Peruvian culture goes beyond opera houses and theaters. It is part of everyday life, with frequent local festivals coloring the cultural canvass. Painting, dance and song belong to the people and are the way that different regions distinguish themselves.
La Candelaria dance troupes of Puno or the
marinera dancers from northern Peru, for example, can be seen at
peñas (dance shows) all over Lima.
Teleticket (tel: (01) 242 2823) is a booking agency that sells tickets for many events. Alternatively, tickets are available from the venue box offices.
El Comercio (website:
www.elcomercioperu.com.pe) is a daily newspaper
with a good listings section. The
Que Hacer section of the website has a full list of cultural activities in Lima. The
Canal N 24-hour cable news channel (channel eight) has a daily culture show called
Sentidos, as well as
Agenda, its full listings service.
Music: Peru is on the international circuit for renowned foreign performers and orchestras, often sponsored by foreign cultural organizations. Since the Municipal Theater burned down in 2000, the
National Symphony Orchestra now performs at the
Museo de la Nacion, Avenida Javier Prado (tel: (01) 476 9875
or 9897). Opera shows are held at
Teatro Segura, Jiron Huancavelica 257 (tel: (01) 426 7206). Traditional music is everywhere - from
musica criolla,
with its Spanish and African influences, to the irresistibly bouncy Latin
chicha or
technocumbia music, blaring out of every bus.
Theater: Lima boasts an active theater scene, ranging from formal performances of classics to fringe shows in theater bars. The majority of plays are in Spanish. The most professional theaters are the atmospherically burnt-out
Teatro Municipal, block 3 or Jiron Ica, in central Lima,
Centro Cultural de La Catolica, Avenida Camino Real 1075, San Isidro, and
Teatro Britanico, Calle Bellavista 529, Miraflores.
Dance: The
National Ballet Company shares the
Museo de la,
Avenida Javier Prado (tel: (01) 476 9875/97), with the
National Symphony Orchestra. However, for the real dance experience, visitors should go to a
peña (traditional dance show) in one of the small venues in Barranco, such as
Manos Morenas,
Las Guitarres,
Los Balcones,
La Estacion de Barranco, Las Brisas del Titicaca and
Pericho’s - all within walking distance of Plaza Mayor.
Film: Peru’s film industry is still developing, hampered by a lack of finance but not by a lack of talent. Young filmmakers abound.
Ciudad de M (2000), directed by Felipe Degregori, is a strong example of Peruvian Realism and was shot entirely in Lima. Another is
Tinta (2001), directed by Francisco Lombardi, which won the Concha the Plata best actor award at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain.
Many cinemas show American or British films in their original version with subtitles.
Filmoteca de Lima, Museo de Arte, Paseo Colón 125, Avenida 9 de Diciembre (tel: (01) 331 0126), has monthly festivals of foreign films including avant-garde cinema. An excellent multiplex cinema is
Cineplanet Alcazar, Ovalo Guiterrez, Miraflores (tel: (01) 421 8208).
Literary Notes: In a famous essay entitled ’Lima, the horrible’, Peruvian poet and playwright Sebastian Salazar Bondy launches an attack on a city that has both repulsed and fascinated artists. British author, Matthew Parris, entitles one of the chapters in his travel book ’Inca Kola’ (Atrocious Lima). The city is the backdrop for many of Peru’s most memorable works of fiction, which have focused on the city as a symbol of the best and worst in Peru. The country’s most famous contemporary author, Mario Vargas Llosa, has turned to the capital for inspiration for several of his novels. Vargas Llosa, who once ran for president and now spends much of his time in Europe, has made an art of dissecting a turbulent society riddled with contradictions. The grime and stink of Lima, as well as the animosity between rich and poor come through most powerfully in his
Conversation in the Cathedral (1969). Alfredo Bryce Echenique’s
A World for Julius (1970), a witty satire on the lives of Lima’s upper classes seen through the eyes of a boy, gives a great insight into Lima life a few decades ago. Julius feels lost in an elegant but ultimately empty world of cocktail parties and golf. Like Vargas Llosa, Bryce lives abroad but his books remain classics for generations of Limeños.
Lima is a city of poets - poetry readings take place almost daily. Miraflores can claim its own 1960s revolutionary poet in Javier Heraud, who left Lima for the Soviet Union, before ending up in Cuba. He returned to Peru to join a band of left-wing guerillas and was eventually shot by government troops in 1963. His best known volume of poetry is
The River (1960), a deceptively simple allegory about the journey from youthful adventure towards old age and solitude.
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The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
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