A folkloric ballet of Chubut quarantined by coronavirus in a Chinese city

Carlos Guajardo

02/26/2020 - 17:56

• Clarín.com
• Society

A folkloric ballet composed of young people from the Chubut towns of Trelew and Rawson are in quarantine in a Chinese city following the intense outbreak of the coronavirus. They are there from December when they traveled to perform until the end of the year in a theme park.

"We were able to work until January 24 but since 25 all the shows were suspended and we are in an apartment that is inside the same park without being able to leave," he told Clarín Sebastián Mulero, one of the members of the group. They are located in the city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong where they arrived on December 29 after being selected through a project.

The ballet (which also has members from Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Formosa) performs malambo shows with drums and boleros. "But now we are totally unemployed, we can't even rehearse, we get bored quite a bit inside the department," Mulero said, adding that "you can't leave the world for anything, they even put up fences . " As for the supplies, he said that “we order them online and they bring it to the door of the apartment. They treat us well in general but sometimes we have problems because the recommendations are written in Chinese and we don't have a permanent interpreter. ”

In addition to Mulero, the group is made up of Laura Palomino (who is one of the directors and daughter of a renowned Rawson dancer), Ricardo Soplan, Magdalena Nápoli and Alexis Ezequiel García, all of them from Chubut. The park, which is "giant" closed its doors as soon as the first cases of coronavirus appeared.

The ballet has a contract until the end of the year. “They paid us the month of January and we believe they will continue to pay us. But everything is uncertainty. We are also waiting for instructions to know what to do. If we stay here (we have to comply with the quarantine) or if we can travel again to Argentina, ”Mulero said in a telephone dialogue with Clarín.

The park depends on the government and there are shows from all over the world. The dancers belong to the Sunkku Gaucho Company and the stay could have been extended to two years if the Chinese authorities decided.

“We spent the days playing cards, reading, chatting. But it is becoming endless. As I said they take care of us and treat us well but this confinement is tremendous, ”said Mulero. On some days they were in good weather “we were able to go out a little to the inner courtyard but no more from there. Security is strict as far as we comply with the quarantine. This is quite stressful to us. But for now, we have no other. ”

Chubut Correspondent