Join Us

We hope you can join us as we celebrate our magnificent production of Frida y Diego with food, Mexican Folklórico dance demonstrations by Ensamble Folclórico Colibrí. and in collaboration with our community partner, The Marigold Project, we have created an altar where we will hold a unique, multicultural, ritual ceremony that dives deep into the celebrations of the stages of life and death.  

This is free and open to the public and will be held in the courtyard next to the War Memorial Opera House.

• Evening performances: June 13 , 17, 22, 30

  5:30pm-7:00pm – The Altar Ceremony and Mexican folklore dance group presentations
  6:35pm - Pre-show talk (in the Opera House)
  7:30pm - Performance of Frida y Diego

• Matinee performances: June 25

  12:00pm-1:30pm – The Altar Ceremony and Mexican folklore dance group presentations
  1:05pm – Pre-show talk (in the Opera House)
  2:00pm – Performance of Frida y Diego

  Our altar, designed and built by the SF Opera production team and shop, has five points, each representing an element, a universal symbol, and a stage of life.  Each celebration will commence with a ritual ceremony that invokes each of the five points represented in the altar: 

  • The East calls the element of air, dedicated to our ancestral children. The circle is used to symbolize the interconnectedness of life and death, and white as the unifying color for all things seen and unseen. 
    
    
  • The South summons the element of fire, devoted to our ancestral youth, and its red-hot hues and triangle symbolize strength, art, poetry, passion, and balance. 
    
    
  • The West hails the element of water, honoring adults in tones of blue. The symbol is the square, representing rhythms of life, emotions, ocean tides, and moon cycles. 
    
    
  • The North honors the earth and our ancestors, the tones are green and purple, and the four-directional cross is the symbol. It solicits past, present, and future wisdom from the earth and our beloved Ancestors. 
    
    
  • The Center is devoted to self-love, love in relationship to the other, community, and the universe. The symbol is the never-ending spiral, dressed in green and rainbow colors. 
• Post Performance Discussions: June 22 and June 25

  Please join us for our post-performance discussions on June 22nd and 25th in the Lounge, located on the lower level. This is a rare opportunity to meet the Artists and learn more about the creation and process of producing El último sueño de Frida y Diego.
  
  Cards will be located on the marble table in the center of the Orchestra lobby, where you can submit questions before the performance and at intermission. Our discussion will be 30 minutes and begin with a short introduction and then we will ask the Artists questions submitted by the audience.
  
  Thursday, June 22, 2023 – after the 7:30pm performance – discussion with Gabriela Lena Frank (composer), Robert Kalb (conductor) and Moisés Salazar (playing Muchacho)
  
  Sunday, June 25, 2023 – after the 2:00pm performance – discussion with Gabriela Lena Frank (composer)