The culture of Uruguay has been formed in the course of its history through the influence of immigrants. Historical events have influenced the creation of the current identity of its population, as well as many of the characteristics that make up its state. The culture of Uruguay is shaped by notorious influences imparted by various aspects. History is one of those important factors that has notoriously influenced the shaping of the culture and identity of its population.
Gastronomy
The food Uruguayan is like all its culture a combined recipes from different cultures that have been developed by its residents with their own techniques. It has excellent dishes and its raw materials are of the highest quality. As a native drink, matestands out, an infusion that a large part of Uruguayans drink and that is unique to that country. This fact generates in its residents the emotion when they meet their thermos and mate anywhere in the world.
Music
The greatest exponent of River Plate music is the Tango, followed by the Milonga. In the creation of Tango Uruguay has played an important role, although Buenos Aires is the mecca of 2 x 4. Great figures, musicians and singers are native to their lands and have given great lyrics and scores to the genre. The singers include Carlos Gardel, Julio Sosa and, currently, the Montevideo Philharmonic Orchestra, considered the best tango orchestra in the world. Among the most famous tangos originating in the culture of Uruguay, ‘La Cumparsita’ stands out notably, initially a withered one, composed by the young architecture student Gerardo Hernán Matos Rodríguez in late 1915 and early 1916., for the carnival troupe organized by the Uruguayan Student Federation.
Closer in time, great musicians in Uruguay stand out, such as Alfredo Zitarrosa, Eduardo Mateo, the Fattoruso brothers, Jaime Ross, Jorge Drexler, Ruben Rada, among many more.
But the candombe and murga must be highlighted as purely indigenous musical genres. The candombe has African roots and is produced with drums, the murga consists of a choir that sings lyrics with a high social content in an ironic and entertaining way.
Theater
The origin of theater in Uruguay dates back to the Casa de Comedias, around 1800, which had a huge audience, staging works of the Spanish classics and universal theater. It was in this scenario that Trinidad Guevara stood out.
Later, the Circo Criollo toured the villages with its tents, putting on shows that combined scenes from the popular theater and the circus. These companies had great significance in the rural scene mainly.
During the conflicts of the 19th century, theatrical proposals suffered a setback. But hardly finished, the society as a whole devoted itself to the construction of the Solís Theater, thought at the beginning as an operatic stage, but which later housed the theater companies that passed on their tours.
Upon entering 1900, the national dramaturgy appears, which has authors such as Florencio Sánchez (“Barranca down”) and Ernesto Herrera (“The blind lion”). Both authors work realistically with characters from the rural world, but they also exercised with a wide range of urban types. They performed a theater of great popularity. At the same time, Argentine companies monopolized the work of the theater in Uruguay.
In the 1930s, Carlos Brussa and his cast toured the interior spreading quality theater, with a repertoire that included Sánchez, Herrera, and Spanish, Argentine and world literature authors.
In 1937 the People’s Theater appeared, a group considered an independent theater. In 1947, the National Comedy (dependent on the Municipal Government) was born, which forms the first stable cast dedicated to theater of artistic quality, which was financed by the State and had as a postulate the dissemination of national authors. The first piece to represent the National Comedy was “El león ciego” by Ernesto Herrera. But his greatest success was “Procesado 1040” by Juan Carlos Patrón (both Uruguayan authors).
Until the 1960s, the quality and adequate production of the national theater was a constant. But after the 1973 coup, due to censorship and exile, the theater’s situation declined markedly. After the military dictatorship (1973- 1984) an atmosphere of political freedom that fosters cultural liberty is generated. The most outstanding event of this moment is the return of the group El Galpón with “Artigas, general del pueblo”, directed by the mythical Atahualpa del Cioppo, on a libretto by Milton Schinca.
From this moment on, a new breed of playwrights such as Carlos Aguilera and Ricardo Prieto appeared, to reach the present with young authors such as Gabriel Calderón.
Cinema
According to payhelpcenter.com, the Uruguayan Seventh Art is characterized by having Uruguayan-foreign productions. Since 2000, Uruguayan cinema has been going through a heyday with films that have won important awards and with the participation of actors and different technicians in important world-renowned films. In this regard, César Charlone stands out as director of photography for the Brazilian feature film Ciudad de Dios, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, and Jorge Drexler, winner of the Oscar for best original soundtrack in a language other than English for the song in the movie ‘Motorcycle Diaries’.
