13 Best Performing Arts in Chile

Over the past several years, Matucana 100, a converted train warehouse, has become one of the main anchors of the area surrounding Quinta Normal Park. On weekends there are outdoor dance events, and Matucana 100 frequently host fairs, art installations, and film festivals. Cafe 100---housed in a converted bus, continuing the public transport theme---sells specialty coffee and coconut water, a good complement to the nearby Soul Kitchen food truck, which serves a hearty Sunday brunch until 4 pm.

Home to the national opera company, Santiago's 19th-century Teatro Municipal also presents excellent classical concert and ballet by internationally recognized artists from March to December. Opened in 1857, it was designed by French architects and has had several major renovations since. The Renaissance-style building hosts one of the city's most refined monuments with a lavish interior that deserves a visit. The cobblestone path around the building completes the picture.

The island's longest-running dance group spends most of the show getting members of the audience on the stage to dance with the performers. It's done with little technology (no flashing lights or microphones) and is in a fairly small space on the main street. Members also perform a very good sau sau, the island's famous courtship dance. They perform on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

The Teatro Municipal has its own company, the Ballet de Santiago, which performs regularly, often with guest soloists.

A gift of the government of Mexico, this art center commemorates the famed muralist of the same name. It hosts art exhibitions in the gallery, as well as evening theater productions and occasional music and film festivals.

Most of the city's art cinemas tend to screen international favorites. The old standby is El Biógrafo, which shows foreign films on its single screen in the cute cobblestoned neighborhood of Lastarria. There is a café upstairs with a nice rooftop deck, decent food, and good drinks for pre- and postscreening.

One of three traditional dance groups on the island, this one performs at the Vai te Mihi cultural center next to Amigo Secreto restaurant. Part of every show involves willing participants pulled up onto the stage to dance with the traditional Rapanui dancers. The dances are supposed to be among the least influenced by other Polynesian styles and feature traditionally (read: barely) clad, body-painted men and women telling stories through dance. They perform Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.

If you'd like to be pulled up on stage, increase your chances by sitting in the front row for 199,000 pesos extra (you need a reservation).

Movistar Arena, a covered stadium inside Parque O'Higgins, is a frequent venue for concerts by popular singers and groups, principally those on international tours. It seats 12,000, though seats to the side of the stage have poor acoustics.

This cultural center is aimed at the island's school-aged children to keep Rapa Nui traditions, including songs, poetry, and dance, alive. Performances are frequent (often by the children themselves) and free to the public. You can usually find the kids rehearsing in the garden outside.

The well-respected theater company by the name of ICTUS performs in the Sala la Comedia, a theater just outside the Lastarria neighborhood. The company's been around for more than 50 years and is one of the most important independent groups in the country.

Each year, in late January and early February, the town hosts an excellent series of mostly classical concerts (and a little jazz) at Teatro del Lago and the lakeside Centro de Conciertos y Eventos, a semi-outdoor venue. Ticket prices for their midday concerts are 12,000 pesos.

This dance group brings participants off the tourist track right to the host's home, where there is traditional face painting, an explanation of the ceremonial type of cooking called umu par, and finally a dance performance put on by the Haha Varua Collective (you can also just attend the dance performance). The dance is traditional Polynesian and Rapa Nui and interactive with the audience. Performances take place Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Off Plaza O'Higgins, the lovely old Municipal Theater hosts symphonies, films, and ballet, opera, and theater performances.