A large group of students milling about in the Unicentre atrium Sept. 14 were attracting some curious stares. An entire sound crew was adjusting speakers and readying video cameras in the far corner of the atrium, across from the Campus Card office. They seemed to be waiting, but waiting for what?
At 11:37 a.m., the sound of Italian opera carried through the room, heads turning left and right to find the source. The crowd parted to show a handsome Mexican man, dressed in a bright red Carleton button-up with the words “physical plant” printed on it, singing his heart out.
After less than a minute he stopped, and the assembled students applauded. Then a strong female voice answered him. Again the crowd parted, this time to reveal a woman dressed in a blue “UGL” cleaning staff apron, captivating all in the atrium with her voice. Again, the applause. Then another voice joined in. And another, and another. Eventually three men and two women were singing, three with Carleton “Physical plant” shirts, one with a blue UGL apron, and one wearing a Starbucks uniform.
They sang a mix of Italian opera and Mexican music, performing as if on a stage and not in the midst of a pack of students. A crowd of over 60 people applauded them when they finished 15 minutes later. At first thought, the uniforms made it seem like the university employs some very talented maintenance staff. These were in fact disguises for the travelling opera of the Tijuana Cultural Center – the Ópera Ambulante de Tijuana.
“We are singers from Mexico. We do this because we want to expand culture,” Manuel Paz, 34, said.
“We have been working for two years together as a group, but we started a lot earlier with our careers, music careers, way before we did this group.”
The Ópera Ambulante de Tijuana officially numbers eight members, and they were invited by the Mexican Embassy in Ottawa to help celebrate their Independence Day with Ottawa’s Mexican community.
The group performed Sept. 13 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. They also accepted an invitation to perform at Carleton.
“We like a lot to be with students and to be in sort of an academical environment and to share a little bit of what we do,” Mario Montenegro, the group’s district manager said.
Two of the group’s singers will also be performing Sept. 15 at the Maison du Citoyen in Gatineau, Montenegro said, though the rest of the group will be flying back to Mexico.
Fourth-year economics student Ammar Abbas enjoyed the flash mob, though the disguises confused him at first.
“I figured, wow, you have that voice and you work here? What are you doing here,” he said, laughing.
“In my four years here I’ve never seen anything like it.”
