Drought forces water rationing; World theater festival returns in October; Expert warns of water over-consumption in Cuenca; Symphony in concert

Sep 14, 2023 | 0 comments

Miércoles, 13/9/2023

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

‘Escenarios del Mundo vuelve con obra nueva (Escenarios del Mundo returns with new work) – There will be a total of 41 presentations in theaters, high schools, rural zones, and open-air spaces in this 17th edition of the Scenarios of the World which will run from el 3-12/10. The festival’s founder, Juan Andrade, said that works will come from Spain, Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Brazil as well as Ecuador and include text and gestural theater, dance, clown, circus and improv. Among the emblematic works will be Frankenstein from Chile, performed by marionettes; André y Dorine, a worldwide award-winning work created by the Basque Kulunka Teatro company; La Cura from Colombia will be performed by 12 dancers, and Puro Tomate Clown, an Argentinean clown who uses balloon-flex to share humor. Cuencano groups Art, Experience, Circo Pan y Guineo, y Fulanos de Tal will also perform.

Escenarios del Mundo returns to Cuenca in October with a total of 41 presentations in theaters, high schools, rural zones, and open-air spaces. (El Mercurio)

One of the highlights that will return are the scenic tricycles through which passersby can enjoy the music and performances as the festival progresses. There will be the traditional parade with at least 100 artists walking through the streets from la Merced to el Pumapungo on el 3/10 a las 18:00. Locos del Ritmo, an iconic Cuenca band will share music el 6/10 a las 20:00 in el Teatro Pumapungo. The idea of the band performance is to have adults and seniors who listen to music visit a theater, perhaps for the first time, and experience scenic arts. <Also gringos who don’t speak Spanish can enjoy the show.>

Tickets are available in Librimundi, the Galería Miguel Illescas and on the web platform Meet2go. The cost of each performance is $12, and a package price for all the performances is $45.00. The agenda is below.
3/10 a las 18:00 – La Merced – Desfile escénico.
4/10 a las 20:00 – Teatro Pumapungo – Frankenstein.
5/10 a las 20:00 – Teatro Pumapungo – Quién es el hombre muerto a puntapiés.
6/10 a las 20:00 -Teatro Pumapungo – Locos del Ritmo.
7/10 a las 20.00 – Teatro Pumapungo – Tomate Clown.
9/10 a las 20:00 – Teatro Pumapungo – Ikarius.
10/10 a las 20:00 – Sala Alfonso Carrasco – Fulanos de Tal.
11/10 a las 20:00 – Teatro Pumapungo – Kulunka.
12/10 a las 20:00 – Teatro Carlos Cueva – Incolballet.

Actividades en la Alianza Francesa (Activities at the Alianza Francesa) – The Alianza Francesa announced its agenda of activities for septiembre y octubre. On el 14/9 a las 19:00, the opening of the Mundo Natural exhibit by Francisco Delgado Suárez will be in the galería Paul Cézanne (Tadeo Torres y av. Solano). On the 21, 22, & 27/9 a las 19:00, there will be films as part of the Festival de Eurocine. On el 23/9 a las 20:00, “El viaje al país de las hadas” (The journey to fairyland <and no, I don’t think it will be a documentary about San Francisco’s Castro Street.>) will be screened. On el 5/10 a las 20:00, French saxophonist Samy Thiébault will present the symphonic version of his newest CD, Awé in the auditorium of the U. of Azuay.

Director y flautista en nuevo concierto (Conductor and flautist in new concert) – The Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca is returning with a renewed repertoire for the second season of concerts. Guest conductor, Norman Gamboa from Puerto Rico and flautist Krista Jobson from the US will perform a program of Copland’s Concert for Flute, and Gershwin. The concert will be el 15/9 a las 20:00 in the Teatro Pumapungo. Free until the permitted capacity is reached. <And then those tickets will be priceless.>

Titular –

La ‘Tri’ salda su deuda con un sufrido triunfo (La ‘Tri’ settles its debt with a long-suffering victory) – Ecuador beat Uruguay 2-1.

Cuenca –

Estiaje obliga a racionar agua (Low water level forces water rationing) – About 8,200 families from 42 communities in Turi, El Valle, y Baños have not had potable water between 19:00 and 5:00 since yesterday because it hasn’t rained for 15 days in Cuenca and the city has only received 29 millimeters of rain since July 1. The Nero water system, the largest community system in Cuenca, started this emergency measure against the intense drought. The system’s president, Luis Quinde, said that the water captured from the micro watershed of the Rió Zhucay has fallen from 72 liters/second to 60. He asked water users to use water only for domestic consumption and not water plants, wash sidewalks, wash cars, or use for construction. <Guess it’s not the right time to build an Olympic swimming pool in your back yard.> He added that if these measures don’t succeed in maintaining good quality water in the reserve tanks, the hours of rationing could be extended, possibly into the middle of octubre.

Verónica Polo, manager of ETAPA, said that Sustag, Tixán, y El Cebollar, the 3 main water plants for Cuenca, are operating normally but asked customers to not consume water for unessential purposes <such as those listed above>. The flows in the 4 rivers in Cuenca have also decreased.

“Hay consumo demaisado alto” (Consumption is too high) – Fernando Martínez, biologist and professor, said that average per person water consumption in Cuenca is 250 liters per day which is classified as too high. The World Health Organization and the UN recommend a maximum consumption of 100 liters/day/person. Martínez said various studies show that as of 2030, the city will have a water deficit of about 350 liters/second each year which will cause serious problems. He expressed the need to find new water sources because current sources will not be enough to serve the whole population. He said an alternative being studied is a damming the Dos Chorreras lake in the Río Tomebamba watershed in an area adjoining the Parque Nacional Cajas. This project has opposition. <And here I rejected retiring in Albuquerque because I was afraid it would run out of water just when I’d be too old to move and too poor to pay whatever the rates would be.>

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne
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Editor’s note: Jeanne’s Periodico is a translated digest of news from the Cuenca daily newspaper El Mercurio. If details, such as event dates and times, do not appear in the translation, they did not appear in the newspaper (please don’t ask her for them). If information is incorrect, they are the responsibility of El Mercurio. The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.