Wed, Jan 1, 2014
Cathedral Bell Ringer When the bells ring we hear God's voice on earth.The angels laugh with joy and people hear the divine call. The sound of bells is a reminder of the call to prayer, to dialog with God. The deacon and bell ringer of the metropolitan cathedral tells us his life story, of his transition from a heart filled with rage to a search for forgiveness and transformation through his occupation as bell ringer. A symphony of bells fills the evening air, flooding the vastness of Mexico City with its sound. It is a call summoning those looking for answers from all corners of the city.
Nov 2012
A true Mexico City native, merging old-fashioned and cosmopolitan styles, has worked as a tailor and dry cleaner for more than fifty years. Heir to his father's business; he plies his trade on the same premises as his father before him. The shop's is named El estilo (The style), a name that captures the essence of his philosophy: "dress with style, laugh with style, and work with style". A friend to all his customers, an irrepressible seducer and bon vivant, he seems to savor every instant as if it were his last.
Barber Aniceto, nicknamed "El Anís," has had a barbershop in Colonia Pencil for more than forty years. Son of a barber and with a brother who is also a barber, they are masters of their trade, which is in danger of disappearing in the face of salons and beauty parlors. His barbershop could not have a more inspiring name "La inpiración". The interior décor and accouterments create the impression that time has not passed. Aniceto is concentrating on finishing a young man's haircut, and when he finishes the customer stands and they take leave of one another exchanging courtesies like "see you next month"and "send my regards to your father". Alberto, a gentleman of 65, comes in and tells us that Aniceto has cut his hair since he was six years old and he has come in for a trim every month since then. Immersed in his work, Aniceto explains that he loves his job because of the creativity it requires, never breaking his concentration. Aniceto is sensitive, emotional, and evocative. He is well loved by his customers and his family. He is a true master of his profession, and has earned the affection and admiration of four generations of customers.
2012
Wind instrument repairmen During the French intervention, a French soldier of the Napoleonic military band was wounded and left stranded in Huejotzingo, Puebla. He took a member of the Olarte family as his apprentice and opened a small workshop to repair woodwind and brass instruments, which has continued to serve musicians for over two hundred years. An old-school master of the almost microscopic art of repairing wind instruments, Carlos Olarte has taught three generations of descendants who today practice the trade. "Work, work, and work.I was born to work, and then - to sleep," Carlos Olarte remarked reflecting on his ninety-three years, after which he remains lucid, committed, disciplined, and professional.
2012
More than sixty years ago he began working with the grandparents of the current owners. He quickly acquired a love of his trade and the small ice cream parlor that exceeds even that of its owners. Although he has had opportunities in other businesses, his love for La Especial de Paris keeps him there, making ice cream the traditional way, using a time-honored process whose paternityis disputed between Italian and French ice-cream makers, with unique flavors and special, but not exotic, combinations, but rather gourmet combinations with only the finest ingredients. From his little shop he has witnessed the transformation Mexico City has undergone as a result of extensive urban development on Avenida Insurgentes and nearby Paseo de la Reforma.
2012
1. Circus, breaking horses at liberty Horses run free through a circus ring. There are two, four, six, eight.Alberto Atayde, heir to a family tradition of circus performance dating back more than a hundred and twenty years, trains and rehearses his fine horses using a technique based on affection, kindness, and respect, prioritizing their comfort and well-being. The ring is flooded with white smoke illuminated by greenish blue lights that pierce the thick fog, creating a dreamlike ambiance. It is the equestrian act of Celeste Atayde, heiress to the Atayde tradition, who also trains horses at liberty. In a kaleidoscope of circus performances, rehearsals, and backstage anecdotes, we discover the testimony and narrative of a life in the circus with Alberto Atayde, a Master of Circus Art.
2012
Mariachi In the shadowy glow of an alleyway, Jesus gives the final instructions in a trumpet lesson. Authentic mariachi music is disappearing, and it is important to him that the tradition not be lost. For that reason, in addition to performing with several groups, he also gives trumpet lessons to students who seek him out. The neighborhood surrounding Garibaldi Square is a place peopled by phantoms. Of lost souls who wander aimlessly, blind, adrift. The mariachis loiter idly, wandering, in a monotonous, repetitive routine, day after day, from dawn to dusk and from nightfall to daybreak. Because at all hours there are people who require their services to enliven a party, to celebrate a birthday, to serenade a love interest, to entertain a group of revelers, or to send the departed on their way. Mariachis are solitary, abandoned beings. They live in a kind of limbo, and although they play on they seem unnoticed, invisible. They are what remain in Mexico City of the Abajeño traditional music of Michoacan and Guerrero and the folk songs of Jalisco and Tierra Caliente, the musical tradition that identifies Mexicans as much as the Virgin of Guadalupe does.
2012
Time expands and contracts. It is the systole and diastole of the universe. It is the pulse of creation. It is eternal. It has always been there and will never fade. At least that is what watchmakers and clock-makers think as they painstakingly toil over minuscule components, true masterpieces of industrial engineering, of wristwatches; wall clocks; hand wound timepieces; cuckoo clocks; and animated, robotic, musical, and monumental clocks like the Clockon the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Ottoman Clock at Bolivar and Republica del Salvador, the Chinese Clock at Bucareli, and the more than twenty monumental clocks spread throughout downtown Mexico City.
2012
Opera House Stage Hand Giant stage flats more than fifty feet long are removed from the stage at Bellas Artes Theatre. The deep orchestra pit opens and swallows the massive structures. In minutes, special flooring is assembled covering the entire stage, on which the National Dance Company will perform a few hours later. In a whirl, curtains are removed and the stage is filled with new furniture, decorations, curtains, fabrics, and stage flats, and in a matter of minutes it is transformed into an entirely different space, a universe that appears and disappears so quickly as to be nigh imperceptible. It is the work of the Bellas Artes stage crew, who work like a well-organized militia under the orders of the stage manager.
2012
Through the inconspicuous house in the San Rafael District the Mexican aristocracy has passed for nearly one hundred years. A matriarchal family of hard working women, heirs to the closely guarded European technical secrets for washing and pressing fine fabrics, such as silk, linen, and Egyptian cotton, with all the secrets of a discrete, intimate, and feminine trade. They deftly handled fine undergarments, lingerie, the most delicate shirts, and haute couture dresses from designers like Coco Chanel and others of the era.They caressed the table linens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, represented for a few years in Mexico by Archduke Maximilian of Hapsburg, the bed linen of the Empress Carlota, and the clothing of Mexican aristocrats.
2012
Zookeeper Asa child he was often taken to the zoo, as most children are. Like many young men, he decided to go to the United States in search of a better life, but he decided to return to his native land. A relative encouraged him to apply for a job at the zoo. He never imagined that a short time later he would be part of the team that cared for the first panda born in captivity. Later, as a zoo-keeper, he would be assigned to tend to the sea lions and penguins. He never imagined that would be his lot in life.
2012
Moshe Mendelsohn was born in Jerusalem, of a Russian and Polish family, Ashkenazi Jews. There were singers and rabbis in his family, and it was no coincidence that they were Orthodox. They even were in charge of some important synagogues, which afforded him the opportunity to learn to sing. However, Moshe traveled extensively and sampled many groups and popular styles before becoming a singer in the synagogue. He sang Hassidic songs, Israeli popular music, Klezmer music, and even jazz. He was born with a privileged voice, a powerful baritone that could even reach a lower range. Fate, however, brought him back to the synagogue, where he trained as a singer of the liturgy and prayers of the Jewish faith.
2012
No sparring partner likes to be called by that name, because sparring partners are seen as failed boxers, gym boxers, boxers who rent themselves out to take a beating. Human punching bags, with speed bags for heads, who are the target of daily poundings from fighters who still have what it takes to step into the ring, who are waiting for a break, anxiously awaiting a fight that will open the door to national and international championships.
2012
Butcher Every morning before dawn, Luis drives his van to the huge refrigerated warehouses where meat arrives, which, hours later, will be on tables throughout the city, warehouses which are at ten or fifteen degrees below freezing to preserve the meat. There, Luis chooses the pieces he will take to his butcher shop to sell in the ensuing hours. At the shop he is awaited by, Juan, his father, who passed down to him his trade and the family business. Juan has worked as a butcher for more than fifty years. He knows all the tricks of the trade, having apprenticed with legendary Mexico City butchers, a French Jew and an Italian, old school butchers who plied their trade in white shirt and tie, who knew all the European, American, and Kosher cuts. They ran La Cosmopolita, a butcher shop which exists to this day, on Calle Victoria in downtown Mexico City. They taught Juan their craft and its secrets. With skill, patience, and no small measure of luck, Juan managed to set up shop for himself in a locale he had always dreamed of. Every time he passed his gaze rested on a turn-of-the-century storefront in the Condesa District, until he succeeded in setting up shop there, with the help of good fortune and an ambitious nephew who swindled him but left the business operating.Since then, Juan has worked every day, including Sundays, and has taught his sons the craft and secrets of a professional butcher.
2012
Twenty years ago the Pulque Customs in Mexico City was a scene of constant revelry. Two miles of double-track loading docks formed the port of entry to the city for thousands of liters of pulque. Every neighborhood had its pulqueria and devotees imbibed the ancient beverage until they dropped from its effects. So great was the power of pulque that the tax on it represented one of the leading sources of revenue for the local treasury, rivaling oil. The pulque producers were a unified, guild, who functioned like the mafia, controlling territories and dividing up a huge pie. There were several lesser chieftains and one supreme overlord.