29 Best Performing Arts in Mexico

If you'd like to learn a few local steps, the Instituto Veracruzano de la Cultura provides danzón classes.

From the creators of Cirque du Soleil, this whimsical show follows the adventures of a rebellious teenage girl swept away to a mysterious jungle. Several ticket packages are available.

The biggest cultural center in Puerto Vallarta, Teatro Vallarta is in a modern building with an outstanding sound system that qualifies it to screen New York Met operas. It offers a bit of everything: national theater companies that are happy to include this beach town in their yearly circuit; sporadic international ballet performances or touring musicians; local conferences; dance contests; and all kinds of other events.

After a brief stint at the newer Teatro Diana, the internationally acclaimed Ballet Folclórico of the University of Guadalajara has returned to perform its traditional Mexican folkloric dances and music in the Teatro Degollado most Sundays at 12:30 pm; tickets are $7–$30.

The world-renowned Ballet Folklórico de México is a visual feast of Mexican regional folk dances in whirling colors. Lavish and professional, it's one of the country's most popular shows. Though the offices and rehearsal space are in the colonia Guerrero, performances are held at the Palacio de Bellas Artes on Wednesday at 8:30 pm and Sunday at 9:30 am and 8:30 pm, with additional shows scheduled intermittently throughout the year (check the website for more information). Tickets range in price MX$300--MX$1,180 and can be purchased via Ticketmaster or directly at the Bellas Artes box office. Most hotels and travel agencies can also secure tickets.

Bucerias Art Walk. North of Nuevo Vallarta, Bucerías Art Walk is on Thursday nights from the last week of October until late April, 7–9 pm. Participating galleries are on Boulevard Lázaro Cárdenas 62 around Calle Galeana. Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. artwalkbucerias.com.

Every evening the rather drab Casa de Cantera transforms itself into the colorful Casa de Guelaguetza. It's a mesmerizing show, with lots of music and traditional dancing. Things get started nightly at 8:30 pm.

Celebration of Independence. The Celebration of Independence is held on September 15 and 16, beginning on the evening of September 15 with the traditional Grito de Dolores. It translates as "Cry of Pain," but it also references the town of Dolores Hidalgo, where the famous cry for freedom was uttered by priest Miguel Hidalgo. Late in the evening on September 15 there are mariachis, speeches, and other demonstrations of national pride. On September 16, witness parades and charros on horseback through the main streets of town. Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.

Centro Cultural Ricardo Flores Magón hosts performances of music and dance.

Facing Plaza Gertrúdis Bocanegra (aka Plaza Chica) is a lovely old theater recently restored to its original glory and now showing art films from Wednesday through Sunday at super-bargain prices. Films are in their original language with English or Spanish subtitles.

This easy-to-access movie theater is in the heart of the Hotel Zone, on the second floor at the south end of the Plaza Caracol mall. The latest movies are shown on its 10 screens. Tickets are around 50 pesos (less than $4), with a 25% Wednesday discount.

Cinépolis presents a selection of American movies for lower prices, generally a few weeks behind what's showing in the United States. There are usually six to eight films playing, with the last feature starting around 11 pm.

On a sweltering hot or rainy afternoon, slip into Cinepolis. The modern, multiscreen theater shows current hit films in Spanish and English at afternoon matinees and nightly shows. When buying your ticket, select your seats on the computer screen and then head over for some reasonably priced food and drinks at the snack bar.

Leather reclining sofas with trays and blankets are just the beginning of the VIP experience at this cinema, which is rounded out by full gourmet menus and alcoholic drinks.

Guanajuato is completely mobbed each fall for the Festival Internacional Cervantino. For nearly three weeks each October, world-renowned actors, musicians, and dance troupes perform nightly at the Teatro Juárez and other local venues. Plaza San Roque, a small square near the Jardín Reforma, hosts a series of Entremeses Cervantinos—swashbuckling one-act farces by classical Spanish writers, such as Cervantes. Grandstand seats require advance tickets, but crowds often gather by the plaza's edge to watch for free. Guanajuato's nightlife also reaches a peak during the festival, and revelers from different parts of Mexico walk through the city streets and display their regional pride by jumping up and down and chanting the name of their hometown. If you're going to be among the hundreds of thousands who attend the festivities annually, contact the Festival Internacional Cervantino office well in advance to secure tickets for top-billed events, or contact Ticketmaster. However, if you're not a fan of elbow-to-elbow crowds morning, noon, and night, you should avoid the festival.

Fiestas de la Virgen de Guadalupe. Puerto Vallarta's most important celebration of faith—and also one of the most elaborate spectacles of the year—is Fiestas de la Virgen de Guadalupe, designed to honor the Virgin of Guadalupe, the city's patron saint and the patroness of all Mexico. Exuberance fills the air as the end of November approaches and each participating business organizes its own procession. The most elaborate ones include allegorical floats and papier-mâché matachines, or giant dolls (for lack of a better phrase), and culminate in their own private mass. Groups snake down Calle Juárez from the north or the south, ending at the Cathedral in Old Vallarta. El Centro, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. No phone.

Historic Center artWalk. One of the most traditional events in dowtown Vallarta is the Historic Center artWalk which showcases artwork at several dozen galleries. The galleries stay open late, sometimes offering an appetizer or snack, wine, beer, or soft drinks. Browse among the paintings, jewelry, ceramics, glass, and folk art while hobnobbing with some of PV's most respected artists. If you don't have a map, pick one up from one of the perennially participating galleries, which include Galería Whitlow, Corsica, Colectika, Galería Pacífico, Galería Caballito de Mar, PV Santana, The Loft, and Galería de Ollas. This walk is held every Wednesday from 6 pm to 10 pm, from the last week of October until late May. Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. No phone. www.vallartaartwalk.com.

Home Tours. Mid-November through the end of April, three-hour villa tours by the International Friendship Club get you inside the garden walls of some inspiring PV homes. English-speaking guides lead groups on air-conditioned buses Tuesday and Wednesday, from December to March. Tours depart at 10:30 am. Lunch is included. The fee benefits local charities. Calle Olas Altas 513, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. 322/222–5466. ifctoursforvallarta.com. $35.

The Monte Albán has nightly dance shows beginning at 8:30 pm.

International Gourmet Festival. The International Gourmet Festival is one of PV's biggest events. Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. 322/222–2247. www.festivalgourmet.com.

This organization offers a series of film screenings throughout the year in the majestic Teatro Macedonio Alcala (which is an experience in itself). The films, mostly independently made, cover a wide range of topics relating to Oaxaca, Mexico, and the wider world. Aimed at Spanish-speaking audiences, many of the films in Spanish are not subtitled into English. However, the experience of watching a well-made, intellectually stimulating film in the atmospheric environs of the theater, and the reasonable entry fee, more than compensates for any lack of English.

Though it's among Mexico's most poorly paid orchestras, the state-funded philharmonic manages remarkably good performances (usually pieces by Mexican composers mixed with standard orchestral fare). When in season (it varies), the OFJ performs Sunday afternoon and Wednesday and Friday evening at Teatro Degollado. On the facing plaza, they hold an annual outdoor performance that helps kick off September's Mariachi Festival.

A few nights a week, men in dapper hats and women with fans dance the danzón at Parque Zamora. It's a magical evening, as the couples swirl around a Victorian bandstand. The types of performances, locations, and times vary every month, so stop by the tourist office in the zócalo for a current schedule.

The French-style, 19th-century Teatro de Macedonio Alcalá, one of the city's most beautiful buildings, hosts concerts. There are no tours, so you'll need to buy a ticket to a show to see the sumptuous interior. Show times and information are posted at the entrance. There are operas, world dance, and art-house film screenings.

The elegant Teatro Hermanos Domínguez is a five-minute taxi ride from downtown and features programs such as folkloric dances from throughout Latin America.

Even when it's not festival season, Guanajuato still has drama, dance, and musical performances at Teatro Juárez as well as at several other theaters, museums, and restaurants throughout the city. Pick up a pamphlet called Guanajuato Programa de Eventos to see what's happening.

The Teatro Mérida, also known as the Teatro Armando Manzanero, opened as a movie theater in 1949. Today it hosts mostly live performances which range from classical and even some experimental acts to more family-friendly dance spectacles.

Pop into the university's main building to check the bulletin boards just inside the entrance for upcoming cultural events. The Ballet Folklórico de Yucatán presents a combination of music, dance, and theater here most Fridays at 9 pm (think Mexico City's famous Ballet Folklórico de México, but on a slightly smaller scale); tickets are a bargain at MX$70. There are no shows from August 1 to September 22 or during the last two weeks of December.

Pop into the university's main building to check the bulletin boards just inside the entrance for upcoming cultural events. The Ballet Folklórico de la Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán presents a combination of music, dance, and theater performances (think Mexico City's famous Ballet Folklórico de México, but on a smaller scale). The shows are typically free, though the schedule is inconsistent.