”Corteo” models its costumes and acts on turn-of-the-century Europe. The title is Italian, meaning “procession,” and the atmosphere is a mix of Sicily and vaudeville. Many of the men wear fedoras, suspenders, and seersucker outfits, while the women wear dresses and bloomers. Cirque clowns always have an old-fashioned bag of tricks – props, pratfalls – but the “Corteo” clowns look old-fashioned, like Depression-era hobos. For the moment, Cirque had dropped the “nouveau.” This is the kind of circus your great-grandfather used to see.
“Descent into the Inferno,” playing this weekend at the Butoh Dance Festival, is based on “The Aeneid” by the Roman poet Virgil. In theory, the performance tells the story of the founding of Rome. But under the direction of Fred Herrera, this special Butoh performance promises to disorient and confound the viewer.
Today marks the launch of the fourth-annual Tropical Market, or Mercado Tropical,at the Casa del Cuño outside of the Antigua Aduana in San José – providing an ideal place to shop for Christmas gifts and spend time with family and friends.
