On August 29th, 30th, and 31st, Paloma Herrera will be performing with the Teatro ColonBallet and the National Symphonic Orchestra at Luna Park, in Buenos Aires.Herrera is an Argentine ballerina who was born in Buenos Aires and eventually received the highest qualification at theInsti­tute of Arts at the Teatro Colon.Now, she is the lead dancer for the American Ballet Company.According to her official website, she began dancing as their principle in 1995 at the age of 19—the youngest in the history of the American Ballet Company.Her return to her home country and city is a highly anticipated event and should be an excellent performance of the highest caliber.

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On Saturday, Manu Ginobili led the Argentine basketball team to a decisive victory over Iran, 97 to 82.Ginobili scored 32 points, nearly a third of the team’s total, and was the leading scorer from either team.According to China View, Iran felt pleased to have finished within 15 points of the defending gold medal champion.This is Iran’s first time competing in the Olympics for basketball.Argentina was less pleased with their performance, as they made many mistakes, but they got the win and continue to be a strong contender for a medal.Argentina will play Russia later today.

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In an Olympic match watched by thousands of Argentines over their breakfasts, Argentina defeated Serbia in soccer 2-0.Their two goals came from a penalty kick by Lavezzi and a shot by Buonanotte off of a free throw. According to the Clarín,Argentina seemed in control most of the game, allowing them to give some of their players on the bench a chance to get in the game.Their victory makes them the winners of Group A, ahead of the Ivory Coast and Australia.Their next opponent will be Holland and, as the tournament is now instant elimination, they must win to continue in search of the gold medal.

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The Argentine woman’s soccer team played China yesterday in the last game of group play and lost 2-0.The third loss in three games for the Argentine women, it marked the end of their Olympic bid for 2008.A frustrating showing, their losses went remarkably unnoticed in Argentina, where men’s soccer is far more closely followed than women’s soccer.The Chinese victory meant that they finished first in Group E, having also between Switzerland and tied with Canada, and will continue into the next round of the tournament.There, they will play the United States for a chance to go on to compete for the gold medal.

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Soap operas are often laughed at as vacuous forms of entertainment, but the Argentine soap opera “Robadas” (“Stolen Lives”) is serious business.According to Reuters, this show is based on the real life experience of Susana Trimarco, an Argentine woman from the province of Tucuman.Trimarco lost her 23-year-old daughter Marita in 2002, probably to human trafficking.Marita simply disappeared and ever since then Trimarco has been searching for her—the search and the fight against human trafficking became the premise of the show.When it started in March it was just another nighttime soap, but now it is causing a lot of talk around Argentina’s water coolers about a previously ignored subject.In this way, Trimarco is helping to ensure that her daughter’s story is heard.

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Despite a strong performance by Manu Ginobili, who scored 19 points, Argentina lost its first basketball game to Lithuania yesterday.According to The Boston Globe, the final score was 79-75 and the game came down to a tense finish.In the final minutes of the game, Argentina went on a run, with two free throws made by Ginobili, a basket by Carlos Delfino, and a basket by Luis Scola.Argentina pulled to within one of Lithuanian but their efforts were not quite enough to bring the victory home.While a disappointing loss, Lithuania is one of the best teams in the Olympic tournament this year and Argentina will have several more opportunities in group play to get back their loss.

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The recent heavy snow fall has made ski resorts the favored location of the past few weeks of winter vacation—a vacation which for Argentine school children ended yesterday.According to La Nacion, Bariloche and Las Lenas have been working at essentially full capacity, while Mar del Plata has been at 50%.While it seems obvious that the beach resort would get less tourism in the winter than ski resorts, the tourism levels in Mar del Plata were even lower than expected.Despite the heavy snow fall that just closed Bariloche, however, their luxury hotels are at 100% capacity right now, and cabins and hostels are close behind with 80% occupancy.These levels of tourism were above and beyond the expectations of Bariloche’s now decidedly pleased residents.

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Today, the Locarno Film Festival begins in Switzerland and two different Argentine films are competing in the second most important category, New Filmmakers.The films are La orilla que se abisma (The Shore that Amazes), directed by Gustavo Fontán, and El sueño del perro (The Dream of the Dog), directed by Paulo Pécora.According to Revista Ñ, both films competed in the BAFICI Film Festival held in Buenos Aires earlier this year.The most important category of the competition is the Official Competition, and there is no Argentine film this year.However, there is a joint project between Perú, Argentina, Germany and France called Dioses (Gods), directed by Peruvian director Josué Méndez, that is in the running for the highest honor at the festival.

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In a small town in the jungle of Yungas, electricity has been introduced into homes for the very first time.The town is a five street, isolated place called Los Naranjos, and over 400 people live there.According to the Clarín, the project of getting electricity to this town was spear headed by Comunidad Kolla de Los Naranjos and the Pro Yungas foundation.The project itself was not too expensive; they simply installed a turbine and 35,000 pesos later they had electricity.Residents who had lived their whole lives without electric lights seem to be very excited about the development of their town and the improvements that are bringing up everyone’s quality of life.

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Beginning September 1st, Joshua Tree Imports will be the American importer for Finca Las Moras, an Argentine bodega.This will be their first Argentine wine among their collection of wines from Australia and California.  According to Market Watch, Las Moras was founded in 2001 as an independent winery.They have vineyards in the three most important valleys in the San Juan region: the Tulum Valley, the Zonda Valley, and the Pedernal Valley.Already a well-known wine, Las Moras is the top Argentine seller in the UK and in Mexico.They offer relatively inexpensive wines, 10 dollars for a varietal, 15 for their reserve wine.Their new business partnership with Joshua Tree in the US should help them experience similar success there.

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