2024-09-28 03:01:00
Not to be postponed every year, the 13th Theater Festival for the whole family Hugo Midón this will be done Saturday the 28th at 3pm at the Nuestros Hijos Cultural Space (ECuNHi)cultural and educational house of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, located in the former Esma (Del Libertador Avenue 8151). It will be a day to remember someone who was one of the greatest references of popular culture linked to childhood, in the year in which 80 years of his birth are commemorated.
The meeting will bring together the casts of two theatrical productions currently on the bill: Alive and kicking y Crooked rights. And, as in all editions, at the closing there will be a special ECuNHi production that will feature the participation of the actors and actresses who have accompanied the duo of Hugo Midón and Carlos Gianni at different moments in their prolific artistic path.
A special moment of the afternoon, the result of all the work sustained since the first festival, will take place with the inauguration of the Hugo Midón Theater Room in which his children and traveling companions will be present. The space, which will receive donations of props, costumes and sets from its school and different revivals, will be open to the public as a permanent visit site within the property.
The now classic will also be part of the meeting Midoneingthe tribute with which the director’s legacy is paid, and which brings together outstanding and multifaceted artists who have been part of his work such as Gabi Goldberg, Silvia Kanter, Daniela Fernández, Diego Jaraz and Mariela Kantor. Furthermore, there will be workshops, book fair and a library space. Admission is free with a conscious, non-exclusive solidarity bonus, suggested from 4 thousand pesos. Since the ECuNHi continues its work without support from the National State, the proceeds will be used to cover its operating expenses and all the artists participating in the event.
The first edition of the Hugo Midón Festival was held in 2012, as an initiative of Verónica Parodi, director of ECuNHi. The first meeting was with Julián Midón, son of the director, and from there the ritual is renewed every September. The choice to carry it out in the month in which Teacher’s Day is celebrated was not random, since Midón, among his many jobs, was also a grade teacher. Thus, thought of as a meeting with the focus on the performing artsthe event came to complete the trilogy of ECuNHi festivals that began with the Gustavo Roldán Literary Meeting and continued with the María Elena Walsh Festival.
Every year artists joined. Always on the move, the festival was held, traveling, in schools, hospitals, in the interior of the country and even virtually, in times of pandemic.
Hugo Midón was born on February 27, 1944. He was a member, along with Carlos Gianni, of one of the most prolific and successful theatrical duos. Since they premiered their first work in 1970 –La Vuelta Manzana– There are dozens of iconic titles that were added. Alive and kicking (1990); Crazy Memories (1995); Caracú Bone (2001) y Twisted Rights (2005) are some of the most notable titles of that magical formula that fused Midón’s pen with Gianni’s music.
“This festival allows us to continue bringing the Midonean family together,” they say. Gabi Goldberg, Daniela Fernández and Diego Jarazwho trained and grew as artists under the guidance of Midón. Gabi Goldberg began working with him in 1993, on his production Puss in Boots, and Fernández and Jaraz were part of the feat of Alive and kicking emerged in 1989 as a television series (on ATC), shortly before becoming a theatrical phenomenon. “Hugo Midón is eternal,” they maintain.
-This will be a special edition, given that this year marks 80 years since the birth of Midón. What expectations do you have regarding this new meeting?
Daniela Fernandez: -The expectation is renewed every year, beyond the dates and commemorations. The festival is an opportunity to meet to celebrate the work of Hugo and Carlos, and to continue making our efforts to always spread it.
Diego Jaraz: – Hugo is eternal beyond anniversaries. He is always current and present in the lives of those of us who were fortunate enough to have crossed his path. The goal is to bring together a thousand clowns to once again celebrate their poetry. This festival is always a reason for joy.
-How important is it for you to continue remembering Hugo Midón?
D.F.: -Having been part of Midón and Gianni’s world is a very important part of my identity as an artist. Therefore, continuing to honor his work is, in some way, reaffirming values and beliefs that I hope to never renounce.
D.J.: -It is impossible to forget Hugo because I am united with him for seven years of my life in which I was immensely happy, playing in rehearsals and in each performance. For me, it is very emotional to meet again every year with his poetry and his texts, and even more so in a space like the ECuNHi, which today is suffering particular vicissitudes. It gives me great pleasure to be in this house. It is almost a duty of the heart.
Gabi Goldberg: – Midón talks about everything we want to say and that sometimes we cannot say easily. Many things can be said through a song. And in that framework, Carlos’s music accompanies that need we have to express ourselves. Hugo gave me a lot, so I love being able to give him the possibility of being here with us, through his work, eternally.
-The works of Midón and Gianni retain their classic imprint. What do you think this validity is due to?
GG: -All of Hugo’s work talks about the things that happen to us children, adults and medium-sized ones. His works speak about humanity and our daily lives. Of our feelings and our desires. About what we want and also what we don’t want.
D.J.: -I think its validity is due to the fact that it talks about the simple things that are inherent to human beings. Hugo always addressed boys and girls as thinking beings, and that is what makes his work distinctive from other types of children’s shows that sometimes belittle the viewer because he is small, and believe that generating interaction in the audience implies ask the children obvious things. Midón’s message goes the other way, and reaches the hearts of the children and adults who accompany them. That was always a characteristic feature of his work.
D.F.: -Hugo covered themes that were as universal as they were timeless and I have the feeling that they will never lose their relevance. The aesthetics and language are always aimed at highlighting values that are essential for everyone (parents and children) and allow us to always identify with their characters. And the possibility of transmitting that through the game makes the material endearing, both for children and adults.
-And how does that poetics dialogue with the childhoods of this time?
D.J.: -Although today childhoods live in different situations and immediacy is something that has monopolized their lives, there are issues such as play and freedom that are permanent. It is true that these are different times. Children are more connected to screens and disconnected from each other. But despite that, the inherent childhood desires to discover and live life as an adventure remain. And Midon talks about that.
The little place
By Verónica Parodi
“There is room for everyone here There is room here for a while….”
The ECuNHi is a place that redefines history thanks to the love of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, who transformed pain and illuminated everything. A place of memory full of the future, built collectively through art. It is here where the Hugo Midón Theater Festival for the whole family was born, to celebrate an artist so close to us, who marked generations and transformed musical theater.
Hugo Midón approached childhoods with beauty, depth and joy, redefining art for childhoods. He was, together with Carlos Gianni, creator of magical and extraordinary worlds. Together they knew how to open the door to imagination, to thought, and also to discomfort and questions. This unforgettable duo expanded the genre in all its formats and left their mark. They built a bridge for several generations who enjoyed them. They were the seedbed of that little place that they cared for from a collective point of view, from social inclusion and fundamentally from love.
This year, Hugo would have turned 80 years old. He is here, more alive than ever, in every generation that heard and saw him, that danced and was moved by his works full of tenderness and beauty. And here, in this little place of memory, we will always meet, adults and children, to give each other that hug that gives pleasure. Because we know that we can’t fix ourselves and that we need others.
Thanks, Hugo. Here, in this house of culture, we will always be singing and dancing for truth, for memory, for justice and for life. This will always be our little place.
* Director of ECuNHi