Thesis Final-Final Version Oct. 2013
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1 Festivalscapes in Latin America: The Unfolding of Local, National and Transnational Forces at the Festival of Mexico (2010) and the International Theatre Festival of Havana (2011) by Jorge Pérez Falconi Royal Holloway College, University of London Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Drama and Theatre Studies October 2013 2 3 Abstract of Thesis The thesis deals with international festivals and the ways in which they are organised and delivered in their host communities. By taking two case studies, the fmx-Festival de México 2010 (fmx) and the Festival Internacional de Teatro de la Habana 2011 (FITH), I propose to analyse festivals in the light of local, national and transnational forces and show how these forces and the agendas that attend them become visible in festival practices. I argue that those agendas unfold and materialise at festivals through strategically employed symbols, content programming and particular uses of space. My objective is to uncover the ways in which local, national and transnational forces operate, embody artistic trajectories and structure social relationships. The dissertation works from the global to the national and the local and includes the hybrid processes and outcomes resulting from the realisation of the FITH and the fmx. The theoretical approach is eclectic, drawing from fields such as performance studies, cultural geography, sociology, psychology, anthropology and tourism studies. The combination of theories allows me to propose the term ‘festivalscapes’ as a tool to explore the materialisation of the various agendas at international festivals. I approach both festivals as multi-layered events that unfold in a dynamic relationship with social and political forces that are manifested in particular spatial, visual, organisational and symbolic elements at each event. 4 Acknowledgements At the temporal end of this never ending journey, I recognise that my research is a product of the contexts in which I was immersed and the various relationships established during my PhD studies. Therefore, I would like to express my very great appreciation to the people and institutions that made this project possible. For help and support during my PhD studentship I would like to thank my supervisor Helen Gilbert. Special thanks to the Universidad Autónoma del Carmen, the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes and the Fundación Pablo García for financing my studies; to Maria Delgado and Nicolas Whybrow for their constructive suggestions during my Viva and to my friends Charlotte Gleghorn and Melissa Poll for their hospitality, time and generous feedback on my work. I am particularly grateful for the assistance given by José Wolfer and Bárbara Rivero, which allowed me to conduct research at the Festival of Mexico and the International Theatre Festival of Havana, respectively. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my wife Ana Fabiola Dionicio and my daughters Nina and Camila for their patience and unconditional support. Finally, I wish to thank my parents Mirella Falconi Magaña and José Manuel Pérez Gutiérrez for their support and encouragement throughout my studies. I also dedicate this dissertation to the memory of my late father. 5 Table of Contents Introduction 10 The fmx–Festival of Mexico: An Overview .............................................................................. 36 The fmx and its Context .................................................................................................................. 38 The Havana International Theatre Festival: An Overview ............................................... 40 FITH and its Context......................................................................................................................... 43 Theorising Festivals ......................................................................................................................... 45 The Festival Structure 45 Festivals and Their Contexts 47 Festivalscapes 52 Festivalscapes, Social Imaginaries and Ideoscapes 56 Festivals and Space: The Spatial Dilemma 58 Methodology and Thesis Structure ............................................................................................ 62 Chapter 1: Transnational Flows at Festivals 70 The Internationalisation of the fmx and the FITH ............................................................... 76 Technology and Innovation in the 2010 fmx ......................................................................... 88 International Flows at the 2011 FITH ................................................................................... 109 International Flows and the Built Environment at Festivals ....................................... 133 The fmx and the Historic Centre: Festivalising the Creative City 134 The Ideological Coded Material of Space at the fmx and the FITH 145 Chapter 2: Embodying the Nation 163 National Spatiality and Festivals .............................................................................................. 165 The National Administration of Space and its Influence on the fmx and the FITH 166 Embodying Landscape at the fmx 2010 175 Nationhood and Festivals Content .......................................................................................... 181 The FITH 2011: Extravagantia and Cuban Identity 182 Cuban State and National Artistic Perspectives at the FITH 2011 191 The fmx 2010 and the Bicentenary of the Mexican Independence 206 Nationhood at Horas de gracia 210 The State of the Nation According to Camelia ‘The Texan’ 220 National Hybridity in the fmx and the FITH ........................................................................ 225 National Hybridity in Charenton 227 The Quest for National Identity in Malinche 234 fmx: In the Name is not the Message 239 6 Chapter 3: A Glocal Sense at International Festivals 245 Oppressive Locality versus Progressive Locality at the fmx 2010 ............................ 245 The FITH: A Local Technology of Necessity ........................................................................ 263 Environment, Festival Arrangements and Locality .......................................................... 273 Space and Audience Interactions at the FITH and the fmx 274 Festivals between Place and Placelessness 283 Defining Locality in Relation to International Festivals ................................................. 303 Conclusions 315 Showcase and Encounter Festivals ......................................................................................... 315 Festivals as Arenas......................................................................................................................... 323 A New Concept of Space: New Ways of Thinking about Festivals? ........................... 329 Notes 342 Works Consulted 346 7 List of Tables and Illustrations Table 1. List of Worshops and Theoretical Events in the FITH 2011. 129 Fig. 1. An actress plays a drum a few moments after her ‘birth’. Hey Girl! by Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio at the Theatre Esperanza Iris. Mexico City, 13 Mar. 2010. Photograph by the author.96 Fig. 2. Telefonías MX by Argentinian Mariano Sardón. Mexico City, Spanish Cultural Centre, 17 Mar. 2012. Photograph by the author. 99 Fig. 3. Dancers at Tropicana on its 70th anniversary. Source: EcuRed. Archivo: Tropicana 70- anos-05.jpg. EcuRed, conocimiento con todos y para todos. EcuRed, 21 Mar. 2012. 113 Fig. 4. Catalina ‘explores her body’ in a scene from The Metallic Spinning Top by Argentinian company the Spinning Top. Hubert de Blanck Hall, Havana, Cuba, 4 Nov. 2011. Photograph by the author. 123 Fig. 5. Andre and Dorine’s son visits his parents in a scene from Andre and Dorine by Spanish company Kulunca Theatre. Havana, Cuba, Tito Junco Hall (Bertolt Brecht Cultural Centre), 29 Oct. 2011. Photograph by the author. 125 Fig. 6. Baby Universe is analysed by a doctor in a scene from Baby Universe: A Puppet Odyssey by Norwegian theatre company Wakka Wakka. Havana, Cuba, Adolfo Llauradó Hall, 5 Nov. 2011. Photograph by the author. 127 Fig. 7. An aspect of the conference Women in Theatre: Thought and Creation. Havana, Cuba, Ludwig Foundation, 28 Oct. 2011. Photograph by the author. 131 Fig. 8. Boundaries of Mexico City Historic Centre. Perimeter A is represented in blue, while perimeter B is indicated in red. Source: Mora Reyes, José Ángel. Proyecto de Rescate del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México. Mexico: Adolfo Christlieb Ibar. 139 Fig. 9. A street in Mexico City’s Historic Centre. Mexico City, 24 Mar. 2010. Photograph by the author. 142 Fig. 10. Part of the interior of the Theatre Esperanza Iris. Mexico City, 13 Mar. 2012. Photograph by the author. 153 Fig. 11. Audience in the upper levels of the García Lorca Hall of the Great Theatre of Havana. Havana, Cuba, 5 Nov. 2011. Photograph by the author. 155 8 Fig. 12. Map of the spaces employed for the Festival of Mexico 2010. The left figure corresponds to Mexico City’s Historic Centre; the right refers to spaces outside the Historic Centre. Mexico City, 8 Dec. 2012. Photograph by the author. 169 Fig. 13. Cover of the fmx’s programme. Mexico City, 11 Mar. 2010. Photograph by the author. 176 Fig. 14. Mexico City’s foundation. JEDIKNIGHT1970. Fundacion de la Ciudad de Mexico- Extracto del Codice Duran.jpg. Mexico, 11 Oct. 2006. 177 Fig. 15. Audience waits for the beginning of Extravagantia. Pabellón Cuba, Havana, Cuba, 27 Oct. 2011. Photograph by the author. 182 Fig. 16. Image from a scene of Extravagantia. The performer cracks open