Celebrating Pueblos and the Santa Fe Opera

A new documentary traces the past and looks to the future of a Northern New Mexico collaboration

Five years ago, another dramatic version of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life brought renewed attention to New Mexico’s nuclear legacy: composer John Adams’ opera Dr. Atomic.

In a 2018 interview with SFR as he mounted the Santa Fe Opera’s production, librettist and stage director Peter Sellars spoke of his concerns about creating art from an event that caused such devastation and the quest to ensure the show acknowledged the people from New Mexico whose lives were changed by the events of 1945.

Corn dancers from San Ildefonso, Santa Clara Pueblo and Tesuque Pueblos danced for audiences before and after the performances—Angelynn Martinez from San Ildefonso Pueblo (pictured above) among them.

“My most favorite memory of Doctor Atomic was just hanging out in the little music room,” she says in a statement. “Being on stage and knowing that hundreds of eyes are just on you. Just being Tewa, dancing, praying is just who I am. I love my culture so much.”

The pueblos’ Dr. Atomic collaboration sparked the formation of the Pueblo Opera Cultural Council—an initiative that dovetailed well with the Pueblo Opera Program, which has brought more than 100,000 children and families from New Mexico’s 23 Sovereign Nations to the Santa Fe Opera since its creation in 1973. To commemorate its 50-year-anniversary, the Pueblo Opera Council produced, in collaboration with the Santa Fe Opera, the documentary film The Pueblo Opera Program: And What Could Be Next, directed by Beverly R. Singer (Santa Clara Pueblo).

“Fifty years is probably a second and a half, but it’s also a time a child grows up and becomes an adult and leader of a community,” Sellars says in a statement.

The film highlights the key players in the program’s history, but also looks ahead. “It has been a delightful and enriching opportunity as a filmmaker from Santa Clara Pueblo to direct this film that opens a new chapter in the culturally versatile stories that Indigenous Peoples have to share,” Singer says. (Julia Goldberg)

The Pueblo Opera Program: And What Could Be Next: 4 pm Sunday, July 30. Free, but ticketed reservation required. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St., 505-988-1234; lensic.org/events/pueblo-opera-program/

We’re the Best Around

Ah, it’s that wonderful time of the year when your old pals at SFR compile about a bazillion votes to determine who, what and where your favorite things might be. That’s right, nerds—Best of Santa Fe is here. But it’s more than an issue, more than a feeling. Not only will you find SFR staffers and various winners taking over the Railyard on Friday, July 28 to party and celebrate how hard folks love things around here, the annual Santa Fe Salutes show will dig into the works of Elton freaking John. Taking into account he’s only been releasing music a few years longer than SFR has been publishing newspapers, we’re considering this a clash of titans. We’re also gonna drink a bunch of beers and meet cool people and generally bask in the warm glow of Santa Fe at its most lovey-dovey. (Alex De Vore)

Best of Santa Fe/Santa Fe Salutes Elton John Tribute: 5-9 pm Friday, July 28. Free. Santa Fe Railyard, Market and Alcaldesa streets, sfreporter.com

Murder Most Musical

One mustn’t ever forget to adhere to decorum, lest one be found wanting in the eyes of one’s countrymen. And yet, as circumstances most foul but potentially prosperous arise, to whom or what do we owe our kindnesses or even our manners? Aye, there’s the rub! To wit, Edwardian England, whereupon the young and lowly Monty Navarro learns he is ninth in line for the absurd riches of the D’Ysquith family fortune and the Earldom of Highhurst. How, then, might a young man alter his fortune for the better? Subterfuge! Women! Epithets! Musical murder! The Santa Fe Playhouse brings Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak’s Tony-winning 2013 show A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder to the small stage under director Rebecca Aparicio for a few laughs and a hell of a lot of foppish peril. It’s top hats all-around, lads and lasses, and one actor taking on eight roles—death to all who would stand in Monty’s way! (ADV)

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder: 7:30 pm Thursday, July 27-Saturday, July 29; 2 pm Saturday, July 29. $15-$50. Santa Fe Playhouse, 142 E De Vargas St., (505) 988-4262

Santero Fe

It’s a year of change for Santa Fe’s major summer art markets, between the International Folk Art Market’s move to the Railyard and Traditional Spanish Market’s partnership with the Atrisco Heritage Foundation after 70 years under the auspices of the Spanish Colonial Arts Society. But novel leadership aside, the unique joy of Spanish Market lies in the sense of continuity that comes from seeing the next generation of santeros, straw appliqué artists, jewelers and more showcasing their work alongside established culture keepers like Felix López, Vicente Telles and many more. Nuevomexicanismo runs as deep as our acequias, and it’s especially close to the surface during Spanish Market. (Siena Sofia Bergt)

Traditional Spanish Market: 8 am-5 pm Saturday, July 29 and Sunday, July 30. Free. Santa Fe Plaza, 100 Old Santa Fe Trail, (505) 836-0306