Going Local Travel

Buenos Aires street life gets fruity

2 Written by Vicky Baker on December 6, 2009 – 3:53 pm

Florencia Frutera PARTE 2 from Florencia Frutera on Vimeo.

Local street life in my Buenos Aires barrio is never dull, but today it went to new heights when, totally by chance, I happened across a rather brilliant street theatre peformance. If you’re in Palermo next Sunday, I highly recommend that you head to the cross-section of Godoy Cruz and Gorriti in Palermo, where they’ll be doing it all over again. Twice. Pick the 17h or 19h slot, take up a spot on the pavement, and wait.

The (free) performance is called Florencia Frutera and is the creation of a highly enthusiastic and exceedingly creative bunch of dancers and actors. Their stage is the inside of one of the dancer’s houses (they perform through the windows) and the street outside. I spoke briefly to a member of the cast afterwards who told us the dancer got the idea when she caught people watching her practice.

The story revolves around a single girl trying to find love by ordering fruit from various Palermo delivery boys. The idea has been in development for a year and consists of some very entertaining choreographed routines, few words and lots of comedy. The unpredictability and the interaction were the best parts, with the action coming from all angles and using all available space. It was almost as entertaining to watch the faces of people in the cars as they drove by. There were a few open mouths as a doll-like girl performed knicker-revealing highkicks through a window to a crowd of amused onlookers.

If that’s not enough, at the end everyone is welcomed to tuck into the props (which includes fruit and icecream and pizza). If I’m around next week, I think I’ll go again.