AN EVERYDAY BATTLEFIELD
“For the same reason they believe that we are worthless, we are worth more,” said the handicapped soldier, reflecting on the possibility of dying in battle. The play, called “The Night Before the Battle,” was presented last November by a theater group called Imágenes at the Second International Dance and Theater Festival organized by the Center of Theater Arts of the Municipality of Lima, Peru.

The soldier’s line took on particular significance because the actors belonging to Imágenes are themselves handicapped. Their performance in Lima marked the first time in Latin America that a theater group of handicapped people had been invited to participate in a professional festival. Its impact heightened by dance and choral presentations and fast-paced changes in scenery and costumes, the play’s message was clear: the obstacles and dangers faced by soldiers on the battlefield are lived every day by handicapped people.

The IDB’s Cultural Center provided grant funds that enabled Imágenes and three other Peruvian theater groups to participate in the festival.

—Elba Agusti, Lima, Peru

AND THE WINNER IS . . .
Paraguayan pianist Jorge Enrique Báez made his United States debut at the IDB in November before a full house that included many of his own countrymen. As the winner of the City of Asunción Music Competition last August, Báez received an IDB Cultural Center prize, which was to perform in Washington, D.C., as part of the Bank’s concert series. At the IDB, Báez quickly departed from the standard repertoir of Bach and Lizst to present a varied selection of compositions by Paraguayan composers seldom heard abroad. Báez has performed extensively as a soloist in his country, where he teaches and produces a radio program. He recently won a scholarship to study in Germany.

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