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havana
Conducta Impropia
by Alejandro Gonzalez
!
may
2014
Jornada Cubana
contra la Homofobia
May 5-24, 2014
may 2014
FEATURES
Havana
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around cuba
sport
Jornada Cubana contra la Homofobia p7
May 5-24, 2014
Conducta impropria by Alejandro Gonzales’s p20.
Visual Art p25 — Photography p31 — Cinema P32 —
Dance p33 — Music p34 — Theatre p43 — Other p46
Festival Romerías de Mayo p48
May 2-8, 2014, Holguín
Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series p50
May 9-10, 2014, El Morro Castle Havana
Not to miss during May 2014
With a Passion for Cuba
Mon
Tue
Thu
Sat
Sum
12
19
26
Jornada Cubana
contra la
Homophobia
May 5-24, 2014
Monday night—go
traditional bar
hopping: Bodiguita
del Medio, Floridita,
Sloppy Joe’s
Enjoy a traditional
Italian dinner
at Opera, a new
homely and intimate
paladar with
beautiful décor.
Festival
Internacional
de Poesía de La
Habana, May 25 to
31, 2014
6
13
20
27
ILGALAC
Girl’s night out—El
Cocinero, Up &
Down, Sangri-La
Encuentro sobre
Manejo y Gestión de
Centros Históricos,
May 20 to 23, 2014
Movie Night at
home. Get a copy of
Conducta, Ernesto
Daranas’s latest
smash hit.
Sacrilegio by Ernán
López-Nussa @ ISA,
6pm
Latin American and
Caribbean Unity for
LGBTI Rights, May
5-9, Varadero
Opening of
Itinerrances by
Ferrante Ferranti
Tue
Dinner at El Litoral,
one of Havana’s best
new restaurants—
watch life pass by on
Malecón.
Fotosub, May 14-18
2014, Cayo Largo
IV Jornada de la
Diversidad Cultural
para el Diálogo
Qva Libre @ Café
y el Desarrollo,
Cantante Mi Habana, Camagüey
5pm
Boy’s night out—
Don Cangrejo,
Las Piedras, Dos
Gardenias,
1
8
15
22
29
May 1
Bobby Carcassés @
UNEAC, 2pm
Manolito Simonet y
su Trabuco matinee
@ Casa de la Música
de Miramar
Dinner at La
Guarida Havana’s
legendary
restaurant located
in Centro Habana
Dinner at Santy,
Jaimanitas’s off
the beaten track
world class sushi
restaurant.
Matinee at El Diablo
Tun Tun, (from 6pm)
best night out of the
week so we’re told!
21
Mon
14
International
Workers Day,
March in Plaza de la
Revolución
Fri
5
7
Wed
!
what’s on havana
28
Wed
Thu
2
9
16
23
30
Cuba Domadores
vs Russian Boxing
Team—WSB SemiFinal
Red Bull Cliff
Diving World
Series, Morro
Castle, May 9-10
Mayo Teatral, May
16-25, 2014
El tío Vania @ Argos
Teatro, Fri & Sat,
8pm; Sun, 5pm
World Series of
Boxing Final (Cuba
vs Azerbajan or
Kazakhstan)
Fri
Festival Romerías de Coppelia by Ballet
Mayo, May 2-8, 2014, Nacional de Cuba,
Holguín
May 9-11 & 16-18
Mayo Renacentista @
Iglesia de Paula, May Rascacielos by Teatro
16, 23 & 30
El Público @ Sala
Get crazy at Escaleras
Adolfo Llauradó, Fri & al Cielo LGBTI night,
Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm
from 11pm.
3
17
24
31
Telmary in concert @ Conga contra
F.A.C.
homophobia @ Calle
23, 10.30a.m.
Los Van Van in
concert @ El Sauce
Gala performance,
Cuba contra
homophobia, 8.30pm
Karl Marx theatre.
International Day
Against Homophobia
and Transphobia
(IDAHOT)
Champions League
Final on big screen
at Meliá Habana
Sports Bar
Conga performed
up Calle 23 from the
Malecón to Pabellón
Verdehr Trio in
Concert Basílica
Menor, May 24, 6pm
Beach day—Playas
del Este to build
sandcastles
followed by pizza at
Piccolo in Guanabo
4
18
25
1 June
Inaugural gala for
Cubadisco, 11am
(*as per program)
@ National Theatre
Closing gala for
Cubadisco 11am
(*as per program) @
National Theatre
Take the dog for a
walk. Wait for the
June Issue of What’s
On Havana.
10
11
La Máquina de la
Mother’s Day
Melancolía, with
Frank Delgado and
Luis Alberto García @
El Sauce, 5pm
visitcuba.com
Sat
Sum
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5-24, 2014
Havana, Granma, Manzanillo & Bayamo
may
Photos by Humberto Mayol
VII Jornada Cubana contra
la Homofobia (IDAHO)
From May 5 to May 24, Cuba will celebrate the 7th
Jornada Cubana contra la Homofobia in Havana,
Granma and other locations in Cuba. The twoweek event included symposiums, lectures, films,
art exhibits and a theatrical festival, headlined by
Cuban superstar, singer Haila Mompié.
Leading this unique revolution on the behalf of the
LGBT community is activist Mariela Castro Espín,
the 48-year-old daughter of Cuba’s President, Raúl
Castro, and niece of Fidel Castro. Heterosexual
and a married mother of three, Castro Espín is
going into her tenth year as director of the Cuban
National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) in
Havana. These series of events represent Cuba’s
participation in the International Day Against
Homophobia and Transphobia, which takes place
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on May 17. [Note that some events have been
brought forward this year to coincide with Cuba
hosting ILGALAC – see events outside of Havana).
Events not to miss include the kick-off conga (May
10, 10.30a.m.), where Cubans of all types and stripes
shimmy and shake up Calle 23 from the Malecón to
Pabellón Cuba, HQ of the annual anti-homophobia
celebration.
The closing gala (8.30pm on May 10 in Teatro Karl
Marx) is nothing short of fabulous—Priscilla Queen
of the Desert meets Tropicana, performed to a
packed theater of LGBTI Cubans and their friends
(not to mention members of the establishment—
Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel was in
attendance last year in 2013).
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Background International Day
Against Homophobia and
Transphobia
May 17, or the International Day Against
Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT)—as it is
widely recognized—is an essential feature in the
international LGBT rights calendar. In the 9th
edition, in 2013, commemorations took place in
almost 120 countries, in all world regions.
The day aims to coordinate international events
that raise awareness of LGBT rights violations and
stimulate interest in LGBT rights work worldwide.
The date of May 17 was chosen to commemorate
the decision to remove homosexuality from the
International Classification of Diseases of the
World Health Organization (WHO) in 1990. The
day was conceived in 2004. A year-long campaign
culminated in the first International Day Against
Homophobia on May 17, 2005.
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Program Highlights
(Jornada Cubana Contra la Homofobia)
May 5
10am, CENESEX
Press Conference. Presentation by Byron Monthly
Sala Villena, UNEAC
May 9 10am: Words by Miguel Barnet and CENESEX representatives
10:30am: Transvestism, identity and show. Screening of parts of Máscaras al borde del
proscenio.
11:30am: Presentation of books, poets and narrators.
2pm: Conversation between Norge Espinosa and contemporary authors who deal with this
topic.
3pm: Round table with members of Teatro El Público celebrating the 20th anniversary of the
premiere in Cuba of Federico García Lorca’s “El público.”
4pm: Meeting with the film crew of Fátima o el Parque de la Fraternidad.
5pm: Meeting with Mariela Castro and guests to the Cuban day Against Homophobia 2014:
Víctor Hugo Robles (Chile) and Vikram Seth (India).
6pm: Closing ceremony with drag show.
May 10
9am, La Rampa Theater: Panel: Family: A Space for Inclusion?
10:30am, Cascada de 23 y Malecón: Cuban Conga Against Homophobia
11:30am, Pabellón Central. Escenario natural: Opening speech, VII Jornada Cubana contra
la Homofobia by Mariela Castro Espín
12pm, Salón de Mayo: Presentation of the digital book Pingueros en La Habana by Julio César
González Pagés.
12pm, Pérgola: Celebration for peace and non-violence, organized by the Centro Memorial
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and Grupo “Somos”. Centro Kairós, Matanzas.
1pm, Pérgola: Presentation by CENESEX and other organization of civil society. Debate with
the audience.
2pm, Pabellón Central. Escenario natural: Sociocultural show by the DIVINO Project
8:30pm, Teatro Karl Marx: Cuban Gala Against Homophobia.
11pm: Festival for Diversity.
Sala polivalente del Hotel Tulipán
May 12 9am-11am Panel: “Inclusion-Social Integration. Ways to eliminate discrimination of LGBTs”,
Panelists: Mariela Castro Espín (Cuba), Patricia Bueza Gainza (Uruguay), Gloria Careaga
(Mexico), Andrés Scagliola (Uruguay)
11am-1pm: Panel: “Sexual Health and Rights”
2pm-4pm: “Masculinities-Power and Homophobia”
May 13
3pm, UCI: Lecture by Mariela Castro
8pm, Cine 23 y 12: “Cine Club diferente”. Screening and discussion of film El sexo de los
Ángeles
May 14
Activities in San Pablo de Yao, Buey Arriba, Granma Province
May 15
Activities in the city of Manzanillo
May 16 - 17 Activities in the city of Bayamo
May 22 5pm, Barrio El Príncipe (Zapata #951 e/ Basarrate y Mazón, Plaza)
May 24 10am: Ciudad Deportiva: 2nd.Sports Festival Against Homophobia and Transphobia
Conducta Impropia:
[Improper Behavior]
by Alejandro Gonzalez
Photos by Alejandro González
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8
“Homosexuality is not a disease, but homophobia is.”
Mariela Castro Espín
This series of photographs is an inventory of people
who are subject to rejection or exclusion because
of their sexual preferences. It is a denunciation
against homophobia. Symbolically, it is also a
demand for the respect of political, ideological,
religious differences.
Conducta Impropia [Improper Behavior] is
divided into two parts: close-ups made during the
celebration of the World Day Against Homophobia
(May 17, 2008) and portraits taken during a gay
pride party on Mi Cayito beach (June 14, 2008). In
the portraits (close-ups), I show faces of people
and try to “erase” the features that identify them
in terms of gender.
The photos taken at the beach describe the festive
atmosphere in a celebration of the Cuban gay
community (a part of it) through alien eyes (mine),
which try to capture the spirit of the event. These
pictures were taken almost scientifically. Some
of these photos reveal a certain clichéd view of
the gay world. With this I aimed to expose the
prejudices (mine, too) inherited from the macho
and heterosexual tradition that prevails in our
society.
This photographic essay pays tribute to all of the
activists who fight for and defend the rights of
people who are discriminated due to their gender
or sexual preferences.
MiCayito beach
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Alejandro González
Born in Havana, Cuba in 1974, Alejandro González
learnt photography in workshops directed by
photographers like Diego Goldberg, Luis González
Palma and Edgar Moreno. He was later invited to
an artist-in-residence program at the Academy of
Media Arts Cologne in Germany. In 2009 he was
awarded the Cuban Casa de las Américas prize
in the photography section. His work has been
exhibited in Cuba, as well as Mexico, the United
States, Spain and Italy.
http://alejandrogonzalez.wordpress.com
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Visual Arts
Mordida
Factoría Habana, Opens May 24
In Mordida, artists from different generations
and trends combine efforts to celebrate the
30th anniversary of the Havana Art Biennale:
Juan Carlos Alom, Lidzie Alvisa, Belkis Ayón, Luis
Enrique Camejo, Felipe Dulzaides, Antonio Eligio
(Tonel), Roberto Fabelo, José Manuel Fors, Aimée
García, Ernesto Leal, Jorge López Pardo, Ibrahim
Miranda, Carlos Montes de Oca, Pedro Pablo
Oliva, Sandra Ramos, Santiago Rodríguez Olazábal
Eduardo Ponjuán and José Ángel Toirac.
Espacio mínimo
Edificio de Arte Cubano. Museo Nacional
de Bellas Artes, Through June
Over 50 pieces by Raúl Milián, one of the most
significant Cuban artists of the second half of
the 20th centiruy, who has depicted a complex
and anguished inner world through small scale
excellent ink paintings.
Brey
Edificio de Arte Cubano. Museo Nacional
de Bellas Artes, Through June
Installations, sculptures, two-dimensional works
and photographs by Ricardo Rodríguez Brey (1955),
a member of the mythical group Volumen I and a
pioneer of conceptual art in Cuba, and who lives
abroad since 1990, in a retrospective that will offer
a comprehensive look into the work of this artist
throughout his life.
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Biblioteca Pública Rubén Martínez Villena
Throughout
May
Jai-Q, a silkscreen exhibition by
Janette Brossard who emphasizes
cultural hybridization and the
reinterpretation of Asian poetics.
Galería Espacio Abierto
Through
May 23
Casa Benito Juárez
Throughout
may
Espacio Ayón exhibits works
from the 1st Belkis Ayón National
Competition in Collagraphy and
the group printmaking exhibition
Nuevas
circunstancias
and
Texturas develadas.
Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam
Through
may 13
Las formas del silencio, an
exhibition of works made out
of different materials and some
paintings, by the Cuban sculptor
Agustín Cárdenas (1907-2001).
Through
may 15
Tiempo detenido, solo show by
Nieves Torralba with her most
recent drawings. She painted a
large mural on the back walls of
the gallery.
Colegio Universitario San Gerónimo de la Habana
Throughout
may
Océano, five metal sculptures of
different sea species by French
artist Mauro Corda.
Galería Espacio Abierto
Throughout
May
Through
May 5
In Muela Bizca, Sanfis Suárez
makes use of his profession as
graphic designer to reflect on
history and social behavior.
Through
May 4
Solo lo que vemos, a show by
Enrique Ángel Cabrera, takes a
look into the representation of
time as a phenomenon that attacks
human personality—it shows a
man who cannot quite understand
his own present time and has to
resort to the past, which he also
did not understand at all.
En rosa proposes different works
by young female artists who reveal
feminine subjectivity and their
imprint in their pieces.
Hostal Los Frailes
may
Climbing the Future, solo show
by artist Ascanio, who introduces
the topic of climbing from
multiple facets, using figuration
with influences from pop art and
graphic design.
Galería Villa Manuela
Throughout Avalancha: paintings, photographs
May
and documentaries by Alejandro
González, Alejandro Campins and
Armando Capó Ramos, who depict
certain aspects of Cuban life with a
sensation of atemporal quality and
a sociological and anthropological
approach.
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.
Edificio de Arte Cubano
Through
July 7
Imalabra is a 46-year retrospective
of the renowned Puerto Rican
artist Antonio Martorell. The
opening on April 1, 4pm, which
is the artist’s 75th birthday, the
actress and theater director Rosa
Luisa Márquez and the artist
himself will present Veveviejo, an
adpatation for the stage of texts by
Martorell.
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Contradicciones de Occidente
by Ángel Alonso Blanco focuses
on the contradictions of western
culture and the self-centeredness
of contemporary man with regards
to his surroundings, which leads
them to self-destruction.
Galería Luz y Oficios
Galería Collage Habana
Throughout
may
Homenaje a Antonia Eiriz, on the
occasion of the 85th anniversary
of the birth of the painter,
draftswoman and printmaker
Antonia Eiriz, one of the great
iconoclasts of Cuban painting
in the 20th century. The show
includes more than 30 pieces by
the late artist from the collections
of the Museo Municipal de
San Miguel del Padrón, Museo
Biblioteca
Servando
Cabrera
Moreno and Museo Nacional de
Bellas Artes, as well as from private
collections.
Museo de Naipes
Throughout Selección de maestría exhibits
May
works by 20 outstanding Cuban
artists, such as Roberto Diago,
Roberto Fabelo, Eduardo Ponjuan,
Sandra Ramos, Ernesto Rancaño,
Lisandro Ramírez and Eduardo
Roca, among other.
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Exhibition at the Wifredo
Lam Center: april - may
Notas al Paso: The Return
of Tomás Sánchez
by Ricardo Alberto Pérez
“Even though critics have placed Tomás Sánchez in the starting point of the Cuban
hyperrealistic movement that had a boom in 1974, along with Rogelio López Marín and Flavio
Garciandía, the truth is that his work doesn’t portray a naturalistic concern nor a cult to exact
reproduction but rather a will to generate illusion.”
Spanish art critic Fernando Castro
Building the present on the basis of constant
nostalgia could drive a person or even a society
mad. If we consider the specific case of Cuban
contemporary art, some of this nostalgia has been
destroyed with the return of works by key Cuban
artists of the last few decades to the country’s
galleries. We are very lucky to have had three
such events take place during the second week in
April: twice at the Wifredo Lam Center and once
at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes: the work
of Agustín Cárdenas, Ricardo Rodríguez Brey and
Tomás Sánchez.
Tomás Sánchez’s absence has given rise to so many
myths that they cannot be dissolved either with his
presence or his artwork. This artist (born in 1948
in Aguada de Pasajeros, Cienfuegos Province) is
amongst us again here in Cuba with his work and
definitely with his spirit. His show called Notas al
paso opened at the Wifredo Lam Center on April
10 at 5 p.m.
After more than 20 years without a show in Cuba,
he is exhibiting his large-format photography,
allowing us to view the level-headed lucidity of
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Many consider Tomás Sánchez to be one of the
discoverers of this Island; nobody else has been
able to express its secrets so exactly, or to show
the delightfulness of rural landscapes with the
minimalist touches that he masterfully transforms
into powerful details. His images revel in verticality,
transmitting the sensation of ascent with a full
sensual range.
his soul. It was this lucidity that made its mark on
the landscape from the 1970s, revitalizing a genre
that seemed to have been extinguished in the
monotony of its own rhetoric.
In his oeuvre, Tomás makes it quite clear that there
is no valid landscape today that cannot return to
viewers the internal strength of its creator, their
moods, conflicts and above all their beliefs. It
magnifies this milieu, providing refuge for our eyes.
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These photographs being exhibited in Havana
focus on the sea in its conversation with the shore.
We see the effects of foam crested waves crashing
into the brilliant white sand, immortalizing eternal
conflict. Gigantic rocks look like small islands
where singular vegetation flourishes. Tomás’ lens
returns to such scenarios again and again, seeking
out new relationships that establish a counterpoint
with the unfathomable permanence of the sea.
This show presents us with the artist’s most
recent work—images taken on Cuba’s northern
coast and in Costa Rica. He will be returning to
these locations with blank canvases over the next
years to transform the current photography into
amazing paintings.
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Exhibition at the
Wifredo Lam Center
Las Formas del Silencio
by Agustín Cárdenas
by Ricardo Alberto Pérez
It’s not everyday that one can come up against
the energy of a great artist and when it happens,
it’s like a spell has been cast. When the doors of
the Wifredo Lam Center for Contemporary Art
in Havana opened on April 11, 2014 for Las Formas
del Silencio, an exhibition of pieces by the Cuban
sculptor Agustín Cárdenas, there was pixie dust in
the air.
The opening was attended by an extraordinary
group of art lovers across generations from
established masters, such as Manuel Mendive and
Carlos Quintana, to art students. It was the glances
and subtle gestures that indicated the high esteem
in which Cárdenas is held.
The sizes of the works made one feel that space
was being invaded, that one’s breath was being
concentrated and that there was a sort of thickness
present in the air that had to be crossed without
being overcome with the emotion elicited by each
of the representations. The artist’s skill in handling
symbols, in making concrete the distortion of
archetypes put him squarely into the realm of
poetry. Call it abstraction or metaphor, but what
is certain is that it re-dimensions events and
bestows upon them a metaphysical depth capable
of liberating sensations that are able to flow along
individual lines.
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the main figures in the European avant-garde.
Sculpture with a very personal imprint makes him
one of the most remarkable sculptors of that era.
The show covers work spanning the period
from 1957 to 1989. From El gallo [The Rooster]
(1957) to Caballito [Little Horse] (1989) a terrain
of deployment and contradictions reveals the
evolution of a man enchanted by different cultures.
The artist has survived his scrutiny of Caribbean
tides and, after ignoring them for a while, returns
to die at the foot of their cyclical movement. And
so we see how El árbol antillano [The Tree of the
West Indies] congeals the wisdom of every branch
while becoming one single trunk that keeps its
steadfast aim of returning to the earth.
“The Forms of Silence” can also be interpreted
as a celebration of substances, a banquet where
materials (wood, marble and bronze) accept being
sublimated to the codes of demiurgic language.
The artist’s diversity of choice in terms of material
speaks volumes about his character and expressive
capacity. Every material Cárdenas chooses leads
to greater communication with his viewers.
“The Forms of Silence” once again allows us to
approach one of the great Cuban artists of the
second half of the twentieth century. Agustín
Cárdenas was trained in the San Alejandro
Academy in the 1940s and he has been exhibiting
since 1955, the year he traveled to Paris where
he lived for around forty years. During this time
he traveled and showed on the five continents,
creating powerful relationships with some of
His white marble “Homage to Brancusi” (1966)
surprisingly symbolizes the universe made erotic
by an economy of expressiveness that literally
leaves viewers speechless. Smoothness and
ascending forms recall the aspirations of that
Rumanian sculptor in an audacious manner of
approaching the creative posture that for decades
inspired sculpture all over the world.
Work seeped in emotion such as Madera calcinada
[Charred Wood] (1957), Disco de luz escondida
[Hidden Light Disc] (1970), El beso [The Kiss] (1974)
and La mano [The Hand] (1965) places us before a
remarkable phenomenon that will be available for
the viewing during a month at the Wifredo Lam
Center for Contemporary Art, just a few blocks
from the Cathedral of Havana.
Augustín Cárdenas
Known as one of the last Surrealist artist, renowned
Cuban sculptor Agustín Cárdenas had an artistic
touch that was “as nimble as a dragonfly” (André
Breton). Cárdenas, a descendant of slaves from
Senegal and the Congo, was born in Matanzas in
1927 and died in Havana in 2001. His work reflects
both his adherence to Surrealism and his AfroCuban heritage.
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photography
Miedos y misterios
Biblioteca Pública Rubén Martínez Villena,
Throughout May
Miedos y misterios by Spanish photographer Pilar
Sampedro Aparicio whose work is a testimony to
her commitment with society, depicting sensitive
topics, suc as cancer, anorexia or gender-based
violence.
De la Lleca al Cohue:
photography in penitentiaries
Fototeca de Cuba, Through May 14
De la Lleca al Cohue: photography in penitentiaries,
a project by Violet Bulé who considers photography
as an instrument for social action. The results
of workshops organized in penitentiary centers
with inmates show the inner world of the persons
behind the camera and their associations with
concepts like brotherhood, the constitution of a
group as family, and social dynamics beyond those
related to violence and survival.
In Compulsión, Irolan Maroselli and Yoannys Aldaya
use their bodies as models and play different roles
to criticize certain social contexts.
Casa Simón Bolívar
Opens May 5
XI Encuentro Internacional de
Fotografía Caleidoscopio. This
new edition of the Kaleidoscope
Photography
Meeting
will
place special emphasis on the
representations of the body,
which occupies a prominent place
in visual arts, seeking to make it
a base for many manifestations,
from body art, extreme bodyd
art, and radical surgery to techno
art, tattooing, body building and
piercing.
Centro Hispano Americano de Cultura
Opens May 20
Itinerrances, by the renowned
French photographer and architect
Ferrante Ferranti, is made up of 35
color and black & white shots in
which Ferranti combines images
from architectural works, Baroque
details and panoramas, the poetics
of travel and the traveler, and the
mysticism of religious faith.
Sala de la Diversidad
Throughout Salvaje by María Cano is a tour of
May
her ten-year work carried out as
a photographer and her internist,
artistic approach to the animal life
of different geographical regions.
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cinema
VI Muestra Itinerante de Cine del Caribe
May 2-June 22
Initiated with great success in February 2007 in
Havana with the aim of preserving and acquainting
audiences with the film production of the region,
as well as break away from prejudices around
regional production, this 6th Traveling Caribbean
Cinema Festival will present 27 documentaries
and three animated films from 13 countries of the
Wider Caribbean Region. A sample of the works
are Making History by Caecilia Tripp and Karen
McKimon from Jamaica; Rumbos de la rumba:
Parada Central Park by Berta Jottar from Mexico;
Calypso Rose: The Lioness of de Jungle by Pascale
Obolo from Trinidad and Tobago; and Recordando
el mamoncillo y Raíces cubanas. Historias del Bronx
by Pamela Sporn from the US.
The festival will travel to every province in Cuba:
May 2-8
Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba,
Holguín
May 8-15
Granma, Las Tunas, Camagüey
May 15-22
Ciego de Ávila, Cienfuegos, Villa
Clara, Sancti Spíritus
May 22-29
Artemisa, Matanzas, Mayabeque
May 29June 5
Isla de la Juventud, Pinar del Río
June 13-22
Havana (Chaplin and 23 y 12
theaters)
The international tour will begin by St Kitts and Nevis, Bahamas, and Trinidad and Tobago.
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dance
Coppelia
Ballet Nacional de Cuba
Teatro Nacional de Cuba. Sala Avellaneda
May 9-11 & 16-18, Fri & Sat, 6:30pm; Sun, 5 pm.
Photo by Alex Mene
The National Ballet of Cuba will perform a version
of Coppelia by Alicia Alonso based on the original
choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon and Marius
Petipa’s version, with music by Léo Delibes.
Solamente Solos
Comandante
May, 2014, Eddy Suñol Theater, city of
Holguín
After several years without a permanent home,
this national competition for choreographers
and artists dedicated to work performed by one
single artist has finally returned to its original
headquarters.
A broad array of trends and
esthetic sensibilities in contemporary dance may
be experienced in this event.
Compañía Irene Rodríguez
Centro Hispano Americano de Cultura,
May 10, 5pm
Born in Havana, she began studying Spanish Dance
in the Spanish Cultural Society “Centro Andaluz”
(Andalusian Centre) of Havana. Within months, she
began of the record, and as “an exceptional case”
to take classes with the professional company
Ballet Español de Cuba, since her talent was
remarkable in spite of being a young girl. In 1993,
she is admitted at the National Academy of Spanish
Dances sponsored by this company. She graduated
in 1999, after 5 years of study.
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page 19
MUSIC
Contemporary
Fusion
X Alfonso, 2014
The contemporary fusion and electronic music
scene has expanded recently as new bars
and clubs have opened party promoters have
organized events in parks and public spaces.
Good live music venues include Bertolt Brecht
(Wed: Interactivo, Sunday: Déjá-vu) and El Sauce
(check out the Sunday afternoon Máquina de la
Melancolía) as well as the newly opened Fábrica
de Arte Cubano which has concerts most nights
Thursday through Sunday as well as impromptu
smaller performances inside.
In Havana’s burgeoning entertainment district
along First Avenue from the Karl Marx theatre to
the aquarium you are spoilt for choice with the
always popular Don Cangreco featuring good live
music (Kelvis Ochoas and David Torrens alternate
Fridays), Las Piedras (insanely busy from 3am) and
El Palio and Melem bar—both featuring different
singers and acts in smaller more intimate venues.
Café Cantante, Teatro Nacional
Dos Gardenias
Wednesdays Performances by Qva Libre
Mondays
5 pm
10 pm
Café Concert El Sauce
Sundays
5 pm
Hotel Capri. Salón Rojo
La Máquina de la Melancolía, with
Frank Delgado and Luis Alberto
García
Casa de la Música de Miramar
Tuesdays,
5 pm
Alexander
d’Primera
Mayco D’Alma
Thursdays
Mayco D’Alma
11pm
Jardines del 1830
Abreu
Diablo Tun Tun
Wednesdays Gerardo Alfonso
5 pm
y
Havana
Sundays
Grupo Moncada
10 pm
Tercera y 8
Mondays
Baby Lores
11 pm
Fábrica de Arte
May 3
Telmary in concert.
11 pm
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page 20
Juan Formell
(1942 - 2014)
Cuba has lost a true legend in Juan Formell. May he Rest in Peace. Thank you for the music, thank for
Los Van Van, thank you for the joy, thank you for everything.
Salsa / Timba
Casa de la Música de Galiano
Wednesdays
11 pm
José Luis Cortés y NG La
Banda
Thursday
11 pm
Charanga Latina.
Photo by Ivan Soca
Casa de la Música de Miramar
Monday
5 pm
Sur Caribe
Tuesdays
11 pm
Pedrito Calvo y La Justicia
Wednesdays
5 pm
11 pm
Juan Guillermo
Thursdays
5 pm
Manolito Simonet y su
Trabuco
Fridays
5 pm
11 pm
El Niño y La Verdad
Saturdays
5 pm
Tumbao Habana
Sundays
5 pm
Lázaro Valdés y Bamboleo
Diablo Tun Tun
Tuesdays
El Noro y Primera Clase
11 pm
Wednesdays To Mezclao
11 pm
Thursdays
José Luis Cortés y NG La Banda
11 pm
Saturdays
5 pm
Manana Club
11 pm
Tania Pantoja
Café Concert El Sauce
May 3
8 pm
Los Van Van * unclear whether
this will go ahead as a tribute to
Juan Formell.
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Adalberto Álvarez y su
Son
José Luis Cortés y NG La
Banda
Jardines del 1830
Fridays
Paulo FG y su Élite
8 pm
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MUSIC jazz
Café Jazz Miramar
Shows: 10:30pm - 2am
This new jazz club has quickly established itself as
one of the very best places to hear some of Cuba’s
best musicians jamming. Forget about smoke filled
lounges, this is clean, bright--take the fags outside.
While it is difficult to get the exact schedule and
in any case expect a high level of improvisation
when it is good it is very good. A full house is
something of a mixed house since on occasion you
will feel like holding up your own silence please
sign! Nonetheless it gets the thumbs up from us.
Calle 5ta esquina a 94, Mirama,r Playa
Jazz Café
Shows: 10:30pm - 2am
Mellow, sophisticated and freezing due to extreme
air conditioning, the Jazz Café is not only an
excellent place to hear some of Cuba’s top jazz
musicians, but the open-plan design also provides
for a good bar atmosphere if you want to chat.
Less intimate than La Zorra y el Cuervo – located
opposite Melia Cohiba Hotel.
La Zorra y el Cuervo
Shows: 10:30pm - 2am
The ‘Fox & Crow’ offers an intimate environment
in this basement venue notably marked by a red
English telephone box at its entrance. Top jazz
players perform here on a nightly basis. Dark,
cramped, low ceilings and an absolute firetrap this
has much more atmosphere of the gritty kind than
the Jazz Café, which seems too pretty and sterile
by comparison.
Asociación Cubana de Derechos de Autor Musical
may 15
6 pm
Proyecto de Jazz Cubano with
Alexis Bosch (piano).
Somavilla
Saturdays
8:30 pm
Zule Guerra (sinfer and composer)
and Blues d’Havana. (admission
free)
UNEAC
may 8
2 pm
visitcuba.com
Peña La Esquina del Jazz hosted by
showman Bobby Carcassés.
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MUSIC Bolero, folklore, son & trova
Asociación Cubana de Derechos de Autor Musical
May 31
Manuel Argudín
6 pm
Obiní Batá (Folkloric group)
Los Ibellis (Folkloric group)
4 pm
Cabaret Las Vegas
Saturdays
Yoruba Andabo (Folkloric group)
4 pm
Café cantante, Teatro Nacional
Thursdays
Elaín Morales.
5 pm
Saturdays
Waldo Mendoza
4 pm
5 pm
A bolero puro, show with Rafael
Espín and guests.
may 7
may 25
5 pm
Thursdays
Síntesis (Folk/rock band)
Obiní Batá (Folkloric group)
3 pm
El Jelengue de Areíto
Wednesdays Trovando, a meeting with good
5 pm
Hurón Azul, UNEAC
6 pm
Peña El Canto de Todos, with
singer-songwriter Vicente Feliú
Get-together with trovador Ireno
García.
Fridays
5 pm
5 pm
Peña Tres Tazas with trovador
Silvio Alejandro
Peña with trovador Juan Carlos
Pérez
Piano Bar Tun Tun (Casa de la Música de Miramar)
Thursdays
Casa de la Cultura de Plaza
April 12
Peña La Pupila Asombrada
presents the performances by
singer-songwriters along with
music videos and shorts made
by students from the Audiovisual
Media faculty of the University of
the Arts.
Pabellón Cuba
Casa de la Cultura Comunitaria Mirta Aguirre
5 pm
Mundito González.
Instituto Internacional de Periodismo José Martí
Saturdays
may 25
Ivette Cepeda.
9:30 pm
Eduardo Sosa and guests
7 pm
7 pm
trova.
Hotel Telégrafo
Casa del Alba
may 29
Osdalgia.
11 pm
may 30
may 2
El Jardín de la Gorda with trovadors
from every generation.
10 pm
3 pm
may 10
Ad Libitum
El Gato Tuerto
may 10
Casa de África
may 3
Centro Iberoamericano de la Décima
Fridays
Café Teatro Bertolt Brecht
may 31
Peña La Juntamenta, with trovador
Ángel Quintero.
3 pm
8 pm
Saturdays
may 30
5 pm
Asociación Yoruba de Cuba
Fridays
Casa Memorial Salvador Allende
Peña with trovador Ray Fernández
5 pm
PPeña with Marta Campos.
7 pm
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may
17-25, 2014
Cubadisco:
The Cuban Grammys
(Feria Internacional Cubadisco)
‘There are 100,000 registered musicians in Cuba and everyone else plays the guitar.’
Toby Brocklehurst
Cuba draws from an incredibly rich musical
heritage. As anyone who has spent any time on the
island knows, you are never far from the sound of
live music. Toby Brocklehurst is only half joking
when he explains that ‘There are 100,000 registered
musicians in Cuba and everyone else plays the
guitar.’ Cubadisco is not so much Cuba’s version
of the Garmmy’s as its own musical celebration
and appreciation of the strides, which Cuban
musicians and the Cuban recoding industry have
made over the years. There are 25 prize categories
with the main awards being keenly sought. The
festival includes concerts, recitals, symposia and
exhibits, and undoubtedly represents Cuba’s most
important musical awards lasting for a week in
May each year.
About Cubadisco
Created in 1997 to provide a meeting place for
the Cuban recording industry, it has grown to
become a reference point for anyone interested
in knowing about everything that is happening on
the burgeoning and varied Cuban music scene and
for going to the concerts, recitals, colloquiums
and exhibitions that have sprung up as a result of
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the event. Today the Festival is considered to be
the most important forum for Cuban music and its
prizes are greatly coveted by record companies,
performers and composers.
Every year Cubadisco is dedicated to a country
and a musical genre and also pays tribute to
artists and personalities with a distinguished
creative work within Cuban music. Specialized
lectures, expositions, colloquiums, concerts and
CD launchings take place during the Fair, as well
as a wide musical program at different theaters in
Havana, with the participation of many Cuban and
foreign groups and singers.
Around 1964, the existing record labels in
Cuba were merged together under the name
of Recordings and Musical Editions Enterprise
(EGREM), which maintained a monopoly for almost
25 years in Cuban music. At the end of the 1980s,
other recording labels were formed, including
ARTEX S.A, RTV Comercial and the PM Records
recording studio of Pablo Milanés and Ojalá of
Silvio Rodríguez. A further three Cuban record
labels were also established: Art Color, Caribe
Productions and Magic Music.
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2014 Cubadisco Program
KARL MARX THEATER
MAY 14
9 pm
MAY 18
Presentation of the Chambao
flamenco group (Spain), with
Cuban singer-songwriter Carlos
Varela as guest.
MAY 24
Children’s Gala
5 pm
Me dicen Cuba Gala
8:30 pm
MAY 25
Children’s Activity
5 pm
TEATRO NACIONAL DE CUBA, SALA COVARRUBIAS
MAY 17
8:30 pm
MAY 18
Gala Tambor a la brasa, with
percussionists and other artists,
tribute to percussion in Cuban
popular music. Announcement
of the major awards and awarding
Gran Premio Cubadisco 2014
and Honorable, Special and
international Awards.
Inaugural Gala with a performance
by the National Sumphonc
Orchestra in the first part, in a
piece dedicated to symphonic
percussion; and in the second
part, Formell Sinfónico, with the
National Symphonic Orchestra
and musicians from Los Van Van
band. Awarding Honorable and
Special awards to outstanding
music personalities.
11 am
PABELLÓN CUBA
MAY 16-18,
23-25
10 am 8 pm
8:30 pm
Gala
dedicated
to
Cultural
Diversity Day and in tribute to
the Guest Country Trinidad and
Tobago
MAY 23
Gonzalo Rubalcaba and his Group
MAY 21
8:30 pm
MAY 25
11 am
Closing
Gala
with
symphonic and choir
dedicated to percussion
Cuban
pieces
SALÓN BENNY MORÉ DE LA TROPICAL
Trade Fair with a large artistic
program, especially for children
and young people; presentation
of records, books and audiovisuals; talks and jam sessions with
popular artists. (10 am to 8 pm).
MAY 16-18,
23-25
8 pm
Dances with the participation
of the principal Cuban groups,
award-winners at the different
editions of Cubadisco.
Other Activities: Dance and percussion workshops, master classes, exhibitions and jam
sessions at the Palacio de la Rumba; performances by Cuban artists and guests at the Delirio
Habanero at the Teatro Nacional, peñas at the Avenida Theater, la Peña de la Gorda, La
Utopía, the CFN home base, Callejón de Hamel y and the Mella Theater garden, encounters
in arts schools, visits to community projects, tours dealing with la rumba cubana.
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classical MUSIC
La Fiesta de los Clarinetes
Oratorio San Felipe Neri, May 24, 4pm
Sala Ignacio Cervantes, May 25, 6pm
Twenty-four clarinetists from different countries
will play works from the repertoire of clarinet and
piano duos. Other works include pieces for trios,
quartets, quintets, sextets and a septet created
especially for this occasion.
Mayo Renacentista
Iglesia de Paula
May 16, 7pm
Lutist Aland López will offer a panorama of music
for lute in the Renaissance.
May 23, 7pm:
The Ars Long Early Music Ensemble, Orquesta
Barroca of the National School of Music and the
sociocultural project Cantus Firmus will play
Renaissance-style music from the archives of New
Spain from the late 16th-early 17th centuries.
May 30, 7pm:
The chamber choir Exaudi will sing works from the
16th century, when polyphony reached its greatest
splendor.
Verdehr Trio in Concert
Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís,
May 24, 6pm
Concert by the Verdehr Trio featuring Walter
Verdehr (violín), Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr (clarinet)
and Silvia Roederer (piano), with works by
Sebastian Currier, William Bolcom, Bright Sheng,
Guido López-Gavilán, Phillipe Manoury and
George Gershwin. This chamber trio was founded
in 1972 at Michigan State University where it has
remained in residence
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page 26
classical MUSIC
Photo by Ivan Soca
Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís
may 6
6 pm
may 10
6 pm
may 15
Works by Schubert, Donizetti, Rachmaninoff, Michel Legrand, Debussy, Poulenc and Strauss
will be interpreted by soprano Bárbara Llanes, who will be accompanied by Karla Martínez
on piano, Arístides Porto on clarinet, el Alejandro Calzadilla on clarinet and soprano sax,
Camila Martell on violin and Susana Venereo on horn.
The Coro Nacional de Cuba, conducted by Digna Guerra, will sing works from the Latin
American and Cuban repertoires, and will sing pieces by Ko Matsushita and Herbert Howell
for the first time.
6 pm
Pianist Huberal Herrrera has announced an all-Cuban program with works by Hubert de
Blanck and Juan Piñera.
may 17
Concert by Camerata Romeu, conducted by Zenaida Romeu.
6 pm
Casa del ALBA Cultural
may 4
5 pm
may 11
5 pm
En Confluencia, conducted by
guitarists Eduardo and Galy
Martín.
may 18
5 pm
De Nuestra América, conducted
by pianist Alicia Perea.
Tarde de Concierto, conducted by
the soprano Lucy Provedo.
may 25
Concert by guitarist Rosa Matos.
5 pm
Centro Hispano Americano de Cultura
may 19
6 pm
may 24
Graduation recital by double-bass player Beatriz Ojito Boza, along with Orquesta Solistas de
La Habana, with works by Georg Monn, Giovanni Bottesini and Campos Solórzano.
Concert by Vocal Elé
6 pm
may 31
6 pm
Gala performance of the Teatro Lírico Nacional with a program made up of Spanish-American
works.
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page 27
Biblioteca Nacional José Martí
Saturdays
Performances by soloists and chamber ensembles.
5 pm
Oratorio San Felipe Neri
may 3
4 pm
may 8
7 pm
may 10
Concert Memory and Celebration: Hermanas del amor de Dios en Cuba (Sisters of Love of God
Congregation).
The Symphony Orchestra of the University of the Arts, conducted by Igor Corchera, has
announced a program dedicated to lovers of the classics in the world.
4 pm
Guitarrista Rosa Matos and guests Ivette Betancourt (vocal) and Floraimed Fernández (flute),
will offer a program of works by Agustín Barrios (aka Mangoré), Heitor Villa-Lobos, Astor
Piazzolla, Manuel de Falla and Gabriel Fourê, among others.
may 17
Recital by pianist Liana Fernández, cellist Maylín Sevila and violist Lisbeth Sevila.
4 pm
may 31
Performance by soprano María Eugenia Barrios and young singers of bel canto in Cuba.
4 pm
Sala Covarrubias, Teatro Nacional
Sundays
Concerts by the National Symphony Orchestra.
11 pm
Sala Gonzalo Roig. Palacio del Teatro Lírico Nacional
may 25
Cuerda Dominical with guitarist Luis Manuel Molina.
5 pm
Sala Ignacio Cervantes
may 2
6 pm
may 4
6 pm
may 16
6 pm
The Mexican-Lebanese pianist,
who now lives in France, Simón
Ghraichy,
has
announce
a
program made up of classical and
contemporary works..
may 18
A clarinet quintet made up of
students from the Amadeo Roldán
Conservatory will play works
by Béla Kovács, Mendelssohn,
Poulenc and Paquito D’ Rivera.
may 23
Cuentos con piano (Stories
with piano), show organized by
the NarrArte Project and the
Oral Narration Forum of the
Gran Teatro de La Habana, with
the participation of narrators
accompanied by Pura Ortiz on
piano.
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6 pm
6 pm
may 30
6 pm
The Amadeo Roldán String
Quartet will play works by Mozart,
Beethoven and Cuban composers
José White, Leo Brouwer and
Guido López-Gavilán.
Symphonic jazz concert with the
Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil José
Martí, playing works by George
Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein,
and Cuban composers José Víctor
Gavilondo and Jorge López Marín.
The Lecuona trio with Alberto
Rosas (flute), Alejandro Martínez
(cello) and Yanner Rascón (piano),
along with guest harpist Mayte
Rodríguez, will play worls by
Claude Debussy.
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Theatre
Nuestra señora de las nubes
Compañía teatral Hubert de Blanck
Fri & Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 5pm
Sala Hubert de Blanck
A beautiful and moving metaphor written by
Argentinian Arístides Vargas, who now lives in
Ecuador, about the meaning of exile at the personal
and collective level.
Las lamentaciones de
Obba Yurú
Teatro Caribeño de Cuba / Directed by
Nelson González, May 5-7, 8:30 pm
Teatro Guiñol Nacional
This play by Eugenio Hernández Espinosa
immerses itself in the world of yoruba religion.
The story of Obba is one of sacrifice for the
loved one, yet transcends the individual reality
and becomes a hymn and acknowledgement of
universal connotation.
Antigonón, un
contingente épico
Teatro El Público / by Carlos Díaz, Teatro
Trianón, Fri & Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 5pm
Antigonón, un contingente épico, Carlos Diaz
and his troupe, Teatro el Publico’s most recent
performance involves a trip back to the classics,
guided and partnered by Rogelio Orizondo who
wrote Antigonón, un contingente épico especially
for them. Carlos is the most well-known and
brilliant Cuban theatre director with a reputation
for directing plays with abundant nudity,
transvestites and subtle winks at the Cuban
national reality. Antigonón does not disappoint–go
see it for yourself!
Rascacielos
Teatro El Público / by Jazz Vilá, Fri & Sat,
8pm; Sun, 5pm, Sala Adolfo Llauradó
Rascacielos (Skyscraper), aimed at young
audiences, has been playing to packed houses.
According to Vilá, coauthor of the play along with
Marcos Díaz, “each of the characters is a skyscraper
because a person’s limit is their thoughts. There are
11 million skyscrapers in Cuba who grow infinitely.”
Under this premise, “four couples linked by the fate
of an artist reveal the essence of their emotions,”
hidden or explicit violence, the complexities of
relationships between people of different ages or
sexual preferences, of living together, the lack of
communication and intimacy.
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page 29
16-25, 2014
Casa de las Américas
and Havana theaters;
extensions in other
provinces
may
Mayo Teatral
Teatro de los Andes
The forerunner was the Festival of Latin American
Theater sponsored by Casa de las Américas in the
early 1960s and by 1964 attaining international
characteristics. By the end of the 60s, it had
stopped but in 1998 the Theater Department of the
Casa de las Americas organized the Mayo Teatral
event, intending to hold it annually until 2000 after
which date it was scheduled to take place every
two years. Some of the most important theater
companies of Latin America have participated,
such as La Candelaria (Colombia), Grupo Denise
Stoklos (Brazil) and Sportivo Teatral (Argentina),
just to name a few.
Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes
Mayo Teatral dedicates this year’s edition to
theatrical crossroads: cultural, geographic and
language, and synthesizing various art forms.
Groups from Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico,
the Dominican Republic and Cuba are expected
to be taking part at several Havana theaters and
venues in Santa Clara, Cienfuegos, Camagüey and
Santiago de Cuba.
The Temporada de Teatro Latinoamericano
y Caribeño (Latin American and Caribbean
Theater Season) has also organized two creative
workshops: El silencio de la actriz-actor (led by
Charo Francés, founder of the Teatro Malayerba)
aimed at professional actors and higher level acting
students; and La Dramaturgia contra el Teatro y
viceversa (conducted by Uruguayan playwright,
director and actor Gabriel Calderón, director of
the Complot Company) aimed at playwrights,
directors, professional actors and higher level
acting students. There will also be lectures and
encounters with critics and reviewers.
visitcuba.com
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page 30
Mayo Teatral
Recommended highlights 2014
Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes theater company from Mexico, in El automóvil gris, a well-crafted
combination of silent film and theater using Eastern theatrical techniques.
Brazilian actor Narciso Telles is bringing two one-man shows: Potestad, by Eduardo Pavlovsky (Argentina),
and Memorial de silencios y margaritas, based on texts written by Eduardo Galeano (Uruguay) and
testimonials by victims of the Brazilian military dictatorship; and the Associação Cultural Boa Companhia
anunounces Primus which is based on “Report to an Academy,” a story by Franz Kafka, as well as “Letters
from Paradise” that delves into man’s eternal utopias.
Ecuador’s Teatro Malayerba will heat things up with Instrucciones para abrazar el aire, written by
Arístides Vargas, an Argentine exiled in Ecuador, on a recurring theme in Latin American theatre and
cinema: the agony created when the military dictatorship “disappears” a grandchild.
Teatro de los Andes (Bolivia) brings Hamlet de los Andes, a free adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy that
seems to mark a new phase for this group; Diego Aramburo who directs Hamlet… doubles as actor in
Romeo y Julieta de Aramburu with his group Kikinteatro.
Cuba will be represented by the Estudio Teatral de Santa Clara, Teatro El Público, Teatro de la Luna and
Teatro de las Estaciones, with Hojas de papel volando, Antigonón, Matrimonio blanco and Alicia en busca
del conejo blanco, respectively.
There is much anticipation to see what Marianela Boan, iconic figure in Cuban dance, will be doing
when she leads the National Contemporary Dance Company of the Dominican Republic, with Sed surely
playing to a full house.
Compañia Malayerba, Instrucciones
para abrazar el aire.
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other
Encuentro sobre Manejo
y Gestión de Centros
Históricos
May 20 to 23, 2014, Habana Vieja
Under the motto of “Creative cities, cities of
the twenty-first century”, specialists dedicating
themselves to the rehabilitation of historical
city centers and other heritage zones will be
participating at conferences, discussion panels
and workshops dealing with everything relating to
creative cities. Between May 26th and 30th, after
the end of the event, specialists who are involved
in the Master Plan of the Office of the Historian of
the City of Havana will deliver the post-graduate
course entitled “La Habana Vieja: a public model
of sustainable, overall rehabilitation” to talk about
the labors of restoration that the institution has
been carrying out over the last twenty years.
Festival Internacional de
Poesía de La Habana
May 25 to 31, 2014, Havana
A gathering of poets from all the continents on
the globe will be engaged in an intense program
including seminars, lectures taking place in all of
Cuba’s provincial capitals, writing laboratories and
visual arts exhibitions together with celebrations
for the World Assembly of Poets in the Defense
of Humanity. The event will be dedicated to
the bicentenaries of the Cuban poets Gertrudis
Gómez de Avellaneda and José Jacinto Milanés,
as well as to the centenary of Cubans Gastón
Baquero, Ángel Gaztelu and Samuel Feijoo.
Havana Venues: Sala Villena of UNEAC, Salón de Mayo of
the Pabellón Cuba, Salón Solidaridad in the Habana Libre
Hotel, theater of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes,
Basílica de San Francisco de Asís and Casa de la Poesía.
Feria Nacional de
Artesanía Arte para Mamá
April 24 to May 10, Pabexpo, Havana
On the occasion of Mothers’ Day on the second
Sunday of May, the Fondo Cubano de Bienes
Culturales organizes this popular fair; this year,
for the first time, artisans from most of Cuba’s
provinces are represented and institutions such
as Artex, Egrem, Génesis, Casa del Perfume,
Quitrín, Casa del Chocolate, Casa del Abanico,
Distribuidora Nacional del Libro and for the first
time, Flora y Fauna are going to be present.
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Around Cuba
ILGALAC
May 6-10, 2014, Havana & Varadero
Centro de Convenciones Plaza América, Calle 3ra.,
Varadero Matanzas
The Sixth Regional Conference of the International
Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Trans-and
Inter-sexuals for Latin America and the Caribbean
(ILGALAC) under the slogan of “Latin American
and Caribbean Unity for LGBTI Rights” will be
held in Varadero and Havana, bringing together
over 400 delegates striving to promote discussion
and exchange of experiences about the current
challenges for the LGBTI community and the best
strategies to eradicate any type of discrimination
and exclusion due to sexual orientation and gender
identity.
IV Jornada de la
Diversidad Cultural para
el Diálogo y el Desarrollo
May 21-25, Casa de la Diversidad Cultural
Camagüeyana, Camagüey
Established in 2011, the event is always held on
this date because May 21st has been designated
by UNESCO for diversity and May 25th for
African cultures. The aim is to show the many
different expressions that make up the cultures of
Camagüey and Cuba. This year’s edition deals with
the various cultural practices in Camagüey, the
Chinese presence in Cuban culture and popular
magical-religious beliefs. The 167th anniversary
of the Chinese presence in Cuba will also be
commemorated.
Fotosub 2014
May 14-18, Cayo Largo
International
underwater
photography
competition – an Open Show – held in one of
the regions of greatest biological diversity on the
Cuban insular platform. The basic premise is to
select and present photographs of underwater
flora and fauna taken during the days of the
competition. Certified photographers and models
are eligible to participate as long as they comply
with regulations for competition in the following
categories: Environment, Environment with
Model, Fish, Macro and Macro on a Theme. Three
awards are given in each category as well as prizes
for Best Model and the Overall Champion of the
event.
http://www.nauticamarlin.com
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may
2-8, 2014
Holguín
Festival Romerías de Mayo:
Memoria Nuestra (Our Memories)
by Victoria Alcalá
On May 3, 1790, the Franciscan friar Antonio de
Alegría placed a cross on the hill that marks the
geographic north of the city of Holguín. The people
of Holguín would make pilgrimages each year to
the Wooden Cross and this led to May 3 being
declared a holiday for the city since 1945. It was
not until 1994, however, that through an initiative
of the Hermanos Saíz Association a group of young
Cuban artists decided to revive these “romerías”
(al fresco religious festivities) that announce the
arrival of springtime. These festivities are presided
over by the Taino Axe and the Wooden Cross,
symbols of the blending of elements (indigenous
and Catholic) that gave birth to Cuban culture. This
refers to the Spanish custom of placing a cross at
the highest point of a town or village in order to
prevent epidemics or natural disasters.
Originally, celebrations would take place at the
foot of the Cross although today the extensive and
eclectic program of activities featuring musicians,
actors, researchers, visual artists, writers and
dancers from all over Cuba (and internationally)
takes place in many locations throughout the city.
The festival usually devotes three days to tradition,
one to the transition period and one to the prese
nt day.
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Feijóo and Cuban arts education will present
a show related to visual artists from Holguín
who have been present at the event for the past
twenty years. Other important figures highlighted
during the Romerías de Mayo will be poet Gastón
Baquero and narrator Onelio Jorge Cardoso,
commemorating one hundred years since his
birth, and the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda on
the 110th anniversary of his birth.
(PREVIEW) May 2-8, 2014: Memoria Nuestra
This year, two of the events that are part of the
Romerías celebrate their twentieth anniversary:
Memoria Nuestra (Our Memories) calls together
researchers under the age of 35 to undertake
salvaging artistic customs, traditions and
manifestations and to present projects dealing
with socio-cultural community experiences; and
Babel dedicated to the visual arts which this year
along with paying tribute to the hundred years
of the poet, painter and anthropologist Samuel
visitcuba.com
Things to look out for include the Street Dance
and Theatre Meeting as well as the event Quiero
una Canción (I Want a Song) along with a concert
by the popular group Buena Fe and presentations
by Cuban and foreign guests. There will also be a
concert by local trovadors prior to the opening of
the event at midnight of May 2 in the Bosque de los
Héroes; on May 3, the traditional parade through
the city, climbing up to the Loma de la Cruz
carrying the Taíno Axe and a grand dance. For the
closing event on May 8, a walk from the historical
center of town to the modern part of the city to
plant the Tree of Friendship, the closing ceremony
and a concert by various groups to continue on
into the wee hours of the night.
http://www.romeriasdemayo.cult.cu/
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2014 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Championship
Cuba’s capital, Havana, hosts the first event in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2014 on May 9-10.
A 27-metre platform positioned on the historic Morro Castle will be the starting point for the world’s
best cliff divers to launch into a brand new season—and the sixth year of World Series competition!
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8: Training (4.30-6.30pm)
may 9: Classification (4.30-6.30pm)
may 10: Finals (4.30-7pm)
may
Photos by Humberto Mayol
This event is not ticketed and entry to the spectator areas is free of charge. We’d only advise that
you arrive early to bag the best spot to watch!
About the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Championship
In its sixth year, the World Series will bridge
natural venues and urban surroundings as much
as it will push boundaries. The season kicks
off with aesthetic leaps from the picturesque
Morro Castle Fortress at the entrance of Havana
Bay, on the Caribbean island of Cuba. From the
environment where modernity and colonial
constructions go hand-in-hand, this prestigious
series of competitions comes next to the USA’s
Lone Star State. At the Possum Kingdom Lake in
Texas, two towering cliffs mark the entrance to a
small cove and are surrounded by flat terrain. Back
in Europe, the cliff diving elite returns to Ireland’s
Aran Islands and the mysterious blowhole known
as the Serpent’s Lair.
to Brazil, where the coronation of the 2014 World
Series champions will be held in Niterói at the end
of October. While Christ the Redeemer watches
from above, off a unique 27-metre platform
structure, inspired by the architecture of Oscar
Niemeyer, the male and female champions will
dive to glory.
Mid-July, and the midway point of the 2014 World
Series takes the divers back to Norway’s Kragerø,
the site of 495 islands and—recalling 2010—many
more boats before the divers will touch Portuguese
soil once again after previous competitions in
the Azores in 2012 and 2013. The second-to-last
stop is in Bilbao, Spain for the business end of the
World Series before the divers leap over the ocean
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