Summer 2005 began with an explosion of Caribbean rhythm and spirit as the Spanish School celebrated its first Carnaval. To prepare for the big event, students and staff had the opportunity to make hats and masks in unique workshops directed by two Spanish artists, Aquilino González Barrio and Javier Ruiz de Alegría.  In addition, they learned traditional Caribbean rhythms with Jackeline Rago, member of the Venezuelan Jazz group, The Snake Trio.

Spanish School students getting ready for the parade.

The King and Queen of Carnaval 2005.

      
Homemade instruments, created from recycled cans and bottles, gave the parade a lively, metallic sound.

The celebration continued with a party in The Grille.

Don Quijote Week

With the generous support of the Consulate General of Spain in Boston, the Spanish School celebrated the 400^th anniversary of the first part of Don Quijote de la Mancha with a series of events presented throughout the campus.

Don Quijote en el arte y pensamiento de Occidente

John J. Allen and Patricia Finch gave a dynamic presentation on the profound influence Qujiote has had in the western world during the last 400 years. Based on their latest book, Don Quijote en el arte y pensamiento de Occidente, their talk portrayed this impact through images and quotations. Allen is one of the foremost scholars of Quijote in the world, and the Spanish School was delighted to welcome him back to Middlebury.

Entremeses

Students and professors presented a dramatic reading of two of Cervantes' entremeses: El viejo celoso and El retablo de las maravillas. This entertaining performance was followed by a 48-hour continuous reading of the entire novel Don Quijote de la Mancha, throughout the campus.

48-hour Continuous Reading of Don Quijote

Breakfast with Quijote

In the field of 100 miniature windmills, created by Spanish School students, in homage to Cervantes' famous scene.

Taller Experimental Ñ… '400 delocura

Under the direction of artist-in-residence Aquilino González Barrio, students had the opportunity to participate in a workshop entitled, Taller Experimental Ñ…'400 delocura. Through this activity, students explored the use of diverse and innovative materials to create windmills that expressed the determined and tireless spirit of Don Quijote.

Many students and professors made these colorful windmills that were displayed outside of the Spanish School.

Additional artwork produced during the workshop was displayed in an exhibit on the final night of Quijote Week.

Guest artist Aquilino González Barrio and Professor Pascual Masullo even dressed up as Don Quijote and Sancho Panza. Here, González Barrio is pictured in front of Middlebury's new (and very modern) wind turbine.

The week culminated with an outdoor video presentation inspired by the windmill passage of Cervantes' novel.  

Argentine novelist Mempo Giardinelli spent a week with the Spanish School, offering a variety of workshops, lectures and presentations. For more information about Giardinelli, click here.

Students were able to work closely with Giardinelli by participating in a series of writing workshops entitled, Escribir novelas, práctica y pasión, that reflected and analyzed the theory and practice of writing novels. In addition, he read some of his short stories in a separate presentation of his recent work, and gave a conference that was titled, Santo oficio de la escritura.

Giardinelli also presented a Poetry Recital with Spanish poet Fernando Operé. Both shared their tremendous talents in this special performance that benefited the Fundación Mempo Giardinelli. Click here if you would like to learn more about this foundation [link to: http://www.fundamgiardinelli.org.ar/]

The Spanish School's annual zarzuela is a colorful and entertaining musical performed by students and faculty members. This year's selection, Los bohemios, follows the story of three young, starving artists who hope to make it big as performers with the help of their agent, Girard, in 19^th century France.

Everyone works together to get ready for the show.