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Free - LaHabana.com
WHAT’S ON
HAVANA
!
Back to school?
Time for one
last party…
V Festival
Leo Brouwer
de Música de
Cámara
Sept 24-Oct 13
p 25
A sugar of a
journey
by Christopher
Baker
p3
PRODUCED BY
The ultimate
guide to
The Agro
by Conner
Gorry
p 33
.COM
SEPT
2013
.COM
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WHAT’
SO
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N
A
!
page 2 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
SEPTEMBER 2013
!
Cuba may not celebrate Labor Day to mark the end of summer but there is always time
for one last party before school starts. In fact this August has seen more concerts,
festivals and other events then I can remember. Event promoters, Saroa and Proyecto
Analógica have taken the electronic dance music scene to a whole new level. Viva la
Habana Fárandula.
While September may be a relatively quiet month in Cuba as Cubans get back to work,
tourists largely steer clear of the muggy hurricane season and there are few prestigious
cultural festivals, don’t make the mistake to assuming that there is nothing interesting
happening this month.
Cover photo by Ivan Soca
Lovers of classical music shouldn’t miss the prestigious V Leo Brouwer classical music
festival, (Sep 24th to Oct 13th). Elsewhere look out for the always-innovative modern
dance Compañía Rosario Cárdenas performing Tributo a El Monte and the brilliant
Monse Duany in Las lágrimas no hacen ruido al caer. And, between you and me, I am
sure the texts announcing the next hip party will keep on coming!
We are delighted to welcome Christopher Baker onboard who takes us on a Sugar of a
Journey on the anachronistic Hershey electric train. Welcome back to Conner Gorry
with her authoriative Guide to the Havana Agro and a big thumbs up to Cuba Libro
(Havana’s 1st English-Language Bookstore & Café), which a month in, is going strong.
We hope you enjoy this review. Any feedback and/or notices about events are always
appreciated. You can contact us at [email protected]
PLASTIC
ARTS
PHOTOGRAPHY
Stainless
innovative art
group at Sierra
del Rosario art
gallery p 8
Exhibition by
Chilean Fernando
Morande
p9
MUSIC
PERFORMING
ARTS
The 5th
Leo Brouwer
Chamber Music
Festival
p 25
Las lagrimas no
hacen ruido al
caer, featuring
Monse Duany
p 26
HAVANA
GUIDE
DANCE
The Rosario
Cárdenas
Company
Tributo a
El Monte
p 12
OTHER
EVENTS IN
HAVANA p 28
OTHER
AROUND
CUBA p 30
FOR KIDS p 29
The best bars & clubs in Havana p 31
The best place to eat in Havana p 32
Conner Gorry’s Ultimate guide to The Agro p 33
Directory / Address book p 36
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
A sugar
of a journey
by Christopher P. Baker
You may never arrive. There will be delays. But a journey
on the anachronistic and creaky old Hershey electric train
is worth every centavo of the CUC2.80 that foreigners are
charged. Even if you don't make it all the way to Matanzas.
Rail journeys hold a particular magic, none more so in
Cuba than the “Hershey Train,” which runs lazily—too lazily
at times—between Casablanca and Matanzas year-round,
three times a day.
The train has its origins in a chocolate bar and was born
when Cuba was on a sugar high.
Before the Revolution, the Hershey estates belonging to
the Pennsylvania-based chocolate company occupied 69
square miles of lush cane-fields around a modern sugarfactory town, or batey, named Hershey, founded in 1918
with a sugar mill, baseball field, golf course, movie theater,
a hotel, and an orphanage—an expression of one of the
many good deeds of enlightened industrialist Milton
Hershey. The mill closed in 2002 after 86 years in
operation and Hershey is now a run-down shell, named
since the Revolution for comandante Camilo Cienfuegos.
At its peak, the estate near Santa Cruz del Norte had 140
kilometers of rail network. Operating on coal and oil, the
original steam locomotives were expensive and their
sparks constituted a serious fire hazard. In 1921 they were
replaced with seven 60-ton General Electric locomotives
built especially for the Hershey-Cuban Railroad, which
linked the estate to the port in Havana—the only
electrified system ever built in Cuba. Milton Hershey also
introduced a three-car Brill electric passenger train
service between Havana and Matanzas, operating every
hour, to serve his workers.
The vermilion Brill engine, which looked like it could have
fallen from the pages of a story about Thomas, the little
"live" engine, was retired in 1998 and replaced with eight
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Photos by Christopher P. Baker ©
antique two-tone-green Sarría electrified cars from 1944,
donated by the city of Barcelona.
I recall my first journey with fondness. It was a sugar of a
journey—a combination of the picturesque and the
prosaic—despite the lack of steam rising sibilantly
between giant piston rods. I began, as passengers still do,
by hopping onto the funky ferry that chugs across Havana
harbor to Casablanca from the Muelle de Luz wharf,
opposite the Russian Orthodox church, on Avenida del
Puerto.
“What time do we arrive Matanzas?” I asked, naively. The
woman at the ticket counter merely shrugged her
shoulders, then closed her eyes and gave me a sideways
sour lemon look.
Arrival is never guaranteed. Nor is departure! Mechanical
failure is common. Loose tracks. Pantographs that come
unloose. Substation shorts. The mainline train is
sometimes even rerouted to complete trips via branch
lines that connect to Guanabo, Canasi, and Santa Cruz del
Norte. Sometimes the breakdowns can last days or weeks,
when “No train service until further notice” is scrawled
onto ticket office chalk-boards.
The gold-leaf lettering on the two rusted carriages had
long since faded, as had the exterior green-and-beige
itself, and the hard wooden seats, many broken, were
guaranteed to turn the most inured ass to stone.
The conductor tooted the horn two minutes before
departure and a mad rush to board ensued. The train
jolted to life. As we gathered speed slowly, stragglers
jumped aboard, like hobos hopping freight. Some even
jumped up into the operator's cab.
Soon we were creaking along the harborfront with the
pantographs singing merrily overhead and the rhythmic
rattling of the rails beneath, interspersed with a frequent
page 3 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
!
Stopping at places whose names themselves appeared
from a dream: Concuní, Corral Nuevo, Dos Mangos.
The conductor displayed a laid back approach to protocol
or schedule. He stopped wherever and whenever
passengers requested, just like an almendrón—the beatup old classic taxis that jug along Havana's streets.
Passengers alight via a thin metal staircase directly onto
the track. No need to mind the gap with a platform.
jolt that made the train shudder. Clickety clack, clickety
clack, clickety clack… KLUNK!
We juddered to a halt in the middle of nowhere in front of a
simple thatch-and-adobe bohío framed by flame-red
bougainvillea beneath a tousled Royal palm. I thought the
train had broken down. Then a young woman stepped
down from the train clutching a newborn child swaddled
in blankets. A sun-baked guajiro in tattered straw hat and
faded army fatigues pulled himself up from an Adirondack
chair beneath the shady eave and emerged into the harsh
Cuban sunlight. He strode forward unsteadily, beaming,
his arms outspread as if to embrace all the world.
The door remained open, providing plenty of breeze, as
the locomotive wobbled drunkenly down the track past
rusting refineries and factories and finally into the open
countryside. Juan, the engineer, liked to let loose on the
horn as we approached countless crossings where horsedrawn buggies, cowboys, and old Chevys idled. Always the
Chevys! Guajiros—country folk—stopped their farm toil to
watch us pass.
The whole train looked on as he leaned forward to kiss his
granddaughter. She in turn reached down to kiss her
young brother, who came hauling up the dusty lane as fast
as his long flying legs could carry him. Then the old man
reached out and tenderly took the cocooned baby in his
rough laborer's hands. Tears fell as he took his first look at
his grandchild.
A young man, José, strummed guitar while his partner, a
lovely 17-year-old girl named Annie, hummed honeysweet melodies, sotto voce.
After a mesmerizing four-hour, 92-kilometer journey and
scores of stops, you finally arrive at the Versalles station in
Matanzas. If you're lucky.
“Sing it!” chimed an old lady sitting opposite.
The train departs the Estación de Casablanca (Carretera de los
Cocos, tel. 07/862-4888), on the north side of Havana harbor at
4:45 am, 12:21 pm, and 4:35 pm. Tickets (CUC1.40 to Hershey;
CUC2.80 to Matanzas) go on sale one hour before departure.
So she did. Belting out a love song—“De donde viene el
amor”—that silenced the entire carriage until it erupted
into applause.
A guajiro broke out a dirty bottle of aguardiente—cheap
sugarcane liquor—and passed it around. Even a
disconsolate looking policeman took a swig, while
schoolkids too young to be flirting flirted.
The original 1927 General Electric trolley-train still runs on
Sundays on half-day tourist excursions that include a rustic lunch
at Hershey, a farm stop, and a live salsa band to kick you into party
mode. Contact Cuba Real Tours, Edificio Bacardí #404,
Mo n s e r ra t e # 2 6 1 , Ha b a n a Vi e j a , t e l . 0 7/ 8 6 6 - 4 2 5 1 ,
www.transhershey.com.
Continue to read full article + slideshow
Two hours into the journey, we arrived at the eggshell blue
station still bearing the Hershey sign on the wall. We
stopped just long enough to hop down and snap a few
shots for posterity before the train groaned into action
again.
The train wound in and out among palm-studded hills,
sped along the coast within sight of the steel-blue
Atlantic, then slipped past swathes of sugarcane as the
magnif icent Yumurí Valley heaved into view.
We journeyed the quintessential Cuban way, in stop-andgo staccato fashion. Journeying back in time, as it were.
Pitching unnervingly at times, like a boat in a storm.
Christopher P. Baker
travel writer / photographer / moto-journalist / Cuba expert
tel 760-327-9879 | cel 760-285-9827 | [email protected] | www.christopherpbaker.com
Lowell Thomas Award 2008 Travel Journalist of the Year
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 4 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
!
Calle 24 @ Calle 19
El Vedado
830-5205
Cuba (Libro) Va!
By Conner Gorry
Just a month in and Cuba Libro – 'the islands first Englishlanguage bookstore – is proving a wild ride. Quite like
Cuba itself, it's chaotic and fun; full of daily randomness
like blackouts, fumigation, and marriage proposals;
receiving limitless solidarity from family, friends, and
strangers; and is a precipitous, perennial learning curve –
Cubans are crazy for cappuccino for instance and there's
huge demand for music magazines.
A day doesn't go by without interesting people dropping
in, from DJs and doctors to ambassadors and world
travelers, and novel experiences are always unfolding or
just about to. Already we've scheduled art shows through
January with magnificent exhibits by local artists of
drawings, graffiti, even puppets and tapestries, plus the
water bottle refill service is catching on.
effort and expense (sending this 1-pound book cost $16) to
support Cuba Libro. Next time you're in Havana, the coffee
is on us!
Yesterday, as we told some friends about all the exciting
things afoot, they said, 'Cuba Libro has some kind of angel
watching over it.' Actually, we have three and everyone
who has come in so far has felt them in one way or another.
Angels, magic, mana, aloha – whatever you call it, we've
got it, not unlike Cuba itself.
Follow Cuba Libro developments at our FaceBook page
(https://www.facebook.com/cubalibrohav) and on Twitter
@cubalibrohavana.
Continue to read full article + slideshow
Cuba Libro has also sparked a fury of donations from
people living here and others who wished they did; we're
happy to report that our public has very good taste. The
most recent acquisitions include George Eliot and James
Joyce, Steinbeck, Stendhal and yes, Our Man in Havana.
And just the other day, as we sipped our espressos in the
garden with a Cuban philosophy professor, something
extraordinary (and historic) happened: a gentleman rode
up to our door on a bicycle, extracted a padded manila
envelope from his satchel and delivered our first donation
sent through the US, and received by the Cuban postal
services. It was postmarked August 13, from Northfield,
Illinois, and was placed in our hands on August 27th. Big
ups to author Libby Fischer Hellmann for going to the
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 6 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
!
ART
Galería La Acacia
THROUGH NOVEMBER
Mariano en contemporáneo is an exhibition of 41 drawings by
the Cuban painter Mariano Rodríguez (1912-1990), one of the
most important artists of the so-called Havana School. art.
!
Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam
Through November
Memorias de la obsolescencia is a selection of videos from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection with
works by artists of different nationalities and styles dating from the beginnings of this manifestation to
the present day, including Mariana Abramovic, Francys Alÿs, Magdalena Fernández, Ana Mendieta,
Song Dong, Cao Fei, Jimmie Durham, Miguel Ángel Ríos and Francesca Woodman. Special emphasis is
made on Latin American contemporary art.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 7 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
!
ART
MUSEO NACIONAL DE BELLAS ARTES.
CENTRO HISPANO AMERICANO DE CULTURA
Sep 3, 3pm
Edificio de Arte
Cubano
Premiere of Mariano, film by
Tony Lechuga, with the
testimonies of experts involved
in the organization of the
exhibition Mariano Rodríguez:
vuelo y arraigo held this past
January at the Museum of Fine
Arts as a tribute on the
centenary of one of the most
significant Cuban artists of the
20th century.
Opens Sep 20
Through Sep 16
Edificio de Arte
Cubano
Almacenes Afuera allows
visitors to the museum to see
over 150 pieces from colonial
times to the present from the
museum's collections that have
never been out of the vaults
before.
GALERÍA SERVANDO
Opens Sep 6
Spin en Cuba-Appaloosa, show
by artist Glauber Ballestero.
VITRINA DE VALONIA
Opens Sep 18
Selección natural, by Ana Iris
Texidor, who based on the style
of Japanese manga, depicts
peculiarities of urban tribes
which may nullify
individualities.
The diversity of techniques,
themes and aesthetics has
characterized the Ceramics
Biennial and contributed to
revitalize the interest in this
art. This year's competition will
focus on vessels (sets and
installations), panels and tiles.
In addition to the competition,
an exhibition of the work of
ceramist Fernando Velázquez
Torres, prizewinner at previous
Ceramic Biennials, will be held.
FACTORÍA HABANA
Opens Sep 20
D'DISEGNO. Respuesta cubana!
is a collection of pieces by
artists involved in artistic
design: Adriana Arronte, Marlén
Castellanos, DeKuba, Daniel
DeMilán, Liliam Dooley, Mayelín
Guevara, Gabriel Lara (Gabo),
Celia Ledón, Octavio César
Marín, Gean Moreno, Fabián
Muñoz, Ernesto Oroza, Nelson
Ponce, Luis Ramírez, Yimit
Ramírez, Roberto Ramos, Idania
del Río, Edel Rodríguez (Mola),
Jorge Rodríguez (R10), Eduardo
Sarmiento, Eric Silva, José
Ángel Toirac, Raúl Valdés
(Raupa) and Arantza Vilas.
Stainless,
Sierra del Rosario art
gallery
This creative group made up of artists Alejandro Piñeiro
and Roberto Fabelo Hung, young graduates of the San
Alejandro Fine Arts Academy, who go by the name of
Stainless, exhibit a sample of their work at the brand new
Sierra del Rosario art gallery. For the critic Nelson
Herrera Ysla, "the results [of their work] are so attractive
that the viewer is often tempted to touch the pieces and
the materials used, and delight in them with both hands
and eyes...They are artists of the here and now, situated
amidst a changing Cuban reality, and who, free of
prejudices, assume new languages or traditional ones
from the extraordinary legacy of the 20th century.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 8 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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PHOTOGRAPHY
Al fin… el mar
SALA DE LA DIVERSIDAD
THROUGH SEPTEMBER 21
Al fin…el mar is an exhibition of submarine photographs, most of which have
never been shown before, taken from 1963 to 1976 by the mythical Cuban
photographer Alberto Korda whose photograph of Che Guevara is famous
worldwide.
MI CUBA 2008-2012
CASA OSWALDO GUAYASAMÍN
OPENS SEP 17
Exhibition by Chilean Fernando Morandé of 30 black and
white photographs that reflect a poetic view of different
cities of the eastern part of Cuba.
FOTOTECA DE CUBA
Through
September 21
PALACIO DE LOMBILLO
OBRAS CONTEMPORÁNEAS
An exhibition of some of the
most important photographs
from the Fototeca's collection
by contemporary artists.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Opens Sep 12
INVENTARIO ÍNTIMO
Architect and photographer
María Eugenia López Show
exhibits 18 small and mediumsized pictures created through
digital printing.
page 9 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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PHOTOGRAPHY
Eduardo
Hernández
Santos:
Poignant,
controversial,
brilliant
by Ricardo Alberto
Born in Havana in 1966, Eduardo Hernández Santos is one
of the most controversial Cuban photographers and
printmakers of the generation of the 1990s. A pioneer of the
gay theme in photography in Cuba, his work stands out for
the boldness with which he addresses some of the dilemmas
faced by this sector of society.
During the 1990s, a group of Cuban artists burst in and
expanded photography in Cuba away from solely
documentary value. Born in Havana in 1966, Eduardo
Hernández Santos is one of the most controversial
members of this generation who has provided a legitimate
voice with authenticity, devotion and pain that cannot be
feigned. In more than 20 years of photography and
printmaking, Eduardo Hernández Santos has challenged
Cuba's post-Revolution iconography. His work celebrates
male beauty and openly discusses homosexuality and
transgenderism.
For Hernández Santos (a graduate of the San Alejandro Art
Academy in 1985 and of the Higher Institute of Art in 1990),
the fact that he chose photography as the vehicle to
express his views does not respond to superficial matters,
but is rather the result of having grasped the potential of
photography, not only for its capacity to document reality,
but also for its immediacy, dealing an accurate blow and
creating a stronger and more direct impression, which
ultimately involves both the work and the viewer. Santos
Hernández is aware that photography, unlike other
artistic manifestations, leaves little room for ambiguity.
Rather, it is a direct and poignant form of expression,
appealing directly to individuals and their institutions.
With the exhibition Homo=Ludens (1993), Eduardo
Hernández Santos imposed upon himself an ambitious
goal, a thorny and difficult path, but which also heralded a
sincere and admirable way of advocating an aesthetic and
conceptual future under very difficult circumstances.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Thus, the bodies depicted in his photographs entered a
state of revelation, wholesome bodies, ready, cut like
fruits or vegetables in order to provocatively enhance the
most crucial aspects of their beauty.
Santos at times has resorted to photo-collage, a medium
which, according to Santos, gives him access to
simultaneity, juxtaposition, overlapping, and particularly
deconstruction, which has become a powerful weapon for
him. All this is triggered by the seduction of being able to
confer new meanings to things, to passionately take them
apart only to reconstruct them from an intelligent
perspective. Used responsibly by Eduardo during the last
decade, photo collage experienced a profound moment
for creative intervention in his Fragmentos clásicos
[Classic Fragments] (1998), in which the bodies of the
models are cut out from their original habitat and
relocated-clearly expressed in the title of the series-in
classical scenarios that never tire of evoking the splendor
of an increasingly distant antiquity.
The 21st century surprised the artist in the process of
creating a wonderful series: A propósito, las flores [By the
way, flowers] (2000). Each photographic composition
reminds me of a written text. Each area of the body and
each part of the flower question each other like voices
unheard before, now clashing with each other,
submerged. The dialogues are sheer friction, energy from
the scrapings, interpretations which lie below this
preconceptual crust that mutilates our freedom to
choose.
The year 2002 saw the series Corpus-frágile, in which the
body is no longer intact-how could it be when the range of
the artist is apparently connected to a society that often
breaks or cracks? They are telluric movements, at times
painful, which longingly recover in the space of their
representation. Consequently, we remain in the presence
of bodies which have been intervened, metaphorized, and
pursued by fragments of a different nature. At this point,
page 10 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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he is harassed, submitted to the pressure of a guilt which is
not his, but of his former tormentors who tried to make
him vulnerable, to traverse or stigmatize him seeking to
break his enormous spirit which he continues to exhibit
with pride. In 2004, he exhibited Strong at La Casona
gallery. In these photographs, the violence received by
these bodies and the violence with which they respond is
even greater. Here he exhibits a profound humanity, a tear,
an aggression which transcends the conflict of gender and
sexual orientation, and shows us a completely alienated
world that stalks us.
Turning back the clock a few years, I would also like to
highlight Espejismos [Mirages] (1999), an extremely
disturbing collection of great semantic wealth. Cohabited
by bitterness and humor in total estrangement, it depicts
an oneiric atmosphere of tasteful density, initially lavishing
silence and later, perhaps, a stream of echoes that were
once powerful sounds of languages lost in the environs of
dreams and wakefulness.
The project El muro [The Wall] (2005) can be construed as
a moment of true splendor in the work of Santos
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Hernández. Here, the protagonists are clothed,
representing characters typical of Havana's nightlife,
which has changed as much as the nation. El muro is a
chronicle that exposes this conquered territory from the
very entrails of the beings inscribed within it; a testimony
that adheres to a powerful textuality represented here by
relevant excerpts from Virgilio Piñera's poem La isla en
peso [The Entire Island].
The discomfort and frustrations that our insularity is
capable of generating and the role played by the famous
Malecón Wall in all this plot is highlighted in each of
Virgilio's verses, corrosive and agile, ready to make the
images even more unvarnished. It is said that the Malecón
can be used as a barometer to measure life in Cuba, of our
most direct contact with the horizon, the stretch in the
city where scandal occurs in the form of a simple
mutation. In these cubicles recreated from delirium, there
is no place for one or another decree, or for dubious
institutional tolerance. What persists behind every
picture is the “damned circumstance of being surrounded
by water.”
Continue to read full article + slideshow
page 11 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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DANCE
BALLET
BALLET NACIONAL DE
CUBA
SALA AVELLANEDA. TEATRO NACIONAL
SEP 14, 8PM; 15, 5PM
Concert program: En las sombras de un vals (choreography
by Alicia Alonso, music by Josef Strauss); Yo, Tú, Él, Ella
(choreography by Regina Hernández, music by Alexia
Moore); Me asfixia (choreography by Maysabel Pintado,
music by Denis Peralta); Contraconcerto (choreography by
Eduardo Blanco, music by Edvard Grieg); Diálogo a 4
(choreography by Alicia Alonso, music by Ignacio
Cervantes); Retrato (choreography by Lyvan Verdecia,
music by Yan Tiersen-Zoe Keanting) and Majísimo
(choreography by Jorge García, music by Jules Massenet).
DRACULA
SALA AVELLANEDA. TEATRO NACIONAL
SEPTEMBER 6-8, 8:30 PM
The Laura Alonso Ballet presents its well-liked version of
Dracula, a love story whose roots go back to the 15th
century yet still haunts us today.
TRIBUTO A EL
MONTE
TEATRO MELLA
SEP 6-7, 8:30PM; 8, 5PM
The Rosario Cárdenas Company premieres Tributo a El
Monte, a tribute to Cuban anthropologist Lydia Cabrera.
The one-hour show combines dance with film scenes and
the performances of the rap group Fuera de Norma and
DJ Iván Lejardi. Music by Juan Piñera.
EL BALLET ESPAÑOL
DE CUBA
SALA AVELLANEDA. TEATRO NACIONAL
20-22 DE SEPTIEMBRE, 8:30 P.M.; 23, 5:00 P.M.
El Ballet Español de Cuba presentará Iluminados por la
danza, con coreografías de bailarines españoles y de
Eduardo Veitía, director de la compañía. El programa
anuncia dos estrenos: Sonata, del joven bailarín español
Pablo Egea, del Ballet Nacional de España, en el que
debutarán como solistas las bailarinas Rachel Escalona y
María Batule, y Soleá por bulerías, del propio Egea,
interpretado por toda la compañía.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 12 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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DANCE
Photos by Alexander Mene ©
The longest
rumba in the
world at
Timbalaye 2013
by John Waterhouse
V ENCUENTRO RUMBA CUBANA
TIMBALAYE 2013
The International Cuban Rumba Festival took place at
various locations in Havana and Matanzas last month
(August 2013) and despite several soakings from the
inclement weather, it served as a great showcase for
rumba as popular culture and not just a historical
idiosyncrasy.
“At first, Cuban rumba smelled of solares, black people,
sugar-cane syrup, wooden boxes and drums. Today, the
aroma is different, but it maintains the mixed-race beat
that defines us, the Caribbean sensuality that sets us apart
and the irreverent party spirit that marked its birth over
200 years ago.”
Rumba is one of the most authentic manifestations in
Cuban culture. Widely popular and 100% Cuban, it was
born as a process of hybridization of elements of different
origins, in which the legacy of African cultures played a
predominant role while it exhibited significant Spanish
components. It emerged in Cuba in the late 19th century,
and developed after the abolition of slavery.
More than a music and dance representation, rumba is a
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
way of life, a philosophy that contains a mystique
connected to religions and affiliations. It does not need
specific instruments--the clapping of hands is enough to
get a rumba going. For the people in the neighborhoods
and in the streets, rumba is suited to their lives, to their
emotions.
And this is what Timbalaye, a yoruba word that refers to
feasible dreams and projects, is all about. Timbalaye 2013
included seminars on salsa, rumba and Afro-Cuban
dances; courses on singing and percussion; lectures on
music and anthropology; Cuban popular dance
competitions; theatre and dance performances; and the
presentation of the Fernando Ortiz-Timbalaye Prizes to
the best rumba group, singer, dancer and conga player of
the event as well as the best essay on Cuban rumba.
Sponsored by the AHS, the Union of Writers and Artists of
Cuba and the Fernando Ortiz Foundation, Timbalaye also
honored one of the great exponents of the rumba,
Gonzalo Ascencio, known as Uncle Tom.
Events took place in Casa de la Cultura Habana (see
pictures above), The America Theatre, the Cuba Pavilion,
the Salón Rosado (La Tropical) and the Rumba Palace.
Continue to read full article + slideshow
page 13 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSIC
CONTEMPORARY FUSION & ELECTRONIC
The contemporary fusion and electronic music scene has fragmented somewhat over recent months as new bars and
clubs have opened and a number of promoters of one off parties have established themselves. While we have made a few
suggestions and reviewed some of last month's best parties really you will simply have to keep your ear to the ground and
try and get and get on the text list. We will post on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/CubaAbsolutely/117958641550184 details when we have them.
CAFÉ CANTANTE MI HABANA. TEATRO NACIONAL
CENTRO CULTURAL FRESA Y CHOCOLATE
Tuesdays, 5pm
Golden performances by
Descemer Bueno, Kelvis Ochoa
and David Torrens
Mon, 10:30pm
Wednesdays,
5pm
Performances by the popular
band Qva Libre
Thursdays 10pm
PIANO BAR DELIRIO HABANERO
Thursdays, 4pm
CAFÉ LA RAMPA
Wichy D´Vedado, one of the
most famous DJs in Havana,
who plays the best of world
music.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Dj Wichy del Vedado, uno de
los más famosos Djs de La
Habana, con lo mejor de música
World.
Performances by Tammy and
Pura Cepa
CASA DE LA MÚSICA DE MIRAMAR
Fridays, 5pm
With Son as the foundation of
their music, the band Klimax,
directed by Giraldo Piloto,
incorporates elements from
jazz, pop, rap, punk, and
Caribbean rhythms.
page 14 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSIC
Dj Turcios is in the
house at Bar
Somavilla
by Eduard Marble
American Dj Derek Turcios, a young exponent of the “new
sound of New York,” visited Cuba for the first time this past
August, 2013. As part of his three-day tour of the city, he
played at the Somavilla, a new private restaurant-bar in a
Vedado penthouse, with Djoy de Cuba and Bjoyce under
the auspices of Analógica Project. The Cuban DJs opened
for Turcios, who kept the party going for an audience
“with a very genuine energy” from midnight to shortly
before 7:00 am. Although DJ Turcios had never played in
Cuba before, he said he felt at home and that it was “an
experience definitely worth repeating.”
DJ Turcios's work is considered eclectic and is acclaimed
both in clubs and at raves. He is one of those DJs that know
how to work the audience. He has participated in some of
the most important electronic music festivals worldwide
and has shared the stage with Max Graham, Satoshi
Tommie, Chus y Ceballos, The Low End Specialists and DJ
Icey, among others. Linked to the new wave of electronic
music in the US, he has been defined by critics as an
energetic musician who establishes an incredible
connection with his audiences.
DJ Turcios's open, heterodox and multiethnic philosophy
of electronic music is shown in the way he incorporates
different rhythms. An example of this is his piece Tambor
de Yemayá, which successfully mixes electronic music
with the legends of Afro-Cuban tradition.
Havana rocked to the beat of DJ Turcio's music for three
days, and it will surely happen again on his next visit to
Cuba. He is now friends with the Cuban people and that's a
bond that will only grow stronger.
Continue to read full article + slideshow
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 15 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSIC
Back to school party
at Jardines de la
Tropical with Sarao
by Sophia Beckman
If you want a high-octane party full of 'real' Cuban young
people, then try and find out when the next Sarao party is.
Sarao is the name for a Cuban party-promoting group
who are currently putting together some of the best
parties in Havana. My favorite during August was held at
the Jardines de la Tropical and featured an energy and life
hard to keep up with. Pulsating electronic dance music
until the early hours of the following morning.
A number of producers and techno artists are responsible
for the creation of Sarao. Dj Ra, originally a hip-hop artist
who successfully transitioned to electronic music, was the
mastermind behind the Sarao Project, which first saw the
light at the Jardines de la Tropical in 2009. Other techno
musicians involved in Sarao from its beginnings are Iván
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Lejardi, a self-taught techno artist and producer as well as
tireless promoter of electronic music through a
combination of audio and visual arts, graphic design and
diverse forms of Cuban contemporary art; and DJ Obi,
who prefers minimal techno and tech house.
Back to school, maybe-but don't expect the parties to
stop!
Opens: 8pm
Admission fee: 20.00 MN
Jardines de La Tropical
Calle Rizo y Final, Puentes Grandes. Marianao.
Continue to read full article + slideshow
page 16 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSIC
Café Jazz Miramar
(cine Miramar ), Calle 5ta Esquina A 94, Miramar Playa.
Opens 2pm - Shows: 10:30pm - 2 Am - Cover: 50.00 Mn Or Cuc 2.00
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 improvisiation 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.
Sept 15
Domingo Joven, con jóvenes
jazzistas
Sept 17
David Faya (contrabajista) y su
grupo Camino de Santiago
Sept 18
Sara Jazz
Sept 19
Jam Session con Carlos Miyares
(saxofonista) e invitados
Sept 20
Jam por Oshun, con Julito
Padrón (trompetista), Santa
Amalia Friend´s e invitados
Aldo López-Gavilán (pianista y
compositor) y su banda
Sept 21
Roberto Carcassés (pianista y
compositor), su trío e invitados
Sept 10
Yadasny Portillo (pianista y
compositor) y el grupo Cauce
Sept 22
Sept 11
Sarao Jazz
Voces del Jazz: Emir Santacruz
(clarinetista y saxofonista) con
su banda y cantantes invitadas
Sept 12
Pablo Menéndez (guitarrista y
compositor) y su grupo Mezcla
Sept 24
David Alfaro (pianista), su banda
e invitados
Sept 13
Sexto Sentido (cuarteto vocal
femenino)
Sept 25
Sarao Jazz
Sept 26
Sexto Sentido (cuarteto vocal
femenino)
Sept 27
Roberto Carcassés (pianista y
compositor), su trío e invitados
PROGRAM
Sept 4
Sarao Jazz
Sept 5
Héctor Quintana (guitarrista) y
su banda
Sept 6
Carlos Miyares (saxofonista) y
su grupo
Sept 7
Sept 8
Sept 14
Roberto Carcassés (pianista y
compositor), su trío e invitados
Roberto Carcassés (pianista y
compositor), su trío e invitados
HURÓN AZUL, UNEAC
Sep 12, 2pm
Peña La Esquina del Jazz,
hosted by showman Bobby
Carcassés.
CASA DEL ALBA
Sep 14, 8pm
CAFÉ JAZZ MIRAMAR
Ruy López-Nussa
(percussionist) and La
Academia.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Saturdays, 11pm
Regular shows with Roberto
Carcassés, pianist and composer
page 17 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSIC
JAZZ
Roberto Fonseca &
'Yo' at Teatro Mella
By Luica Lamadrid
Fonseca refuses his music to be pigeonholed as AfroCuban jazz or Latin jazz. “My music is open,” he explains,
pointing out influences of rock, soul, classical music (to
which he is devoted), pop, rap, traditional Cuban country
music, and Afro-Cuban music. “I do not think of myself as a
jazz player but rather a romantic musician, who expresses
what he feels through the piano,” he says. On stage,
dressed in exclusive wardrobes designed by French
designer Agnès B., he has played with famous musicians
such as Bebo and Chucho Valdés, Herbie Hancock,
Michael Brecker and Wayne Shorter.
Roberto Fonseca is one of most brilliant jazz musicians to
come out of Cuba. His talent runs through his blood: his
father, Roberto Fonseca Sr., was a drummer and his
mother, Mercedes Cortés Alfaro, is a singer. He has two
older half-brothers, drummer Emilio Valdés and the
pianist Jesús “Chuchito” Valdés Jr. from his mother's
previous marriage to none other than the legendary jazz
pianist Chucho Valdés. At age four, Fonseca started out
playing drums but eventually switched to piano and stuck
with it. He was only 15 years old when he astonished the
crowds at Havana's “Jazz Plaza” Festival in 1991. A really
bad student when he was younger, as Fonseca has
admittedly said, he now holds a master's degree in
composition from the prestigious University of Arts.
In his new CD, Yo, the influence of electronic music is
much more noticeable. He changed his usual jazz quintet
and experimented with electronic, analog and African
music. Hammond organs, congas, n'goni, kora and talking
drums are combined in a synthesis of Afro Cuban groove
and Griot tradition. A total of fifteen musician
participated in the production of the album Yo, including
musicians Baba Sissoko, Sekou Kouyate, Fatoumata
Diawara, Étienne M'Bappé and Munir Hossn, as well as
Ramsés Rodríguez and Joel Hierrezuelo, long-time
collaborators of Fonseca's. Additionally, singers Assane
Mboup from Senegal and Faudel from Algeria, and
renowned hip-hop artist Mike Ladd from Australia lent
their voices to Fonseca's latest project.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
After a successful tour around Europe to promote his
latest album, Yo, this past August, Roberto Fonseca and
the band Temperamento presented the album in Cuba
with a concert at the Mella Theater in Havana, where
people crowded to see Fonseca reunited with
Temperamento once again. The concert lived up to the
audience's expectations and drew standing ovations from
an audience that demanded nothing but the best from the
musicians-Fonseca's virtuosity and natural magnetism;
Javier Zalba's mastery of the sax, the clarinet and
whatever wind instrument you may think of; Chicoy's and
Ramsés 'Dinamita' Rodríguez's stunning performances at
the guitar and drums, respectively; and the talents of
guest singer Pedro 'El Nene' Lugo and trumpet player
Roberto García.
Additionally, this was the first concert in which Fonseca
included a dance act. With a superb choreography by
Eduardo Blanco, the piece chosen for the successful
experiment was “Danza del Espíritu” (Dance of the Spirit).
Also, a tribute was paid to the Cuban actress and singer
Rita Montaner on her 113 anniversary when, radio in hand,
Fonseca sat on the edge of the stage listening to Rita's
most well-known song: El manisero (The Peanut Vendor).
The concert was also the presentation in Cuba of the
Tradicional Project, which is their view of Cuban
traditional music. According to Fonseca, they want to
present this music with new sounds, making their own
versions, which include electronic instruments. They do
not plan to be the second Buena Vista Social Club or a new
Buena Vista generation.
Roberto Fonseca at the piano triggers strong and
memorable emotions in his audiences. The piano
becomes part of his body or he becomes part of the piano.
Either way and luckily for us, Fonseca's love affair with the
piano is no secret and he lets us into this intimate part of
his life.
Continue to read full article + slideshow
page 18 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSIC
BOLERO, FOLKLORIC, SON & TROVA
SANTIAGO FELIÚ
CAFE CANTANTE
FRIDAYS, 11 PM
In “Lo que la radio nos dejó” or What the Radio Left Us,
singersongwriter Santiago Feliú performs cover versions
of Spanish rock and pop music from the 60s and 70s along
with American and British rock music that were very much
in vogue in Cuba at the time.
CASA DEL ALBA
Sep 6, 8pm
MUSEO NACIONAL DE LA MÚSICA
With his beautiful and powerful
voice, Eduardo Sosa and guests
perform highlights of the best
Cuban trova of all time.
CENTRO IBEROAMERICANO DE LA DÉCIMA
Sep 7, 3pm
Sep 29, 4pm
Performance by the duet Ad
Libitum.
El Jardín de la Gorda with the
performances of trovadores
from every generation.
Sep 18, 5pm
Concert with singer-songwriter
Tony Ávila.
CASA BALEAR
Sep 20, 5pm
Tardes de Boleros, hosted by
singer Maureen García.
CAFÉ TEATRO BERTOLT BRECHT
Sep 27, 4pm
A Bolero Puro, with Rafael
Espín and guests.
CASA MEMORIAL SALVADOR ALLENDE
CASA DE LA CULTURA DE PLAZA
Sep 14, 7pm
Peña with Marta Campos,
renowned singer of
contemporary songs with a
trova feel to them
HURÓN AZUL, UNEAC
Sep 14, 10pm
Mundito González is one of the
most popular Cuban bolero
singers.
JARDINES DEL TEATRO MELLA
Sep 14, 5pm
Trova by Jade and her group.
Sep 27, 6:00 pm
Peña La Juntamenta, with
trovador Ángel Quintero and
guests
CENTRO CULTURAL PABLO DE LA TORRIENTE BRAU
Sep 28, 5pm
A Guitarra Limpia is a meeting
with trovadors accompanied
only by their guitars.
MUSEO NACIONAL DE BELLAS ARTES
Sep 28, 7pm
Edificio de Arte
Cubano
Concert with flamenco singer
Andrés Correa.
LA PÉRGOLA. MINISTERIO DE CULTURA
Sep 29, 6pm
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Performances by trovadores
Samuel Ávila and Diego Cano
page 19 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSIC
BOLERO, FOLKLORIC, SON & TROVA
ASOCIACIÓN YORUBA DE CUBA
CASA DE LA MÚSICA DE MIRAMAR
Fridays, 8:30pm
Performance by the folkloric
group Obiní Batá.
Saturdays,
5 pm
Sundays, 4pm
Performance by the folkloric
group Los Ibellis.
La Utopía combines live
performances by troubadours,
impromptu performances by
the audience, and videos of
important domestic and
international musicians of the
past 50 years.
ASOCIACIÓN YORUBA DE CUBA
Wednesdays,
11 pm
Performance by Elaín Morales.
CENTRO CULTURAL FRESA Y CHOCOLATE
Wednesdays,
9pm
Musical meeting with young
songstress Milada Milhet.
CAFÉ CANTANTE, TEATRO NACIONAL
Thursdays, 11 pm
Performance by Elaín Morales.
Saturdays,
10:30pm
Performance by Yeni
Sotolongo, a young singer who
boasts an exceptional voice and
varied repertoire.
Saturdays, 4 pm
Performance by Waldo
Mendoza, one of Cuba's most
popular singers today.
Sundays, 6pm
Performances by pop idol
Adrián Berazaín, who combines
pop and rock with Cuban song.
CAFÉ CONCERT ADAGIO
Thursdays,
10 pm
Performances by Maylú, the allround singer of the moment,
whose repertoire goes from
arias of famous operas to
Cuban, Latin American and
international pop hits.
PIANO BAR TUN TUN
Thursdays,
5 pm
(Casa de la
Música de
Miramar)
A meeting with Ray Fernández.
DIABLO TUN TUN
Saturdays,
5 pm
JARDINES DEL 1830
Tue & Thu,
8:30pm;
Tue & Thu,
8:30pm
Performance by one of the
most popular bands in Cuba,
Moncada will play an extensive
repertoire of Cuban and Latin
American music.
PIANO BAR DELIRIO HABANERO
Wednesdays,
4pm
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Performance by the singersongwriter Ihosvany Bernal.
A get-together with Vocalité
and guests.
page 20 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSIC
RAP, HIP-HOP
LA SESIÓN AT DELIRIO
HABANERO
TEATRO NACIONAL
FRIDAYS, 5PM
Cuba's newest spot for rap lovers, La Sesión includes rap as
well as the best DJs in Havana, singers and musicians from
other genres as well as visual artists and actors from the
stage. Shows are hosted by the Cuban actress Edenis
Sanchez and rapper Bárbaro “El urbano” Vargas. La Sesión
is sure to become the rap/hip-hop's spot in the Cuban
capital.
CANCHA DE COJÍMAR
MAQUETA DE LA HABANA
Sep 14 2:00pm
Sep 28 5:00pm
Anónimo Consejo and Brebaje
Man.
Hermanazos.
ROCK
CAFÉ CANTANTE, TEATRO NACIONAL
CASA DE LA MÚSICA DE MIRAMAR
Sundays
4:00pm
Saturdays
5:00pm
Los Kents, a “dinosaur” of
Cuban rock, play their hits from
the 60s and 70s.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Performance by the rock band
Gens.
page 21 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSIC
ROCK
Brutal Fest's
2013 Cuba
festival
by John Walters
A festival that insisted on letting the world know that
Cuban music is not only salsa and reggaeton, but also has a
heavy metal tradition with enthusiastic fans
Brutal Fest takes place twice a year (originally it was done
only in February, but because it has been so successful, it
was done again in August this year) and is the most
important international metal music festival in Cuba. It
consists in a 10-day tour of Cuba with both Cuban and 6-7
international bands. Organized by the French Brutal
Beatdown Record Label in association with the Agencia
Cubana de Rock (Cuban Rock Agency) and the Instituto
Cubano de la Música (Cuban Institute of Music), this year's
festival included Cuban bands Combat Noise, Dead Point,
Estigma DC, Mephisto, Switch, Metastasys and
Tendencia, plus Mortuary, Cowards and S-Core from
France, Splattered Mermaids from Sweden, Severe from
Belgium, and Dezaztre Natural from Chile.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
The festival traveled to six other cities (Santa Clara,
Holguín, Camagüey, Pinar del Río, Bayamo and Sancti
Spíritus) besides Havana, which was very much
appreciated by fans everywhere.
Since 2012, Tattoo's Party runs parallel to Brutal Fest and is
held at Maxim Rock in Havana, headquarters of the Cuban
Rock Agency and Brutal Fest. This tattoo convention and
contest is organized by Brutal Beatdown Recs, Toy Store
Producciones and the Cuban Rock Agency and has been
gaining in popularity ever since.
The event was organized by the French Brutal Beatdown
Record Label with the collaboration of the Cuban Rock
Agency and the Cuban Institute of Music. It was also
sponsored by the Institute Français, the French Embassy in
Cuba, Havana Club Internacional, Cuba Autrement and Los
Portales.
Continue to read full article + slideshow
page 22 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSIC
CLASSICAL
BASÍLICA MENOR DE SAN FRANCISCO DE ASÍS
6:00pm
Sep 7
Sep 14
Concert of French music with
Frank Ernesto Fernández
(oboe), Karla Martínez (piano),
Alejandro Calzadilla (clarinet)
and Abraham Castillo (bassoon).
Sep 21
Pianist Huberal Herrera will pay
tribute to two outstanding
Cuban composers: Hubert de
Blanck and Ernesto Lecuona.
Sep 28
The chorus Entrevoces,
conducted by Digna Guerra,
will offer a program of made up
Cuban and Latin American
works and negro spirituals.
Sep 21
The chamber choir Vocal Leo in
concert, conducted by Corina
Campos.
Sep 28
Espacio Voces Nuevas, dircted
by the soprano and teacher
María Eugenia Barrios,
showcases rising stars of the
Cuban lyrical stage.
The pianist Ernán López-Nussa
and his trio have invited Roberto
García (trumpet) and Orlando
Sánchez (sax) to play pieces by
López-Nussa, Pablo Milanés and
Silvio Rodríguez, among other
composers.
ORATORIO SAN FELIPE NERI
4:00pm
Sep 7
Sep 14
Cuban pianist and composer
Eralys Fernández has invited
Brazilian cellist Diego Carneiro
to share a recital with works of
her own as well as works by
Beethoven, Debussy and Astor
Piazzolla.
A selection of zarzuelas and of
the opera Marina, by the
Spanish composer Emilio
Arrieta, in the voice of tenor
Ramón Centeno, accompanied
by the pianist Vilma Garriga.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 23 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSIC
CLASSICAL
IGLESIA DE PAULA
5:00pm
Sep 13
The Ars Longa Early Music
Ensemble, conducted byTeresa
Paz, have announced the
program Imaginarios sonoros de
lo africano en Iberoamérica en
los siglos XVII y XVIII, based on
African sounds in 17th- and
18th-century Ibero-America.
Sep 20
Bolero vs. Fandango, by the Ars
Longa Early Music Ensemble, is
based on the music in Spain
during the late 18th and early
19th centuries.
Sep 27
Several pieces by the German
Baroque composer Georg
Philipp Telemann and Czech
composer Jan Dismas Zelenka
will be played by musicians of
the Ars Longa Early Music
Ensemble.
Sep 15
Concert with pianist Manuel
Matarrita, trumpet player Juan
Carlos Meza and tenor Ernesto
Rodríguez.
Sep 22
The D'Accord duo (Vicente
Monterrey, clarinet, and Marita
Rodríguez, piano), and the
Santa Cecilia wind quintet will
play overtures and arias by
Verdi and Rossini, as well as
pieces by Grieg, Dvořák,
Lefebvre, Chausson and Rimski
Korsakov.
Sep 29
De Nuestra América, a project
directed by pianist Alicia Perea.
Sep 16
Performance by Costa Rican
musicians Edín Solís (guitar),
Eduardo Martín (guitar), Galy
Martín (guitar), Ricardo
Ramírez (violin) and Alejandro
Martínez (cello).
SALA IGNACIO CERVANTES
5:00pm
Sep 8
Sep 13
The pianist Marlon Bordas and
young guest musicians (jazz
trio of piano, bass and drums
plus guitar, trombone, trumpet
and Cuban percussion) will
offer an interesting program
which aims to break with
prototypes.
Concert by pianist Manuel
Matarrita, tenor Ernesto
Rodríguez and the Ballet
Folclórico de Nicoya.as part of
the Costa Rica Cultural
Meeting.
CASA DEL ALBA CULTURAL
5:00pm
Sep 8
En Confluencia, project
directed by Eduardo Martín.
Sep 15
Tarde de Concierto, project
directed by the soprano Lucy
Provedo.
SALA CHE GUEVARA. CASA DE LAS AMÉRICAS
5:00pm
Sep 14
Concert by the Costa Rican
group Edithus, who combine
modern jazz with traditional
jazz, new age and classical
music, Latin American music
and technical effects.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 24 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSIC
CLASSICAL
5th Leo Brouwer
Chamber Music
Festival
Organized by the Leo Brouwer Office, the 5th Leo
Brouwer Chamber Music Festival will be held from
September 24 to October 13, 2013. For the first time, it will
leave Havana and travel to the city of Santiago de Cuba
where the splendid Sala Dolores theater has been chosen
to receive the prestigious Cuban and international
musicians from September 24-26. Tribute will be paid to
Cuban composer Harold Gramatges and a lecture will be
given on the rich musical heritage of Santiago de Cuba.
The lecture will be illustrated with performances by the
Orfeón de Santiago and the Orquesta Sinfónica de
Oriente. Although the focus of the festival is naturally
chamber music, the event also includes debates, talks, film
showings, exhibitions and book, CD and launchings.
From September 28 to October 13, the festival will be back
in Havana. Its organizers have announced the
participation of musicians from ten different countries
plus over forty world and national premieres. Two
exhibitions, Memorias de un Festival (Memories of a
Festival), with photographs by Gabriel Guerra Bianchini,
Iván Soca and Silvio Rodríguez, and En Viaje con Calvino
(Traveling with Calvino) by Marco Marini, will open at Sala
de la Diversidad on September 30, 5:30 pm. The
exhibitions are a tribute to the renowned Italian author
Italo Calvino, born in Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba, on the
90th anniversary of his birth. Later that same day, at 7:00
pm, Iglesia de Paula has been chosen for the concert
Órgano Plus with organist Vincent Bernhardt and double
bassist Victor Soto, along with musicians from Il Delirio
Fantástico and the Ars Longa Early Music Ensemble, who
will play pieces by Arnolt Schlick, Michelangelo Rossi,
Louis Couperin, Dietrich Buxtehude, Johann Sebastian
Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and from the Robertsbridge Codex.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
The Centro Hispano-Americano de Cultura will show a
series of videos on opera from September 25, Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays at 3:00 pm
A special highlight in this year's festival will be the
participation of guitarist and composer Paco de Lucía. It
has been 26 years since his last performance in Cuba and
Brouwer explained that although De Lucía had always
longed to return to Cuba, his tight schedule had always
kept him from doing so. At 65, Paco de Lucía is considered
one of the best guitarists worldwide and has received
many awards in his career, including the 2004 Prince of
Asturias Award. The much acclaimed Spanish musician
will receive the 2013 Cubadisco, the most important music
award in Cuba.
The Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, who has been
acknowledged as one of the living geniuses of classical
music in the international arena, has been, since its
inception, the heart and soul of the festival through his
supervision and total devotion. With regard to the festival,
Brouwer has said: “Our policy is not figure-oriented, but
rather repertoire-oriented…We have the privilege of
having excellent Cuban musicians and first-rate young
artists performing the best versions that exist in this
regard, perhaps not the only ones, but certainly the best.”
Leo Brouwer (Havana, 1939) has created more than 300
musical pieces and is currently the composer of classical
music whose scores are most performed in the world,
according to the SGAE (General Association of Authors
and Publishers).
Continue to read full article + slideshow
page 25 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
!
THEATER &
PERFORMING ARTS
LAS LÁGRIMAS NO HACEN RUIDO
AL CAER
TEATRO DEL EDIFICIO DE ARTE CUBANO. MUSEO
NACIONAL DE BELLAS ARTES
SEPTEMBER 12-14, 7PM
Monse Duany is the legendary Cuban singer Guadalupe
Yolí-La Lupe-in the monologue Las lágrimas no hacen
ruido al caer by the late playwright Alberto Pedro. Monse
Duany is versatility itself: She creates situations of humor
and anguish, joy and sadness, understanding and
impotence. She sings, dances, recites, dreams, shouts,
cries, falls in love, suffers… She is the kind of actress that
exudes energy and passion.
SALA TITO JUNCO. CENTRO BERTOLT BRECHT
SALA EL SÓTANO
Tue, Wed & Thu
8:30pm
Fri & Sat 8:30pm
Fri & Sat 8:30pm;
Sun, 5pm
Premiere of La paz perpetua, by
Spanish playwright Juan
Mayorga, by Compañía del
Cuartel. The play uses irony,
mockery and the
externalization of violence to
define the
power/subordination
relationship among the warring
characters
Mefisto Teatro, directed by
Tony Díaz, presents Muerte en
el bosque, based on a novel by
Cuban novelist Leonardo
Padura.
TEATRO RAQUEL REVUELTA
Fri, Sat & Sun,
8:30pm
Teatro D´Dos will be presenting
the 20th-century classic The
Zoo Story, by American
playwright Edward Albee. This
one-act play is a heart-rending
tragedy of the consequences of
intolerance and lack of
communication.
Sat & Sun,
6:00pm
Delantal todo sucio de huevos, a
play by Brazilian playwright
Marcos Barbosa and produced
by Teatro de Dos, is a half
realist, half expressionist
portrait of the daily drama that
any ordinary family may
potentially lead. Here, a
traditional family is faced with
the return of their son turned
into a woman after 20 years of
absence from home.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Sun 5:00pm
Opens Sep 14
Teatro del Silencio presents El
Cerco by Cuban playwright
Rubén Sicilia, in which three
characters in a garbage dump
reproduce universal conflicts,
such as power, oppression,
individual responsibility in this
play that is part theater of
cruelty and dirty realism
SALA ADOLFO LLAURADÓ
Tue, Wed & Thu,
6:00pm
Teatro del Puerto presents this
play by the Cuban director and
playwright Abelardo Estorino,
directed and performed by
Milva Benítez Reinoso. The play
is a contemporary
reinterpretation of the classical
character of Greek mythology
Medea, who carries out a
dialogue with the visions of
other playwrights, who hint at
issues of Cuban reality today,
such as immigration.
page 26 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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THEATER &
PERFORMING ARTS
Goldfish: an ironic
and irreverent
look into reality
by Eduard Marble
Goldfish is an ironic and irreverent look into reality.
Written by young Cuban playwrights William Ruiz and
Alejandro Arango and, produced by Reynier Rodríguez
Vázquez and performed by actors from the El Ingenio and
Teatro de La Luna companies, the play tells the anecdotal
story of Pablo--rootless, pyromaniac, sociopath--who
has an almost perverse need to find meaning to his life, a
meaning that will go beyond banality and that will also be
meaningful to others. And this is done through a TV show.
Reynier Rodríguez Vázquez, who is making his debut with
this play, has said that Goldfish depicts a situation that
many people are “victims” of, that is, the media tells you
what to do, what to say, what to wear… Nobody escapes
from this! And what Goldfish does is criticize the negative
part of this issue.
The stage of the Trianón Theater, or rather, the entire hall,
is transformed into a TV set. The play develops as a talk
show or reality show, so the audience will see hostess,
guests, live music and even commercial breaks, the latter
with Cuban flavor. In the style that characterizes the
unscrupulous frivolity that is common to these shows,
Goldfish aims to deconstruct Pablo and the context in
which he lives.
The set design, the wardrobe and the music, which are
crucial to this production, have all been perfectly handled.
Meanwhile, the cast is perfect in their roles, especially
Yordanka Ariosa in the role of the hostess,
Despite some ups and downs in the pace of the play,
audiences will find that Goldfish is funny while it analyses
serious issues and is well worth seeing
Playing during September 2013 at Sala teatro Trianón
Fri & Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 5pm
Continue to read full article + slideshow
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 27 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
!
OTHER EVENTS IN HAVANA
FESTIVAL DE RADIO Y
TELEVISIÓN CUBA
2013
PALACIO DE CONVENCIONES, HAVANA
SEP 9-13
The event will include shows, exhibitions, free
performances, workshops, master classes, and theoretical
meetings. An expo/trade fair will also be held, in which
production companies, television channels, radio stations,
specialized entities and firms will be able to exhibit and sell
equipment, technology, products and other materials
related to the theme of the event. An international
competition of shows and spots for the public good will
also take place during the event.
www.rtvfestival.icrt.cu
CASA TOMADA
SEP 17-20
CASA DE LAS AMÉRICAS, HAVANA
This meeting of young Latin American artists and writers
aims to foster ties and mutual understanding among young
creators up to 40 years of age; encourage and promote
different ways of conceiving the past, present and future of
artistic and intellectual creation in the continent; and
publicize the work of recent generations in the region.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 28 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
!
FOR KIDS
!
ECOS DE CIRCUBA 2013
THROUGHOUT SEPTEMBER, THU-SUN, 4PM & 7PM
CARPA TROMPOLOCO
Cuba's National Circus presents prize-winning acts from
the past CIRCUBA 2013 Festival, which includes
gymnastics, acrobatics, juggling, tightrope and much
more, as well as prizewinners of the Erdwin Fernández In
Memoriam International Clown Competition.
Carpa Trompoloco: 5ta. Avenida y 112, Miramar, Playa,
Tel: 206 5609
!
CASA DE LAS
AMÉRICAS
SEP 12, 3:30PM
Presentation of Comino vence al diablo and Comino va a la
huelga, by Mexican playwright Germán List Arzubide, with
performances by puppeteers María Luisa de la Cruz, Ailín
Guerra and Annia González.
TEATRO DE TÍTERES
EL ARCA
Fri, Sat and Sun, 3pm
The El Arca Puppet Theater continues this month with Sueño
de una noche de verano based on William Shakespeare's
immortal A Midsummer Night's Dream with music by
Mendelssohn..
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 29 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
!
EVENTS IN REST OF CUBA
Concurso Naturaleza
Digital 2013
SEP 1-6
PROTECTED NATURAL LANDSCAPE, TOPES DE
COLLANTES
In an ideal landscape for its rich and unique biodiversity,
participating photographers will compete in three
categories: Landscape, Flora and Fauna, Man and Nature.
Pictures will be taken in foot trails chosen among the
participants by drawing lots. The trails are La Batata,
Codina, Caburní, Vegas Grandes, El Nicho, Camino de la
Barbera, Guanayara, El Cubano, Gruta Nengoa and night
tours through trails devoted to amphibians.
www.gaviota-grupo.com
!
Festival Matamoros
Son 2013
SEP 16-20
TEATRO HEREDIA, SANTIAGO DE CUBA
This festival, which is a tribute to one of the big names of
Cuban music, the Santiago de Cuba-native Miguel
Matamoros, author of the well-known song Mamá, son de
la loma, is a meeting of soloists and bands from all over the
island, as well as other countries. Concerts, lectures,
dances, workshops, book and CD launches, as well as a
Cuban popular dance competition that will include
danzón, son, cha-cha-cha, mambo, casino and salsa, will
liven up the city, famous for its hospitality.
Fiesta de los Orígenes
September
Matanzas
Academicians, researchers and historians will get together
to discuss aspects related to the formation of Cuban culture.
The program includes lectures, panels, art exhibitions, films,
passacaglia and book and magazine launchings.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 30 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
!
HAVANA’S BEST
BARS & CLUBS
Sangri-La
CALLE 42 Y ESQ. 21, MIRAMAR
Sangri-La was the first in the new wave of bars to open in
the summer of 2012 and has become the place to be for the
young (and not so young) party goers. This is located in the
basement of a Miramar mansion up on 11th Avenue (&42nd
street). The crowd that comes here is the same one that will
make it to Fontana and Melem later. This is the Havana
Farándula. Sangri-La is a little more unpredictable than the
others and is probably the most interactive with more of an
open plan set up encouraging more mixing. There are
boothes all around the outside which make a comfortable
place to get snacks (or even a full dinner). I have never been
convinced by the food here although the non-smoking rule
does at least mean that you can eat without tobacco fumes
floating over!
3D BAR
Recently opened, smallish place, quite cool
Malecon entre Paseo y Presidente
Teatro Bertolt Brecht
No se lo digas a nadie Don’t tell anyone!
Calle 13, e/I y J, Vedado
T. 830 1354 / 832 9359
El Cocinero
Havana’s coolest and best new bar/restaurant
Calle 26, e 11 y 13, Vedado
Don Cangrejo
Friday night party venue for
young & beautiful crowd
Ave. 1ra No. 1606, entre 16 y 18, Miramar
T. 204 5002
Ecaleras al Cielo
Nightclub attracting a mostly LGBTQ crowd
658 Zulueta Street, between
Gloria and Apodaca, Old Havana
T. 863 3009
Espacio
Hip new bar with valet parking
Calle 10, entre 5ta y 31, Miramar
La Fontana
South Beach Miami style comes to
Havana outside + cozy renovated basement
Calle 3ra A, esquina 46, No. 305
Miramar, Havana
T. 202 8337
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
El Gato Tuerto
Late night place to hear Bolero
Calle O, entre 17 y 19, Vedado
T. 833 2224
Melem Bar
Young hip crowd – can get smoky
1ra y 60, Miramar
Privé Lounge
(It is never late here)
Calle 88A No. 306 e/ 3ra y 3ra A, Miramar, Playa, Playa
T. 2092719
Bar Las Piedras
1ra y 43, Playa
(Venue for the after-party)
Sangri-La
Young hip crowd, modern basement venue
42 y esq. 21, Miramar
El Sauce
Open air nightclub – attracts the best Cuban singers
Avenida 9na #12015, entre 120 y 130
T. 204-6428
Bar Somavilla
15 y H, Vedado
(Young, hip crowd)
El Tocororo
Mostly expatriates with Cuban friends, live music
Calle 18, entre 3ra y 5ta, Miramar
T. 204 2209 / 202 4530
page 31 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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BEST PLACES
TO EAT IN HAVANA
Corte del Principe
(Sergio's)
9NA ESQ. 74, PLAYA, (53) 7 5-255-9091
Undeniably serving the best pasta in town at present look for
the Tagliatelle al funghi porcini/gamberi y zucchine/alla
marinara. Unless you get stuck on the starters that are so good
you don't even make it to your main course. Just ask Sergio
what he recommends today.
Typically busy but not packed there is an atmosphere about
the place. Somewhere where no-one comes in a hurry. A place
you stay to enjoy the wine, smoke that cigar and relax in a laid
back atmosphere. This is not to say that the food will take an
eternity to appear, on the contrary service is attentive and
quick. Simply that what is the rush, do you really have
somewhere better to be?
20 Best places to eat in Havana
El Atelier (Experimental fusion)
Calle 5 entre Paseo y 2, Vedado tel: (7) 836 7075
El Azador del Rey (Grilled meats)
Le Chansonnier (International)
Calle J No. 257 entre Línea y 15, Vedado
Tel: 832 1576
3ra e 18 y 20, Miramar
El Chanchullero (Spanish tapas)
El Beduino (Arabic)
Teniente Rey 457ª bajos / Bernaza y El Cristo
tel:(07) 872 8227; 05 276 0938
5ta entre 4 y 6, Miramar
El Deluvio (Italian)
Bollywood (Indian)
Calle 72 No. 1705 entre 17 y 19, Playa
T. 202 1531
Bohemia (Café)
Callejón del Chorro No. 60, Habana Vieja
T. 05 281 5883; 05 270 6433
Calle 35 No 1361, entre La Torre y 24, Nuevo Vedado
Tel: 883 1216
Calle 21, esquina 14, Vedado
La Buena Vida (Vegetarian)
No 917, Calle 46, entre 11 y 9na. tel: (07) 202 5816
Calle 10 (International)
Calle 10 No 314 btwn Avs 3 & 5, Miramar. Tel: 205-3970
La Carboncita (Italian)
Ave. 3ra No. 3804 entre 38 y 40.
tel: (07) 203 0261 / 290 4984
La Casa (International)
Calle 30 No. 865 entre 26 y 41. tel:(07) 881 7000
Café Lauren (Spanish)
Calle M No. 257, entre 19 y 21, Vedado
Tel: 831 2090 / 832 6890
Casa de Miglis
Lealtad 120 entre Ánimas y Lagunas tel: (7) 864 1486
Doña Eutimia (Cuban-creole)
El Divino (International)
Calle raquel no. 50 e/ Esperanza y Lindero
Reparto Castillo de Averhoff, Mantilla
Los Nardos
Paseo de Martí (Prado) 565 entre
Teniente Rey y Dragones. tel: (07) 863 2985
El Piccolo (Italian)
5ta A No. 50206 entre 502 y 504,
Guanabo, Habana del Este tel: (7) 796 4300
Malecon 23
(New location with beautiful view over the Malecon)
Havana, Cuba 7 862 7735
Río Mar (International)
3A y Final # 11, La Puntilla, Miramar
Casa Lala (Spanish)
Calle 24 No 360 entre 21 y 23, Vedado
T. 830 1410
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 32 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
!
Conner's
Ultimate Guide
to The Agro
by Conner Gorry
There are several options for where to buy fresh fruits,
vegetables and meat in Havana, but grocery stores aren't
one of them (see note 1). No matter where you find
yourself shopping, my advice is bring your own plastic or
other reusable bags for carting away your goods (though
at many markets, little old ladies sell plastic bags for a peso
apiece). Also, once you've had your produce weighed and
have paid, look for the 'Area de Consumidor' – this is where
you can have your purchases re-weighed to see how much
you've been ripped off (see note 2). When this happens – as
it does to everyone, Cuban and foreign – you simply go
back to the seller and they'll rectify the error without
batting an eyelash.
Where to Shop:
Agropecuarios – There are two types of these markets:
those with price caps, heavily subsidized by the state, and
those where supply and demand dictate price. You can see
side-by-side examples at Tulipán, where the chaotic EJT
(price-capped) market has long lines and lots of root
vegetables mostly, while a block away, the tidy supply and
demand market offers stacks of carrots, mounds of
tomatoes and all the fruta bomba, watercress, red
peppers, limes and string beans to get mouths watering.
Not surprisingly, prices are higher at the latter.
Organopónicos – These organic markets are heavy on the
veggies, but light on fruit; prices are reasonable for the
(mostly) organic produce – not all of it is grown on site.
Much of it is however, and I've bought just-harvested
lettuce, bok choy, okra and basil frequently at
organopónicos. The area around the Plaza de la
Revolución is peppered with these markets. Two farther
afield favorites are the one at 5ta Avenida and Calle 44 and
the so-called 'organopónico japonés' out on Avenida 25 in
the Cubanacán neighborhood. The latter has an awesome
orchid selection, as well.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Ferias agropecuarios – There used to be monthly (or more
often) neighborhood 'produce fairs' where trucks heavily
laden with bananas, onions, garlic and anything else in
season rolled in for a weekend to sell as much as possible
at great prices. Two popular ones occupying blocks and
blocks included the one on Avenida 13 in Playa and along
Carlos III in Centro Habana/Plaza. Fish, house wares,
artesanía, and prepared foods (chicharrones!) were also
sold at these fairs, where locals flocked to load up for the
week or month. I haven't seen one of these in at least a
year; I'd love to know what happened to them. Anyone?
Mobile vendors – These are a new phenomenon made
possible by the economic reforms initiated in 2010. While
convenient, these door-to-door produce sales chap my
ass. First, they're gutting state markets (often the price
capped ones), snatching up merchandise to resell at a
markup – usually by 100-200% (see note 3). Second, some
of these agros-on-wheels sell pre-bagged and weighed
goods. Of course, when you open that sack of
okra/potatoes/peppers in your kitchen, rotted and
otherwise inferior produce lurks.
How to shop for some specific, perhaps unfamiliar, items:
Quimbombó (okra) – A popular vegetable in these parts, to
ensure you're getting fresh okra, snap off the tip of a few
(or do like we do and test every single one before
committing – don't worry, sellers won't mind). Tips should
snap off crisply, not bend over.
Melón (watermelon) – Watermelon halves are a no brainer.
When you're after a whole one, however, things get
murkier. In this case, bring the melon to your ear and give
it a few hard taps with your fingertips. A good one will
return a “dry” pok, pok, pok sound, according to my local
expert. Most sellers will also offer to cut out a small
triangle so you can sample before buying.
page 33 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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Limones (limes) – A staple in many Cuban dishes (and
mojitos of course!), most cooks have been duped by limes
that look luscious but then turn out to be dry and
worthless. To avoid this fate, choose limes which have
smooth, shiny skin. Most sellers will prove the juiciness of
their limes by cutting one open and squeezing out a long
stream with a dramatic flourish.
Guayaba (guava) – I remember the first guava I ever ate, off
the tree, in the Costa Rican jungle. It was delicious for the
first, second and third bite. On the fourth, I bit into a little
white worm. I didn't eat another guava for decades. Cuban
advice on how to avoid guava worms? Don't think about it:
the majority has them, even if you don't know it.
Fruta bomba (papaya; see note 4) – Unlike in other
latitudes, there's only one variety of papaya sold in Cuba –
bigger than a loaf of bread and orange as a basketball.
Choose one that is uniform in color and smells sweet; if it
has a few over ripened black spots, don't discount it.
Instead, ask the seller to cut out a small triangle to taste.
Mamey – I ascribe the licorice axiom to this odd fruit:
either you love it or won't touch it. Mamey look like mini
footballs and have brown skin. The flesh is a deep coral
color, with a distinctive, slightly perfumed, taste. Mamey
diehards scoop it up with a spoon but it's mostly used in
fruit shakes and ice cream. Sellers will flick off a piece of
skin to show you it's ripe.
Malanga (taro) and boniato (sweet potato) – While
consulting friends for this post, I asked how they
distinguished the good malanga and boniato from the bad.
Everyone agreed: these root vegetables a caja de sorpresa.
Translation: you never really know what you're going to
get. The same can be said for zanahoria (carrots), any
bunch of which can contain a few that are sweet and
toothsome and others that taste like soap.
Miel (honey) – Fresh honey is sold in repurposed Havana
Club bottles at many agros and is a real treat. To make sure
the honey you're buying hasn't been cut with sugar (an old
trick in these parts), invert the bottle; the honey should try
your patience it moves so slowly and importantly, have a
large air bubble making its way to the top.
Notes
1. In my experience, many visitors think, logically, that fresh produce and
protein can be purchased at grocery stores. Not so here in Havana.
2. So widespread is the practice, each market now has an Area de
Consumidor. Old hands come to market with their own hand scale to weigh
their purchases in front of the seller, before paying.
3. This is also happening in other sectors, whereby 'cuenta propistas'
( freelancers) buy light bulbs, cleaning products and hardware in state
stores to re-sell at a steep markup.
4. In Havana and many surrounding areas, 'papaya' is not used to
designate this fruit, but is instead reserved for a certain part of the female
anatomy. In the Oriente, papaya means the fruit.
Continue to read full article + slideshow
Yuca (yucca) – A ubiquitous root vegetable, these long
tubers are brown to reddish on the outside, blindingly
white on the inside. When cooked, yucca is soft and always
served with an addictive garlic sauce/bitter orange sauce
called mojo. Fresh yucca “weeps” from the cut end – you
should see little droplets of gathered moisture. Some
sellers display a dish of already cooked yucca at their stalls
to prove that “se ablanda” – it cooks up soft.
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 34 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
!
ADDRESS BOOK
CULTURAL CENTRES
Ballet Nacional
de Cuba
Calzada 509 entre D y E, El
Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 855 2946
Casa de la
Poesía
Muralla 63 entre Oficios e
Inquisidor, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 1801
Café Neruda
Malecón 355 entre Manrique y San
Nicolás, Centro Habana
Casa y Parque
Simón Bolívar
Casa de África
Obrapía 157 entre Mercaderes y
San Ignacio, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 5798
Mercaderes 158 entre Obrapía y
Lamparilla, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 3988
Casa Víctor
Hugo
Casa Alejandro
de Humboldt
Oficios esquina a Sol, La Habana
Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 863 9850
O’Reilly 311 entre Habana y Aguiar,
La Habana Vieja
Teléfono 866 7591
Caserón del
Tango
Casa de Artes y
Tradiciones
Chinas
Salud 313 entre Gervasio y Escobar,
Centro Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 863 5450 / 860 9976
Jústiz entre Baratillo y Oficios, La
Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 0822
Casona de Línea
Línea 505 entre D y E, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 833 8562
Casa de Asia
Mercaderes 111 entre Obrapía y
Obispo, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 863 9740
Centro Cultural
Bertolt Brecht
Calle13 esquina a I, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 9359
Casa de las
Américas
Calle 3ra. esquina a G, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 838 2706-09
Centro Cultural
Dulce María
Loynaz
Calle 19 esquina a E, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 835 2732
Casa de los
Árabes
Oficios 16 entre Obispo y Obrapía,
La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 5868
Centro Cultural
Pablo de la
Torriente Brau
Muralla 63 entre Oficios e
Inquisidor, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 5162
Casa del
Benemérito de
las Américas
Obrapía 116, entre Mercaderes y
Oficios, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 8166
Casa de la
Comedia (salateatro)
Jústiz 18, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 863 9282
Casa del Conde
Lombillo
Centro de Danza Prado 111, entre genio y Refugio, La
de La Habana
Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 863 9131 / 866 0808
Centro HispanoAmericano de
Cultura
Malecón 17 entre Prado y Genio,
Centro Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 860 6282
Empedrado entre Mercaderes y
San Ignacio, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 860 4311-14
Centro de
Teatro y Danza
San Ignacio 166 entre Obispo y
Obrapía, La Habana Vieja.
Tel. +(53) 7 862 9650 / 862 9448
Casa de los
Condes de
Jaruco
Plaza Vieja, La Habana Vieja
Calle 4 número 103 entre Calzada y
5ta., El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 830 3060
Casa Fundación
Oswaldo
Guayasamín
Obrapía entre Oficios y
Mercaderes, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 3843
Conjunto
Folklórico
Nacional de
Cuba
Convento de
Belén
Compostela entre Acosta y Luz, La
Habana Vieja
Casa Juan
Gualberto
Gómez
Empedrado entre Aguiar y Cuba,
La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 866 4114
Casa de la Obra
Pía
Obrapía entre Mercaderes y San
Ignacio, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 3097
Fundación
Ludwig de Cuba
Calle 13 núm. 509 entre D y E (5to.
piso), El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 4270 / 832 9128
Casa de la
Orfebrería
Obispo 113 entre Oficios y
Mercaderes, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 863 9861
Fundación
Habana Club
Avenida del Puerto 262 entre Luz
y Sol, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 4108
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Escuela Nacional Calle 11 esquina a 146, Cubanacán,
de Teatro
Playa
Tel. +(53) 7 208 4923
page 36 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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CULTURAL CENTRES
Gabinete de
Arquelogía
Tacón 12 entre O’Reilly y
Empedrado, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 4469
Instituto de
Literatura y
Lingüística
Dr. José Antonio Portuondo Valdor
Avenida Salvador Allende 710,
Centro Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 878 6486
Instituto
Calle 120 entre 9na. y 13,
Superior de Arte Cubanacán, Playa
(ISA)
Tel. +(53) 7 271 9771
Proyecto
Cultural Arte
Tiempo
Cárdenas 114, bajos, entre Gloria y
Apodaca, La Habana Vieja Tel. +(53)
7 537-8 61 2838
Proyecto
Cultural
Comunitario
Todas las Manos
Trocadero 303 esquina a Águila,
Centro Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 861 3260
Unión de
Escritores y
Artistas de Cuba
(UNEAC)
Calle 17 esquina a H, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 4551-53
Tel. +(53) 7 832 4551-53
Unión Latina
Callejón de Jústiz 21, entre Oficios
y Avenida del Puerto, La Habana
Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 866 8142 / 866 8255
Tel. +(53) 7 832 4551-53
Vitrina de
Valonia
San Ignacio entre Teniente Rey y
Muralla, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 868 3561
BARS
3D BAR
Don Cangreco
(Recently opened, smallish place,
quite cool)
Malecon entre Paseo y President
(Friday night party venue for young
& beautiful crowd)
Ave. 1ra No. 1606 entre 16 y 18
Espacio
(Hip new bar with valet parking)
Calle 10, Entre 5ta y 31, Miramar
Melem Bar
(Young hip crowd – can get
smokey)
1ra y 60, Miramar
Sangri-La
(Young hip crowd, modern
basement venue)
42 y 11, Miramar
Tocororo
NIGHTLIFE
Dos Gardenias
Calle 7ma. y 26, Miramar
Ecaleras al Cielo
658 Zulueta Street, between Gloria
and Apodaca Old Havana
Tel. (537)863 3009
El Gato Tuerto
Calle O entre17 y 19, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 55 2696
El Sauce
Calle 9na. Entre 120 y 130, Playa
Tel. +(53) 7 204 7061
La Cecilia
5ta. Avenida entre 110 y 112,
Miramar
La Maison
Calle 16 entre 7ma. y 31, Miramar
La Pérgola
Ministerio de Cultura
Calle 13 entre 2 y 4, El Vedado
La Piragua
Calle O y Malecón, El Vedado
La Zorra y el
Cuervo
(La Casa del Jazz Cubano)
Calle 23 esquina a O, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 833 2402
Piano bar Hotel
Panorama
Ave. 3ra. y 70, Miramar
Tel. +(53) 7 204 0100
ART GALLERIES
Centro de Arte
Contemporáneo
Wifredo Lam
Empedrado esquina a San Ignacio,
La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 863 9781 / 861 3419
Centro de
Desarrollo de las
Artes Visuales
San Ignacio 352 esquina a Teniente
Rey, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 5279, 862 9295 /
862 3533
Centro
Laboratorio
Artístico de San
Agustín (LASA)
Calle 23 esquina a 35, San Agustín,
La Lisa
Centro
Provincial de
Artes Plásticas y
Diseño
Oficios 362 entre Luz y Santa
Clara, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 3228 / 862 3295 /
866 0280
Colección Arte
de Nuestra
América Haydée
Santamaría
Casa de las Américas
Calle G entre 3ra. y 5ta., El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 838 2706-09
Fototeca de
Cuba
Mercaderes 307 entre Muralla y
Teniente Rey, Plaza Vieja, La
Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 2530
Tel. +(53) 7 832 4551-53
Galería
Avellaneda
Teatro Nacional
Calle Paseo y 39, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 870 4651
(Mostly expatriates with Cuban
friends, live music)
Calle 18, entre 3ra y 5ta, Miramar
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 37 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
!
ART GALLERIES
Galería de Arte
Malecón
Calle D, entre 1ra, y 3ra., El Vedado
Galería Carmen
Montilla
Oficios 162 entre Amargura y
Churruca, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 866 4114
Galería Collage
Habana
San Rafael 103 entre Consulado e
Industria, Centro Habana
Galería El Reino
de Este Mundo
Biblioteca Nacional José Martí
Boyeros entre 20 de Mayo y
Aranguren, Plaza de la Revolución
Tel. +(53) 7 881 1757
Galería René
Portocarrero
Teatro Nacional
Calle Paseo y 39, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 870 4651
Galería Raúl
Martínez
Palacio del Segundo Cabo
O’Reilly 4 esquina a Tacón, La
Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 8091 ext. 151
Galería Raúl
Oliva
Centro Cultural Bertolt Brecha
Calle13 esquina a I, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 9359
Galería Roberto
Diago
Muralla 107 esquina a San Ignacio,
La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 3577
Galería
Servando
Calle 23 esquina a 10, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 833 9599
Galería Factoría
Habana
O´Reilly 308 entre entre Habana y
Aguiar, La Habana Vieja
Galería Forma
Obispo 255 entre Cuba y Aguiar,
La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 2633
Galería Fresa y
Chocolate
Calle 23 entre 10 y 12, El Vedado
Galería
Fundación
Habana Club
Avenida del Puerto y Sol, La
Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 4108
Galería
Fundación
Ludwig
Calle 13 esquina a D, 5to. piso, El
Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 4270 / 832 9128
Galería
Servando
Cabrera
Calle 42 entre 1ra. y 3ra., La Copa,
Playa
Tel. +(53) 7 203 7171
Galería Galiano
Galiano esquina a Concordia,
Centro Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 862 5365
Galería Víctor
Manuel
San Ignacio y Callejón del Chorro,
La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 866 9268
Galería Habana
Línea 460 entre E y F, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 7101
Galería Villa
Manuela
Galería Haydee
Santamaría
Calle G entre E y F, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 4653
Calle H número 406 entre 17 y 19,
El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 2391
Galería 23 Y 12
Galería Julio
Larramendi
Hotel Conde de Villanueva
Mercaderes 202 entre Lamparilla y
Amargura, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 9294 / 862 9293
Calle 23 esquina a 12, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 831 1810
Hotel Los Frailes
Teniente Rey 8 entre Oficios y
Mercaderes, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 9383
Galería La
Acacia
San José 114 entre Industria y
Consulado, Centro Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 863 9364 / 861 3533
Taller
Experimental de
Gráfica de La
Habana
Callejón del Chorro, Plaza de la
Catedral, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 0979
Taller de
Serigrafía René
Portocarrero
Cuba 513, entre Teniente Rey y
Muralla, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 3276 / 861 9354
Tel. +(53) 7 862 3276 / 861 9354
Galería
Casa de las Américas
Latinoamericana Calle G entre 3ra. y 5ta., piso 2, El
Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 4653
Galería Mariano
Calle 15 núm. 607 entre B y C, El
Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 838 2702
Galería Orígenes Gran Teatro de La Habana
Prado y San Rafael, Centro
Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 863 6690
Galería Palacio
de la Artesanía
Cuba 64, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 33 8072 y 861 9796
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
CINEMAS
Centro Cultural
ICAIC
Calle 23 entre 10 y 12, El Vedado
Cine Acapulco
Avenida 26 esquina a 39, Nuevo
Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 833 9573
Cine Chaplin
Calle 23 entre 10 y 12, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 831 1101
page 38 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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CINEMAS
MUSEUMS
Cine La Rampa
Calle 23 entre O y P, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 878 6146
Cine Payret
Prado 513, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 863 3163
Cine Riviera
Calle 23 entre F y G, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 830 9564
Cine Yara
Calle L esquina a 23, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 831 1723 / 832 9430
Cine 23 y 12
Calle 23 entre 12 y 14, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 833 6906
Cinematógrafo
Lumière
Mercaderes entre Obispo y
Obrapía, La Habana Vieja
Cine-teatro
Trianón
Línea entre Paseo y A., El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 830 9648
Fundación del
Quinta Santa Bárbara, calle 212
Nuevo Cine
núm. 21254 esquina a 31, La
Latinoamericano
Coronela, La Lisa
Tel. +(53) 7 271 8311 / 271 8141
Multisala Infanta
Infanta entre Neptuno y San
Miguel, Centro Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 878 9323
MUSEUMS
Fototeca de
Cuba
Mercaderes 307 entre Muralla y
Teniente Rey, Plaza Vieja, La
Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 2530
Tel. +(53) 7 832 4551-53
Maqueta de La Calle 28 núm. 113, entre 1ra. y 3ra.,
Habana
Miramar
Tel. +(53) 7 204 2661 / 332661
Memorial José Martí
Plaza de la Revolución
Tel. +(53) 7 882 0906 / 884 0551
Monumento de
la Cárcel de La
Habana
Cárcel entre Zulueta y Prado, La
Habana Vieja
Museo
Antropológico
Montané
Edifico Felipe Poey, Plaza Ignacio
Agramonte, Universidad de La
Habana, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 879 3488
Museo de
Arqueología
Museo de Arte
Colonial
Tacón 12 entre O’Reilly y
Empedrado, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 4469
Plaza de la Catedral, La Habana
Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 6440
Museo Biblioteca Calle Paseo 304 esquina a 13, El
Servando
Vedado
Cabrera Moreno
Museo Casa
Natal de José
Martí
Leonor Pérez 314, entre Picota y
Egido, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 3778
Museo Castillo
de la Real
Fuerza
O’Reilly entre Avenida del Puerto y
Tacón, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 6130
Museo del
Chocolate
Amargura esquina a Mercaderes,
La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 866 4431
Museo de la
Ciudad
Tacón 1 entre Obispo y O’Reilly, La
Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 5001
Museo de la
Danza
Línea esquina a G, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 831 2198
Museo Ernest
Hemingway
Finca Vigía, San Francisco de
Paula, San Miguel del Padrón
Tel. +(53) 7 891 0809
Museo
Farmacéutico
Taquechel
Obispo entre San Ignacio y
Mercaderes, La Habana Vieja
Museo de
Historia Natural
Obispo 61 entre Baratillo y Oficios,
La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 863 2687
Galería Mariano
Calle 15 núm. 607 entre B y C, El
Museo Nacional
de Artes
Decorativas
Obispo 61 entre Baratillo y Oficios,
La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 863 2687
Museo Nacional
de Bellas Artes
(Arte Cubano)
Trocadero entre Monserrate y
Zulueta, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 0140, 861 3858 y
863 9484
Museo Nacional
de Bellas Artes
Centro Asturiano (Colección
Universal)
San Rafael entre Zulueta y
Monserrate, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 0140 / 861 3858 /
863 9484
Museo Nacional
de la Cerámica
Contemporánea
Calle Mercaderes, esquina a
Amargura, La Habana Vieja
Museo Nacional
de la Música
Capdevila 1 entre Habana y Aguiar,
La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 9046
Museo de Naipes Inquisidor y Muralla, Plaza Vieja,
La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 860 1530
Tel. +(53) 7 835 2027 / 836 0010
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
page 39 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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MUSEUMS
MUSIC
Museo
Napoleónico
San Miguel y Ronda, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 879 1412 / 879 1460
Maxim Rock
Bruzón 62, entre Almendares y
Ayestarán, Plaza de la
RevoluciónTel. +(53) 7 877 5925
Museo
Numismáti-co
Obispo entre Cuba y San Ignacio,
La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 5811
Oratorio San
Felipe Neri
Aguiar esquina a Obrapía, La
Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 3243
Museo de la
Perfumería
Oficios, entre Obispo y Obrapía, La
Habana Vieja
Palacio del
Teatro Lírico
Nacional
Zulueta 253 entre Ánimas y
Neptuno, La Habana Vieja
Museo Postal
Cubano
Avenida de Rancho Boyeros entre
19 de Mayo y 20 de Mayo
(Ministerio de Comunicaciones),
Plaza de la Revolución
Tel. +(53) 7 870 5581
Sala Lecuona
Prado y San Rafael, Centro Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 861 3077 / 3079
Teatro Amadeo
Roldán
Calzada y D, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 4521-22
Museo de la
Revolución y
Memorial
Granma
Refugio 1 entre Monserrate y
Zulueta, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 4091
Museo del Ron
Avenida del Puerto 262 entre Luz
y Sol, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 4108
Museo del
Tabaco
Fototeca de
Cuba
Parque Histórico
Militar MorroCabaña
Sala del
Transporte
Automotor
Mercaderes 120 entre Obispo y
Obrapía, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 861 5795
Mercaderes 307 entre Muralla y
Teniente Rey, Plaza Vieja, La
Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 2530
Tel. +(53) 7 832 4551-53
Carretera de la Cabaña, La Habana
del Este
Tel. +(53) 7 861 6130 / 861 5001
THEATRES
Centro Cultural
Bertolt Brecht
Calle13 esquina a I, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 9359
Cine-teatro
Trianón
Línea entre Paseo y A, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 830 9648
Gran Teatro de
La Habana
Prado y San Rafael, Centro Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 861 3077-79
Sala Adolfo
Llauradó
Calle 11 entre D y E, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 5573
Sala Argos
Teatro
Ayestarán 307 esquina a 20 de
Mayo, El Cerro
Tel. +(53) 7 878 5551
Sala Hubert de
Blanck
Calzada 657 entre A y B, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 830 1011
Teatro América
Galiano entre Concordia y
Neptuno, Centro Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 862 5416
Teatro Astral
Infanta 501, Centro Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 878 1001
Teatro El Sótano
Calle K entre 25 y 27, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 0630
Teatro Fausto
Prado y Colón, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 863 1173
Oficios y Callejón de Jústiz, La
Habana Vieja
MUSIC
Basílica Menor
del Convento de
San Francisco
de Asís
Oficios y Churruca, La Habana
Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 862 9683
Gran Teatro de
La Habana
Prado y San Rafael, Centro Habana
Tel. +(53) 7 861 3077-79
Iglesia de San
Francisco de
Paula
Desamparados y San Ignacio,
Alameda de Paula, La Habana Vieja
Tel. +(53) 7 860 4210
Jardines de la
Tropical
Avenida Tropical y Rizo, Playa
Tel. +(53) 7 881 8767
Liceum
Mozartiano de
La Habana
Avenida Tropical y Rizo, Playa
Tel. +(53) 7 881 8767
Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com
Teatro Karl Marx Calle 1ra y 8, Miramar
Tel. +(53) 7 203 0801 / 209 1991
Teatro Mella
Línea entre A y B, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 830 4987
Teatro Nacional
Paseo y 39, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 879 3558 / 879 6011
Teatro Nacional
de Guiñol
Calle M entre 19 y 21, El Vedado
Tel. +(53) 7 832 6262 / 832 8292
page 40 WHAT’S ON HAVANA
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