundays at 6:00 p.m. in the Xavier Villaurrutia Hall at the CCB (Reforma and Campo Marte). Admission is 150 pesos, and the season concludes on August 10.

Daniel López Aguilar

La Jornada Newspaper, Friday, June 27, 2025, p. 3

In the quartets of Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940), there is a territory that oscillates between celebration and exploration. Each measure, each musical gesture, seems to issue an invitation: to overflow the form, to stretch it, to push it until something new emerges.

That force, so characteristic of the Mexican composer's writing, will occupy the main hall of the Palacio de Bellas Artes tomorrow, when two generations of Mexican musicians will converse in an unprecedented program entitled Between Fair Music and Magueyes.

The Bellas Artes String Quartet and the Latin American Quartet will share the stage to perform the complete string works of the Durango composer, along with some miniatures never before heard in that venue.

The presentation is a collaboration between the National Coordination of Music and Opera, the Carlos Chávez National Center for Musical Research, Documentation and Information (Cenidim), and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (Inbal).

We will hear the mapping of a soul in the form of quartets , explained José María Serralde Ruiz, national coordinator of Music and Opera, in an interview with La Jornada.

It is a celebration that not only honors the author, but also the process of recovering and publishing his scores at Cenidim, under the direction of Dr. Víctor Barrera.

The concert, Serralde Ruiz emphasized, marks the culmination of a sustained effort to return Revueltas's music to the hands of performers, with carefully curated editions that emerge from musicological analysis and direct collaboration with instrumentalists.

The Bellas Artes String Quartet, composed of Ilya Ivanov, Carlos Quijano, Félix Alanís, and Manuel Cruz, represents a young and established generation of chamber musicians in Mexico.

On this occasion, they will perform the Madrigal for violin and cello, Quartet No. 2, Magueyes, and Quartet No. 4, Feria Music.

The Latin American Quartet, which includes Saúl and Arón Bitrán, Javier Montiel, and Álvaro Bitrán, has a history spanning more than 40 years and a discography of more than 90 titles.

For this program, they will perform Four Little Pieces for Two Violins and Cello, Quartet No. 1, and Quartet No. 3.

It's very symbolic to see them together , Serralde said.

The young quartet takes the name Bellas Artes, as the Latin American Quartet did before it. It's a transition that takes place through music. Never before has Revueltas's complete string works been performed in a single evening at this venue. In addition, short compositions, just two to six minutes long, that have never been heard here before, are being added.

For the national coordinator, this cycle reveals key moments in Silvestre Revueltas's musical language.

“The first quartet maintains a conservative form but a bold language. The second, Magueyes, displays more reflective motivic developments. The third, brief but intense, builds a small cathedral of sound. The fourth, Música de feria, concentrates a driving and electric energy in a single movement. Although Revueltas died young, the sequence of these pieces reflects a powerful artistic ambition.”

The Cenidim has played a fundamental role in the recovery, editing, and critical review of this repertoire. In 2023, for example, previously unpublished works for piano were premiered, and now the string ensemble is receiving similar treatment.

Editing isn't just about cleaning up an old score , Serralde pointed out. It's about thinking it through with the performers, paying attention to their instruments and sensitivity, so that the music continues to resonate.

Revueltas's work, he added, doesn't offer decorative imagery or anchor itself in nostalgia. "It's a reflection of a country in motion, moved and resilient. In the 1920s and 1930s, the musical creator captured that pulse . Musica de feria, for example, evokes the vital intensity of a constantly bustling square."

It will be a rare experience: two essential quartets, a comprehensive program, restored scores, and the power of a composer who is still relevant today. We want viewers to leave with the impression of having explored a map: that of a soul transformed into music.

The concert "Between Fair Music and Magueyes" will take place tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. in the main hall of the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Juárez Avenue and Lázaro Cárdenas Central Axis, Centro neighborhood). Tickets cost between 80 and 200 pesos.

AFP

La Jornada Newspaper, Friday, June 27, 2025, p. 3

Paris. Starting tomorrow, Paris's Palais Galliera will shed a ray of light on the dark, gothic world of American designer Rick Owens. This is the first retrospective in France of this unique, avant-garde designer and symbol of underground fashion.

For the first time, the Parisian Fashion Museum is also holding an exhibition using daylight, which is not usually a friend of delicate garments, reveals the exhibition's curator, Alexandre Samson, who is in charge of the museum's contemporary collections.

We find the Galliera Palace again with its initial definition, open to the outside , said the expert.

Temple of Love offers all the keys to understanding the origins of Owens' style, an idol of the post-punk generation since he founded his brand in 1992.

Her shows at Paris Fashion Week are a gathering place for fans who wear ultra-tight, unisex clothing, exaggerated shoulder pads, and platform boots.

With hundreds of garments, art objects, and videos, Owens takes over the museum, including a room with his most daring designs, which are not recommended for minors.

The first room is dedicated to those Los Angeles origins. Its walls are entirely covered in dark brown felt, one of his favorite materials.

His father introduced him to Wagnerian music and science fiction novels; Owens used those inspirations for his monumental Paris shows, where he sometimes uses fireworks in settings such as the grand courtyard of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Paris.

The second room, illuminated by the large windows of the Palais Galliera, offers a glimpse into his Parisian period, beginning in 2003, when he decided to settle in Paris.

The retrospective closes with an exact reproduction of the bedroom Owens and his wife had in Los Angeles, surrounded by books.

On the museum's facade, Owens covered three large statues with sequins. And in the gardens, open to the public, he placed several concrete works, illustrating his fondness for architectural brutalism.

Temple of Love will be open until January 4th, coinciding with the designer's show this Men's Fashion Week.

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Friday, June 27, 2025, p. 3

Dancer Isaac Hernández made ballet history when he made his debut Wednesday as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) at the Metropolitan Opera House (Met) in New York. He is the first Mexican to grace the stage of this iconic theater as part of the ABT cast, one of the most prestigious companies in the world.

Originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Hernández has achieved the rank of principal dancer with the ABT, an achievement that makes him a benchmark for Mexican dance. In his debut, he performed the role of Albrecht in the classic ballet Giselle .

This debut isn't just mine. It belongs to my parents, my family, my teachers. It's a way to remind the world that excellence can also be born from the backyard of a home. Circumstances shouldn't determine destiny , he said.

Hernández, who began her studies at age eight with her father in the courtyard of her home, has distinguished herself with her technical skill and emotional performances. She will perform The Winter's Tale with dancer Hee Seo on July 2 and 5, and Swan Lake with Catherine Hurlin on July 14.

After New York, she will return to Mexico to perform at the National Auditorium on August 30 at 8:30 p.m. as part of the Despertares show, now celebrating its 11th edition.