oct 2014 - Visit · PDF fileBrouwer looking on at the 2014 Leo Brouwer Festival Photo by Alex...

oct2014

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editorialTheatre in Cuba is often seen as the poor relation of Cuban arts and culture. There has been no equivalent of Buena Vista Social Club, Los Van Van or Carlos Acosta taking the world by storm. Overly dramatic, impenetrable to understand (without impeccable Spanish) and a mixed bag of facilities, leave many to bypass or simply never find what is on offer. Understandable as this sentiment may be, there is a lot to miss—from the flamboyant to the introspective, avant-garde to the classical, performing arts in Cuba offers not just some brilliant acting and direction, but an insight into both contemporary and historical Cuba with a style and an edge which is puro Cubano.

From October 4-14, Camaguey’s 2014 Theatre Festival showcases the best of Cuban theatre in the city’s theater houses. To mark the occasion, this issue has features on Carlos Diaz, brilliant director of El Público, as well as a review of his latest and most provocative work—Antigonón—and a review of Piñera’s Aire frío in contemporary Cuba

For those thinking of making the trip to Camaguey, we have two features on this central province from esteemed travel writers Jill Worrell and Lydia Bell. Our Havana section also features stories on Havana’s Barrio Chino and in keeping with the theatrical theme, El Caballero de Paris.

October also sees the continuation of the Leo Brouwer Festival. Now at the mid-way point, this 6th Edition has been nothing short of spectacular and for the renowned Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, who recently celebrated his 75th birthday, it represents a fitting tribute to his ability to organize, inspire and manage one of Cuba’s premier music festivals.

Do check out our expanded Havana Guide, which is growing to accommodate the new bars, restaurants and casas particulares that continue to spring forth adding vitality and energy to Havana’s entertainment and hospitality scene.

October 2014 Highlights (Havana, unless stated) • Sep 26-Oct 12, Leo Brouwer Festival• Oct 1-31, Brazil Month of Culture • Oct 4-14, Camaguey Theatre Festival• Oct 9-19, British Week: Tremendo swing • Oct 17-20, Fiesta de la Cubanía (Bayamo) • Oct 20, Cuban National Culture Day (birth of Cuba’s National Anthem)• Oct 24-30, Fiesta de la Cultura Iberoamericana (Holguín) • Oct 28-Nov 7, International Ballet Festival

Thanks to all of our contributors, sponsors, partners and readers. All enquiries should be directed to [email protected]. All the best. Viva Cuba!

Cover picture of Fito Páez with Leo Brouwer looking on at the 2014 Leo Brouwer Festival Photo by Alex Mene

Ruy López-Nussa band performs as part of 2014 Leo Brouwer Festival photo by Alex Mene

Havana listings

Leo Brouwer – Cuba’s classical maestro turns 75 years young p5 by Ricardo Alberto Pérez

Camaguey Theatre Festival p10

Visual Arts p15 — Photography p17 — Dance p18 —Music p20 — Theatre p26 — For Kids p28 British Week: Tremendo swing (Oct 9-19) p32Brazilian month of culture (Oct 1-31) p34

Driving through Cuba’s provincial heart with hitchhikers p37

The Gentleman from Paris (El Caballero de París) p39

leo Brouwer

travel

Roberto Fonseca performs as part of 2014 Leo Brouwer Festival photo by Alex MeneoctuBer 2014

cuBan tHeatre

Havana style

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Mon

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13Monday night football

20Birth of the National Anthem

14Inauguration of British Film Week with ‘The Invisible Woman (2013) by Ralph Fiennes @ Cine 23 y 12, 8.30pm

21Get a beer or six at Havana’s best new brewery: Cervecería Antiguo Almacén de la Madera y el Tabaco

15Dinner at Santy, Jaimanitas’s off-the beaten track world-class sushi restaurant

22Dinner at Walter’s Carboncita. Enjoy the best pizzas in town—be warned: the Diablo is hot!

17Tropical con Swing @ Salón Rosado de la Tropical, 9.30pm featuring DJ Alain Dark, Déjà Vu, et al

24Oct 24-30, Fiesta de la Cultura Iberoamericana (Holguín)

18Ruth Palmer @ Convento San Francisco de Asís, 6pm

Phantom of the Opera @ Anfiteatro de la Habana Vieja, 9pm

12Concert de los ancestros including Chucho Valdés @ Teatro Karl Marx, 5pm

19Alice in Wonderland @ Teatro de las Estaciones, 10.30am ( for kids)

Oct 17-20, Fiesta de la Cubanía (Bayamo)

26La Máquina de la Melancolía, with Frank Delgado and Luis Alberto García @ El Sauce, 5pm

16Watch peace break out between Russian and Ukrainian diplomats at Cuba’s premier Soviet restaurant, Nazdarovie

23Brazilian music concert @ Casa de las Américas as part of Brazil culture month, 7pm

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11Concert El arco y la lira @ Teatro Marti, 8.30pm

Roberto Carcassés & his trio @ Café Miramar

10Documentary Leo Brouwer Festival @ Cine Chaplin, 5pm

Alas by Ballet Lizt Alfonso @ T

9October 9-19, British Week

God Save the Queen by Retazos @ Teatro Las Carolinas, 8pm

8Dinner at El Litoral, one of Havana’s best new restaurants—watch life pass by the Malecón.

25Caperucita Roja, el musical @ Teatro Mella, 8.30pm (premiere). Sunday 5.30pm


7Dinner at Mr Miglis’s Swedish-Cuban fusion oasis of good food and style in Centro Habana

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2Dinner at La Guarida Havana’s most famous (and arguably best) restaurant located in Centro Habana

3Take in the drag show at the one and only Humbolt 52.

4Oct 4-14, Camaguey Theatre Festival

Opening of Revelaciones @ San Francisco de Asís by Nelson Domínguez

5National Symphony Orchestra @ Teatro Nacional, 5pm

Muy Cubano... Cubanísimooo @ Carpa Trompoloco, Sat & Sun, 4pm

not to miss during Octuber 2014 what’s on havanaSep 29Monday night football

Sep 30

Oct 1 Through Oct 12, Leo

Brouwer Festival

This 6th Edition has been nothing short of spectacular. Still lots left to see. Don’t miss

it!


28Oct 28-Nov 7, International Ballet Festival

29Dinner at Habana Mía 7.

The new kid on the block is a spectacular new addition to Havana’s food scene.

30Take a 1950’s Chevrolet to La California to keep in touch with the historic neighborhood in this

31Dinner at the exceptional Starbien. Ask for the tuna terriki—simply spectacular.


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Leo Brouwer – Cuba’s classical maestro turns 75 years young by Ricardo Alberto Pérez

Leo Brouwer has just turned 75. You would never know from looking at him although perhaps by reviewing his repertoire, his record, his contribution to Cuba’s musical heritage you would wonder how he had accomplished so much in such as short span of years. His music has created an entirely new way of thinking, a tuning fork for interpreting human sensibilities which covers a multitude of themes including renovation, universality, roots, fecundity and mystery.

Leo was born in Havana in 1939 and grew up obsessed with music. As a teenager he was lucky to cross paths with Isaac Nicola, an exceptional guitar teacher who opened the doors to composers such as Gaspar Sanz, Luis de Milán and, later on, Fernando Sor and Francisco Tárrega.

Upon making his decision to concentrate on the guitar, Brouwer had determined the essence of his musicality and, to a great extent, the nature of his entire body of work. He became an exceptional performer, one of the most brilliant innovators ever known in the field of classical guitar. As he matured, on stage he transformed the guitar into a small orchestra. This phenomenon has its roots in the unprejudiced manner in which he handled the most diverse concepts, working without any sort of discrimination and shining a spotlight on the folkloric vein in the marvelous compositions of Bach and Villalobos.

photos by Alex Mene

Aldo López Gavilán performs as part of 2014 Leo Brouwer Festival


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Both Cuba and other countries owe Brouwer an eternal debt of gratitude for his founding and running such an extraordinary event that is the International Guitar Festival of Havana. It has been decisive for the formation and development of the highly respected Cuban School of Guitar not to mention crucial for the fate of the instrument on a world scale.

Brouwer’s musical thinking has been able to accommodate a broad spectrum of sound, including guitar classics and the most important elements of Cuban and Latin American music, and encompassing phenomena such as Hindu music, The Beatles and jazz. His trajectory as composer took off after the 1950s and has had important moments with works such as Elogio de la danza (1964), La tradición se rompe… pero cuesta trabajo (1969), La espiral eterna (1970), De Bach a los Beatles (1978), and Manuscrito antiguo encontrado en una botella (1983).

His guitar concerts have built up a beautiful history upon which he has extended the instrument’s possibilities. Brouwer’s compositions handle a fascinating mythology, with concerts being identified by names of specific cities and persons to which they have been dedicated. And so we have the Liege, Helsinki, Toronto and Havana concerts, all enriched by his intelligent dialogue with the great guitar tradition.

He has also conducted the Symphonic Orchestra of Cordoba in Spain and the National Symphonic Orchestra of Cuba. Talented young people, some barely out of their teens, often visit his offices hoping to sit in on a short class or merely wanting a bit of advice. He always welcomes them modestly and kindly and never ignores them. Joaquín Clerch, today one of the world’s guitar virtuosos and a great composer, was one of those youngsters. Like many others, he received help from Leo’s intuition and talent. So widespread are Brouwer’s contributions to Cuban music in general, that it would take a specialist to accurately describe them.

From 1970 to 1980, Brouwer’s performances amazed the world as he repeatedly toured through England, Germany, France, Austria, Holland, Canada, Argentina, Mexico and other countries, establishing contacts with the world’s most famous performers and composers. This trajectory and those unique experiences later became an inestimable reservoir for him when he was forced to abandon the guitar at an early age due to crippling arthritis; he has finally devoted himself to composing and conducting orchestras.

Leo has always had an incredible talent for taking on several creative projects at the same time. While he was establishing himself as a solo artist, he created the greatest musical project Cuba (and possibly the American continent) has known: the Grupo de Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC (ICAIC’s Experimental Sound Croup) that would provide sound tracks for Cuban films and bring together Cuban musical talents, such as Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés and Sergio Vitier. This musical process outstripped his expectations and grew into a genuine school, captained by the Maestro himself.

Ernán Lopez Nussa performs as part of 2014 Leo Brouwer Festival

Pancho Céspedez performs as part of 2014 Leo Brouwer Festival


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The Leo Brouwer Chamber Music Festival began on September 26 and will end on October 12, 2014 in Havana; it is yet another reason to joyfully celebrate his 75th birthday.

Ernán Lopez Nussa, Pancho Céspedez performs as part of 2014 Leo Brouwer Festival

Fito Paez performs as part of 2014 Leo Brouwer Festival

Ernán Lopez Nussa performs as part of 2014 Leo Brouwer Festival


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Organized by the Leo Brouwer Office, the 6th Leo Brouwer Chamber Music Festival—probably4 the most important music event of the year—began this past September 26 and will continue until October 12, 2014. Unfortunately, the organizers have announced that this will be the last one and will be bidding farewell to the growing audiences that have packed theaters and concert halls to enjoy “the perfect combination of different kinds of intelligent music,” which has been the purpose of the festival throughout the years.

6th Leo Brouwer Chamber Music Festival Through October 12, 2014

Karl Marx, Mella, Martí, Miramar theaters; Basílica Menor del Convento de San Francisco de Asís, Charles Chaplin Cinema, Fábrica de Arte Cubano, Café Miramar, Habana Café, Centro Cultural El Sauce, Casas de la Música de Miramar y Habana

Photos by Alex Mene

Wednesday, Oct 1

Teatro Karl Marx, 9pm Concert Fito Páez Esencial Leo Brouwer, Orquesta de Cámara de La Habana (Cuba) e invitados

Thursday, Oct 2

Teatro Miramar, 9:30 am-12:30pm Clase magistral de Leo Brouwer

Teatro Mella, 8:30pmConcert Palabras Haydée Milanés, Ernán López Nussa, Enrique Plá, Gastón Joya, Nam Sam Fong, Edgar Martínez, Roberto García, Molote, Carlos Frank, Schola Cantorum Coralina and Cuarteto de Cuerdas Presto (Cuba) e invitados

Friday, Oct 3

Teatro Miramar, 2:30pm-5:30pmClase magistral de Leo Brouwer

Kcho Estudio Romerillo. Laboratorio para el Arte, 5:30pm Exposición Praga, ciudad de la música Photos: Jiří Všeteřka

Friday, Oct 3

Casa de la Música Miramar, 7pm-2am Noche Blanca del Flamenco Aceituna sin Hueso, Josué Tacoronte, Reynier Mariño, Gabriel Elizondo, and others

Teatro Martí, 8:30pm Concert Les Voix Humaines Jordi Savall (Spain)

Saturday, Oct 4

Teatro Martí, 5pm Concert Donna in Musica. Compositoras italianas ss. xvi-xvii Anna Aurigi y Giovanni Bellini (Italy), Vocal Luna (Cuba) and guests

Teatro Mella, 8:30pm Concert Vivaldi siglo xxi. Sinfonity (España)

Sunday, Oct 5

Teatro Mella, 5pm Concert Del medioevo al danzón Horacio Franco, Victor Flores and Santiago Álvarez (Mexico)


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Monday, Oct 6

Teatro Martí, 8:30pm Concert De Praga a La Habana ArteMiss Trio y Pavel Steidl (Czech Rep.), Niurka González, Gretchen Labrada and Orquesta de Cámara de La Habana (Cuba), Leo Brouwer

Tuesday, Oct 7

Teatro Martí, 8:30pm Concert Jenny Q Chai & Friends Jenny Q Chai (US), Niurka González and Orquesta de Cámara de La Habana (Cuba) and guests

Wednesday, Oct 8

Teatro Martí, 8:30pm Concert Tras las huellas de Mangoré Berta Rojas (Paraguay), Arístides Porto (Cuba), Ricardo Gallén (Spain), Josué Tacoronte (Cuba-Mexico), Orquesta de Cámara de La Habana (Cuba) and guests

Thursday, Oct 9

Basílica Menor del Convento de San Francisco de Asís, 10am Cello Plus (el cello más largo) Professional cellists and students of the instrument throughout the Island will play the longest cello

Teatro Martí, 8:30pm Concert Las cartas de JulietaCuarteto Latinoamericano (Mexico), Niurka González and Augusto Enríquez (Cuba)

Centro Cultural El Sauce, 7pm-2amNoche Blanca de la Trova

Friday, Oct 10

Cine Charles Chaplin, 5pm Presentación del documental Festival Leo Brouwer, sus raíces de Joel Ramírez

Teatro Mella, 8:30 pm AlasBallet Lizt Alfonso

Saturday, Oct 11

Basílica Menor del Convento de San Francisco de Asís, 6pm Concert El amor en el baile. Inéditos pianísticos cubanos del s.xix Liana Fernández, Lianne Vega, Milagros de los Ángeles Soto, Lisa María Blanco and Gabriela Pineda (Cuba), Josué Tacoronte (Cuba-Mexico),

Teatro Martí, 8:30pm Concert El arco y la lira Carlos Prieto (Mexico), Yo-Yo Ma (US), Ricardo Gallén (España), Brasil Guitar Duo (Brazil)

Sunday, Oct 12

El Ciervo Encantado, 11am Musica electroacústica: 50 años del primer concierto en CubaQuinteto de Viento Nueva Camerata, Ricardo Martínez and Victor Piverno (Cuba)

Teatro Karl Marx, 5pm Concert de los ancestros Leo Brouwer, Orquesta de Cámara de La Habana, Chucho Valdés, , Cuarteto Presto, Rodney Barreto, Gastón Joya, Yaroldy Abreu, Dreiser Durruthy and Reinaldo Melián (Cuba), Ricardo Gallén (Spain)

Casas de la Música de Miramar and Habana 10pm-6amNoche Blanca del Son (homenaje a Juan Formell)

For more information:www.festivaleobrouwer.com


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Camaguey’s 2014 Theatre Festival by Victoria Alcalá

Every two years, the lovely city of Camaguey, which recently commemorated 500 years since it was founded, gauges current Cuban theater. Fourteen previous editions validate the National Theater Festival held in the ancient colonial city of Puerto Principe as the most outstanding stage for Cuban theater arts and as the most important national encounter of its kind.

A decision was taken in 2012 to eliminate the competitive nature of the Festival, complete with the awarding of prizes. This gave rise to different opinions: some believe it could take interest away from participation and also shortchange a sector that lacks recognition. Others think that there is less tension in the air when you remove the rivalry. What is certain is that the generous presence of groups from various provinces belies the dropping off of interest since the mere fact of being selected from amongst the proposals received by the organizers constitutes a kind of prize in itself.

This year as we remember the 200th anniversary of the birth of the playwright and poet from Camaguey Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, the festival has taken on a meaningful theme: Theater: memory, feelings and transfers. The plays, which revolve around this slogan, have been organized in different sections, so that audience may enjoy productions that established guidelines in prior editions and continue to be part of the repertoires of emblematic groups, along with plays that deal

Festival de Teatro de CamagueyOctober 4-11, 2014Casablanca Movie Theater, Camaguey

with present-day issues and others that venture into an interesting symbiosis of genres and language.

Dozens of productions have been announced from 28 Cuban companies hailing from 12 provinces; such a truly national stamp has been one of the most important gains of the Camaguey festival. Surpassed only by Havana, there has been a healthy infrastructure put together in order to stage work produced from September 2012 to June 2014. Facilities have been expertly set up, some of them by the actors of the companies themselves, as in the case of Teatro del Viento. City squares will also provide excellent stages thereby taking dramatic representations back to earlier times.

Rascacielosphoto by Alex Mene


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Far beyond the essential material conditions, the well-versed, educated and soberly hospitable audiences of Camaguey will surely be among the true prizes for artistic prowess among the selected participants. Groups from Pinar del Río, Artemisa, La Habana, Isla de la Juventud, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Ciego de Ávila, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Granma and Santiago de Cuba will add a glow to the festival, which will also feature the performance of the popular young singer Luna Manzanares, as well as the opening of four exhibitions dealing with the festival’s curatorial concept.

The venue for the theoretical event will be the recently refurbished Casablanca Movie Theater on “the street of movie theaters” that came to life during the inspiring celebrations marking the 500 years of the city. A special feature will be a seminar given by the French theoretician Jean-Frédéric Chevallier who will stage his plays as tools for the construction and interpretation of contemporary theater. As usual, there will be colloquiums, meetings with critics, a roundtable with international theatrical programmers, dramaturgy pitching aimed at new Cuban playwrights, book launchings by the Tablas Alarcos press, the presentation of the Conjunto magazine and the Report of the 14th Festival (2013), and an International Marionette Union (Unima) forum.

PROGRAMPerformances in theaters

Teatro de la Academia de las Artes Vicentina de la Torre

OcT 4-5,

2:30pm/5pmGris / Teatro Tuyo

OcT 9-11, 5pm

Sala Teatral Teatro

OcT 6-9,

5 pmJardín de estrellas / Compañía Teatral La Andariega

Teatro del Viento

OcT 4, 9pmOcT 5, 5pm

Las lágrimas no hacen ruido al caer / Proyecto Mujeres Fuente de Creación

OcT 8, 9pmOcT 9, 5pM/9pM

Delantal todo sucio de huevos / Teatro D’Dos

OcT 10, 9pmOcT 11, 5pm

Burundanga / Teatro de Las Estaciones

Contigo pan y cebolla / Teatro Pinos Nuevos

Festival Elsinorphoto by J.Calcagno


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Sala Teatro José Luis Tassende

OcT 4-5, 9 pm El millonario y la maleta / Teatro del Viento

OcT 6-7, 9 pm Mundo de muertos / Estudio Teatral Macubá

OcT 9-11, 9 pm Fíchenla si pueden / Argos Teatro

Teatro Avellaneda

OcT 4 y 5, 9 pm Cuba y la noche / Estudio Teatral de Santa Clara

OcT 9-11, 9 pm Semen / Teatro El Portazo

Teatro principal

OcT 4-5, 9 pm Delirio Habanero / Teatro de la Luna

OcT 6, 9 pm Sab / Ballet Folklórico de Camaguey

OcT 7, 9 pm Concierto de Luna Manzanares

OcT 8, 9 pm Tu noche con Kike / Kike Quiñones

OcT 9-10, 9 pmOcT 11, 5 pm

Rascacielos / Teatro El Público

Sala Espacio Interior

OcT 4-6, 9 pm Aleja a tus hijos del alcohol / Teatro El Público

OcT 8-10, 9 pm La panza del caimán / Teatro del Espacio Interior

café Teatro 15 Festival de Teatro

OcT 6-7,10:30pm Kafé verde pero dulce / Proyectos varios

OcT 8-10,10:30pm Mujeres de la luna / Teatro de la Luna

Teatro Guiñol de camagüey

OcT 4-5,

2:30pM/5pMEl gato simple / Guiñol de Remedios

OcT 6-7,

2:30pM/5pMEl gato con botas / Guiñol de Camaguey

OcT 8-9,

2:30pM/5pMAventuras en pueblo chiflado / Los Cuenteros

Performances for kids

OcT 10,

2:30pM/5pMAlicia en busca del conejo blanco / Teatro de Las Estaciones

Sala Teatro José Luis Tassende

OcT 4-5, 9 pm El millonario y la maleta / Teatro del Viento

OcT 6-7, 9 pm Mundo de muertos / Estudio Teatral Macubá

OcT 9-11, 9 pm Fíchenla si pueden / Argos Teatro

Festival Elsinorphoto by Alex Mene


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Teatro La Edad de Oro

OcT 4-5,

2:30pM/5pMLos pintores / Teatro Escambray

OcT 6, 5pMOcT 7-8,

2:30pM/5pM

La muchachita del mar / Teatro de Títeres Retablos

OcT 9, 5pMOcT 10, 2:30pM/5pM;

Se durmió en los laureles / Teatro Papalote

plaza del Gallo

OcT 4, 6 pM ¡Ay, Margarita! / Teatro Andante

OcT 6, 6 pM En busca de una antigua ilusión / Teatro Tecma

Performances in plazas

plaza del carmen



plaza Joaquín de Agüero



OcT 11, 10:30AM/3pM

plaza de los Trabajadores

OcT 8, 6pm Troya / D’Morón Teatro

Avenida de la caridad


plaza Joaquín de Agüero


plaza del carmen


Teatro Espontaneophoto by Y. Monte


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Multicine casablanca

OcT 4, 9:30pM Gertruids Gómez de Avellaneda – Back in her kingdom

OcT 5, 9:30pM Theater management

OcT 6, 9:30pM Dramaturgy pitching

Theoretical program

OcT 6, 12 noon Presentations by Tablas Alarcos

OcT 6, 2 pM Seminar: How did I stage my productions? / Jean-Frédéric Chevallier

OcT 7, 9:30pM Colloquium on Criticism I



OcT 8, 9:30 pM One island, one theater



OcT 9, 9:30 pM UNIMA Forum


OcT 10, 9:30pM Colloquium on Criticism II


photo by Ana Lorena


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visual arts

Hacia el poeta Lloyd’s Register (Calle B #310, e/ 13 y 15, Vedado)Throughout OctoberThe Spanish artist Mariví Nebreda reinterprets the work of great Spanish-speaking poets .

Las otras narraciones: una década de animación independienteCentro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Through Oct 18As part of the 6th Salón of Cuban Contemporary Art, this exhibition explores a decade of the work of 50 Cuban artists involved in animation films through TV spots, messages for the public, cartoons, music videos, installations, videogames, visual experimentation, interactive works and mapping.

La utilidad de la historia Factoría Habana, Throughout OctoberThe curatorial project, which includes the particpation of Abel Barroso, Celia y Yunior, Arianna Contino, Rigoberto Díaz, Ricardo Elías, Alex Hernández, José Manuel Mesías, Frank Mujica, Fernando Reyna, Lázaro Saavedra and José Ángel Toirac, takes as its starting point the creative processes and historical research that sometimes become artistic events. The project includes works by a group of young artists who prioritize research and the use of documents linked to the final result, as well as artists from the 1980s and 90s, representing the generations that have influenced the newer generations in their way of understanding art.


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Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. Edificio de Arte Universal

ThrOUGh OcT 27

African-American Artists & Abstraction. Thirty-eight works by nine African-American artists make up this selection, which was curated by Nanette Carter, Melvin Edwards and Ben Jones. The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of the African-American poet and artist Jayne Cortez.

centro provincial de Artes plásticas y Diseño

ThrOUGh OcT 17

La intención como otro nivel de conciencia. Andy Rodríguez takes a look at everyday life by way of irony and parody, critically interpreting contemporary reality through characters and settings that caricature reality.

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. Edificio de Arte cubano

ThrOUGh OcT 13

Cundo Bermúdez: pasión y lucidez. With this selection of 25 pieces from 1940 and 1964, the National Museum of Fine Arts has organized, for the first time, a solo exhibition of one of the leading artists of the so-called School of Havana and of the second Cuban artistic avant-garde, who, according to Roberto Cobas Amate, curator of the exhibition, “deserves that both critics and the public recognize the validity and strength of his art.”

Biblioteca pública rubén Martínez Villena

OpENS OcT 9 First solo exhibition by the young Cuban designer Edel “Mola” Rodriguez, consisting of a selection of drawings, illustrations and interventions in space.

convento de San Francisco de Asís

OpENS OcT 4 Revelaciones. Exhibit of varios phases in the rich and diverse artistic production of Nelson Domínguez, especially emphasizing the period from 2010 to 2014.

Fábrica de Arte cubano

ThrOUGh OcT 12

Pintura en acción. Exhibition by Eduardo Roca (Choco).

casa de Asia

OpENS OcT 15 Olvídate de todo y pinta. Watercolors and ink on cardboard by César Towie, who uses Havana’s architecture as an object of meditation to induce concentration, introspection and reflection in pieces featuring the traditional format in which kakemonos were made in Japan, or the hanging scrolls of China.

casa Oswaldo Guayasamín

OpENS OcT 2 Hay un presagio en el aireSculptures and installations made of plaster, stone, rope and fiberglass by Tomás Oliva Aguero, with a theme visited by the 20th-century avant-garde—the toilet—to represent fear, anguish, surprise and shock.

centro hispano Americano de cultura

OpENS OcT 24 Japón: reino de personajes. Exhibition of anime and manga characters as an essential part modern popular culture.

Galería centro cultural Fresa y chocolate

ThrOUGhOUT OcTOBEr

Interludio. Exhibition of works by students and teachers of the San Alejandro National Academy of Fine Arts, which touch on elements related to music, dedicated to Cuban composer Leo Brouwer’s 75th birthday.

Galería El reino de Este Mundo. Biblioteca Nacional José Martí

ThrOUGh OcT 8

Universos de Girona. Drawings, oil paintings, watercolors, inks and gouaches by one of the most original Cuban artists of of the 20th century: Julio Girona (1914-2002), whose work, forever young and restless, goes from art informel through figuration to abstract expressionism are exhibited all month on occasion of the centenary of his birth.

Galería habana

ThrOUGh OcT 24

Un día cualquiera. Felipe Dulzaides, essential figure in Cuban photography, video art, installation and public art, explores everyday commonplaces.

Mascaradas. Exhibition by the Italian artist Alfredo Cannatello.


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PHotograPHyNosotros los de abajo Centro Provincial de Artes Plásticas y Diseño, Throughout OctoberThe Mexican photographer Pablo Méndez makes use of events that made the headlines in the Novedades newspaper to assemble a discourse on Mexican social issues and their spiraling violence.

casa Oswaldo Guayasamín

ThrOUGh OcT 13

Silencio roto. In the 16 black and white pictures by Annia Leyva and Aníbal de la Torre, the human figure is combined in the forefront with objects associated with everyday life.


ThrOUGh OcT 25

Out of the Blue. Photographs inspoired by Maestro David Gilmour’s guitar solos.

Fototeca de cuba

ThrOUGhOUT OcTOBEr

xl´2. Focused on the concern of young artists in relation to the meaning of communication in everyday life, this exhibition, which is part of the 6th Salon of Cuban Art, deals with the impact of alternative forms in information flow in Cuba.

palacio de Lombillo

ThrOUGh OcT 13

Breakfast in Havana. The different poetics of Ridel Calero and Armando Zambrana meet in their realistic look of Havana, its people, its environment and its symbols.


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Alas Ballet Lizt Alfonso, Teatro Mella, Fri 10, 17 & 24; Sat 11, 18 & 25, 8:30pm, Sun 12, 19 & 26, 5pmAlas, a hymn to the spirituality of humankind, pays tribute to the distinguished Spanish flamenco dancer Antonio Gades on the 10th anniversary of his death.

MascaradaDanza-Teatro Retazos and Grupo GiganteríaSat, Oct 4, 4:30pm, Jardines del Teatro MartíEveryone is welcome to come with their own masks to this concert/performance and be part of the show!

dance


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XXIV Festival Internacional de Ballet de La HabanaOctober 28-November 7, Mella, Karl Marx and Nacional theatersPresided over since 1960 by the legendary Alicia Alonso, the International Havana Ballet Festival brings together outstanding international ballet stars, companies and celebrities of the ballet world, as well as critics and entrepreneurs alongside the Cuban National Ballet. More than 200 world premieres to its name and over a thousand guests attest to the significance of the Havana Ballet Festivals in the world of dance. The festival, which is not competitive, focuses on the fraternal meeting of ballet artists from all over the world.

2014 Preview This year’s festival will be dedicated to the 450th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare. The Ballet Nacional de Cuba will perfom several ballets based on his plays, such as Shakespeare y sus máscaras and Prólogo para una tragedia. The Ópera de Nice, which has been especially invited to this year’s festival, will dance La pavana del moro, also based on Shakespeare’s work. The ballet Tula, choreographed by Alicia Alonso, will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the 18th-century cuban Cuban playwright and poet Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda. Other classical and well-known ballets choreographed by Alonso will be presented: Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Giselle and La magia de la danza (The Magic of Dancing). The latter is an anthology of scenes from several classical ballets together with The Gottschalk Symphony, choreographed by Alicia Alonso.

Ballet


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contemporary Fusion music

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.

Club Habana PartyPhoto Alex Mene

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

MONDAyS

11 pmManana Club

Fresa y chocolate

SUNDAyS

10 pmAceituna Sin Hueso

havana hard rock

EVEry OThEr FrIDAy

Soul Train, a show of soul music

Cover bandsSAT & SUN

10 pm

Arnaldo Rodríguez y su TalismánThUrSDAyS

5 pm

Qva LibreWEDNESDAyS

5 pm

Submarino Amarillo

SUNDAyS,

9 pmLos Kents

Elaín MoralesThUrSDAyS

5 pm

Charanga LatinaFrIDAyS

5 pm

café concert El Sauce

SUNDAyS

5 pmLa Máquina de la Melancolía, with Frank Delgado and Luis Alberto García

ThUrSDAyS

10 pmMucho Ruido Tercera y 8

MONDAyS

11 pmBaby Lores


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salsa / timba casa de la Música de Miramar

MONDAyS

TUESDAyS

WEDNESDAyS

5 pm Habana C

ThUrSDAyS

FrIDAyS

maikel Blanco y su salsa mayor

Photo by Alex Mene

Jardines del 1830

FrIDAyS

10 pm

Azúcar Negra

casa de la Música habana

TUESDAyS 5 pm Caribe Girls

WEDNESDAyS

11 pm Sur Caribe

piano Bar Tun Tun

ThUrSDAyS

5 pm El Noro y 1ra Clase

11 pm NG La Banda

5 pm Pupy y los que Son SonThUrSDAyS

11 pm Charanga Latina

5 pm Azúcar NegraFrIDAyS

11 pm Manolito y su TrabucoSATUrDAyS

5 pm Habana D’Primera

11 pm Pedrito Calvo y La Justicia

5 pm Juan Guillermo

11 pm Adalberto Alvarez y su Son

5 pm Manolito Simonet

11 pm Habana D’Primera

5 pm El Niño y La Verdad

11 pm NG La Banda

5 pm Tumbao HabanaSATUrDAyS

SUNDAyS 5 pm Bamboleo

11 pm Chispa y sus Cómplices


MONDAyS

11 pm

Manana Club

october 6, 8pm

teatro mella

11 pm NG La Banda

FrIDAyS 5 pm Gens (pop-rock)

SUNDAyS 11 pm Electronic music

SATUrDAyS 5 pm Manana Club

11 pm Gens (pop-rock)


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Café Jazz MiramarShows: 11 pm - 2amThis 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.

jazz music

UNEAc

OcT 9

2 pmPeña La Esquina del Jazz hosted by showman Bobby Carcassés.

Asociación cubana de Derechos de Autor Musical

OcT 16

6 pmAlexis Bosch (pianist) and Proyecto Jazz Cubano.

café Miramar

SATUrDAyS

10 pmRoberto Carcassés (pianist &composer) and his trio

casa de la poesía

OcT 17

6 pmJazz Poetry, with the group Polaroid and young poets from Havana.

Calle 88A No. 306 e/ 3ra y 3ra

A, Miramar. +53 (07) 209-2719Jazz Café Shows: 10:30pm - 2amMellow, 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 - 2amThe ‘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.


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bolero, Folklore, son & trova


SATUrDAyS

4 pmWaldo Mendoza

casa de la cultura comunitaria Mirta Aguirre

OcT 26

5 pmGet-together with trovador Ireno García.

Asociación yoruba de cuba

El Jelengue de Areíto

MONDAyS

5 pmTanda de Guaracheros

hotel Telégrafo

FrIDAyS

9:30 pmIvette Cepeda.

casa de África

OcT 3

2 pmObba Ilú

casa de la cultura de plaza

OcT 11

7 pmPeña with Marta Campos.

casa Simón Bolívar

OcT 9

6 pmWaldo Mendoza

casa Memorial Salvador Allende

OcT 24

5 pmPeña La Juntamenta, with trovador Ángel Quintero.

hurón Azul, UNEAc

OcT 11

10 pmMundito González.

casa del Alba

OcT 30

6 pmPeña El Canto de Todos, with Vicente Feliú

SATUrDAyS

4 pmLos Ibellis (Folkloric group)

piano Bar Tun Tun (casa de la Música de Miramar)

ThUrSDAyS

5 pmPeña with trovador Ray Fernández

centro Memorial Martin Luther King, Jr.

OcT 16

4:30 pmMarta Campos

pabellón cuba

FrIDAyS

5 pmPeña Tres Tazas with trovador Silvio Alejandro

music

café concert El Sauce

OcT 7 & 28

10 pmPlus Trova with Charly Salgado and guests.

TUESDAyS

5 pmConjunto ChappotínFrIDAyS

11 pmFrank Delgado

centro cultural habaneciendo

SUNDAyS

3 pmFausto Durán and guests

WEDNESDAyS

5 pmTrovando, a meeting with good trova.

ThUrDAyS

5 pmConjunto de Arsenio Rodríguez

centro Iberoamericano de la Décima

OcT 28

5 pmEl Jardín de la Gorda with trovadors from every generation.

OcT 4

4 pmSíntesis FrIDAyS

5 pmRumberos de Cuba

SUNDAyS

5 pmTimbalaye

OcT 11

4 pmObiní Batá

casa de la Música habana

SUNDAyS

5 pmYoruba Andabo


OcT 11

5 pmAbel Geronés, Wendy Besada and Wendy Vizcaíno


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Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís

OcT 1

11 amConcert with the Camerata Romeu.

Photo by Ivan Soca

classical music

OcT 4

6 pmPremiere of works by Cuban composer Juan Piñera interpreted by the Promúsica duo, violist Anolan González and other renowned musicians.

OcT 18

6 pmConcert with the Camerata Romeu.

casa del ALBA cultural

OcT 5

5 pmEn Confluencia, conducted by guitarists Eduardo and Galy Martín.

OcT 12

5 pmTarde de Concierto, conducted by soprano Lucy Provedo.

OcT 19

5 pmDe Nuestra América, conducted by pianist Alicia Perea.

OcT 26

5 pmConcert by guitarist Rosa Matos.

OcT 25

6 pmConcert of works by Cuban composer Juan Piñera


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OcT 15

5 pmConcert Trova de Cámara, with version from Cuban Trova interpreted by Annie Garcés Santana, accompanied by a string ensemble from the Guillermo Tomás Conservatory.

Museo Nacional de Bella Artes. Edificio de Arte Universal

OcT 11

3 pmThe Vocal Leo choir will sing Cuban and Latin American pieces and have invited the percussion group from the Guillermo Tomás Conservatory to their performance.

Oratorio San Felipe Neri

OcT 23

7 pmConcert by clarinetist Arístides Porto accompanied byu a chamber ensemble.

OcT 25

4 pmPiano recital by Lianne Vega who will play pieces by Beethoven, Liszt and Liget.

OcT 30

6 pmPresentation of the Polish soprano Dominika Zamara and the Mexian pianist Alejandro Barrañón.

Sala covarrubias, Teatro Nacional

SUNDAyS

5 pmNational Symphony Orchestra

Sala Gonzalo roig. palacio del Teatro Lírico Nacional

OcT 26

5 pmCuerda Dominical with guitarist Luis Manuel Molina.

OcT 18

5 pmLyrical gala directed by Pedro Arias Domínguez.

Biblioteca Nacional José Martí

OcT 11

4 pmConcert with Ensemble Solistas de La Habana conducted by Iván Valiente.

OcT 18

4 pmRecital by saxophonist Javier Zalba and pianist María del Henar Navarro.

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. Edificio de Arte cubano

OcT 4

3 pmDirected by María Felicia Pérez Concert, the Exaudi Choir wuill sing religious songs from the Romantic period (Mendelssohn, Elgar, Saint Saëns and Gounod); contemporary pieces (Knut Nystedt [Norway], György Orbán [Hungary] and César Carrillo [Venezuela]; and Cuban, Argentinean and Venezuelan popular music.

Oratorio San Felipe Neri

OcT 5

6 pmPiano recital by Yadasny Portillo.

OcT 17

6 pmConcert with the Lyceum Mozartiano Chamber orchestra conducted by José Antonio Méndez.

OcT 19

6 pmThe violinist Evelio Tieles qill play works by Mozart and Cuban composers Guillermo Tomás and Julián Orbón, with guests Iresis García Chao (violin), Roberto Herrera Díaz (viola) and Alejandro Rodríguez Tirado (cello).


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Cuentos del campamentoTé-Atro / Directed by Elio Fidel López, Tue, Wed & Thurs, 6pm, Sala teatro de la Orden TerceraAimed at the teenage public, the play deals with actual events that occurred during a “School goes to the countryside” program, related to the characters’ past, future and dreams.

Neurótica Anónima Directed by Joel Angelino, Opens in late October, Sala Adolfo LlauradóAuthored and starred by renowned Cuban actress Mirtha Ibarra, the play is about an usher (Mirtha) of a movie theater that will be soon be demolished. She lives her life through the lives of the actresses in the movies she has seen—lives that are very different from the real life she leads in the company of a gay janitor and the projectionist who is in love with her but whom she despises, considering him not only mediocre but a coward.

tHeatre

Caperucita Roja, el musicalJoel Angleino Company / Directed by Joel Angelino, Oct 25, 8:30pm; Oct 26, 5pm, Teatro Mella The Spain-based Cuban actor Joel Angelino (Germán in Fresa y Chocolate) will premiere in Cuba his own musical version of the immortal story, which, in his own words, suggests “a dialogue among generations, tolerance towards differences and harmonious coexistence.”


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Antigonón, un contingente épicoTeatro El Público / Directed by Carlos DíazFri & Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 5pm, Teatro TrianónAntigonón, 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!

Panorama desde el puente ViTal Teatro / Directed by Alejandro PalominoFri, & Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 5pm, Teatro Raquel RevueltaThis play by Arthur Miller, adapted to the Cuban scene by Amado del Pino and Alejandro Palomino, addresses the conflict in a family descended from immigrants who decide to welcome into their home two young compatriots who want to restart their lives.

tHeatre

The Phantom of the OperaSat & Sun, 9pm, Anfiteatro de La Habana ViejaAlfonso Menéndez celebrates his 30th anniversary in show business with The Phantom of the Opera, the famous musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Menéndez is responsible for the script, Spanish version and production of the musical. The main roles will be interpreted by Maylú Hernández/Marla Pileta as Christine; José Luis Pérez/Andrés Sánchez as The Phantom; and Rigoberto López/Rogelio Rivas as Raoul, who will be accompanied by a cast of young singers, many of whom are newcomers to the stage. Also participating in the production are the Ballet de la Televisión Cubana and the Ballet de Bertha Casañas.


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for kids BurreríasTeatro La Proa, Oct 10 & 17, 3pm; Oct 11-12, 18-19, 11pm & 5pm, Teatro Nacional de Guiñol

Through puppets, games and traditional songs, two puppeteer friends tell four classic stories: Historia de burros and El perro y el burro by René Fernández Santana; El Burro Caturro Perimpimplujo by Jesús del Castillo, and Platero y yo by Juan Ramón Jiménez.

Muy Cubano... CubanísimoooCirco Nacional de Cuba, Sat & Sun, 4pm & 7pm, Carpa TrompolocoBrand new circus show with exciting acts combined with the vernacular humor that the first circuses in Cuba were based on. The kids will love the clowns, the trained animals, the fire-eaters, as well as other highly skilled acts, such as aerial silk, tumbling and trampoline, juggling, acrobatics, and much more.

La ColmenitaPhoto by Alex Mene


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El Arca: Where new puppets are born by Margaret Atkins

Ever since an old popular song fixed in the memory of every Cuban the tragic death of Lola, a woman of questionable moral who was killed by her lover at 3pm, this hour in the afternoon would forever be dubbed “the time when Lola was killed.”

Today, however, at least for the kids who live in Old Havana, this time of day has a completely different connotation—it’s puppet show time.

“After the kids have played out in the sun in the nearby park, they come to El Arca and take refuge here,” says director Liliana Pérez Recio as she welcomes us to Teatro de Títeres El Arca—The Ark Puppet Theater—where in a lovely room the actors are rehearsing a puppet version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

With a capacity for 64 spectators, El Arca is situated on the ground floor of Casa Pedroso, whose upper floors are home to the Office of the City Historian of Havana. Liliana takes us around the place, which includes the theater, the typical central courtyard of Cuban colonial homes, and the puppet museum. El Arca is located right across the Bay of Havana and the environment is the pretext for the name: El Arca (The Ark) the refuge where puppets come to life and where they travel from one show to another.

When we ask Liliana how El Arca came to be, she tells us about her student days at the Higher Institute of the Arts (ISA) when a group of students gathered round researcher, playwright and theater expert Freddy Artiles who devoted his career to the validation of the at times misunderstood art of puppetry; of the nearly ten years she spent with the Guiñol National, Cuba’s national Puppet Theater and of her relationship with Roberto Fernández, a director with a lengthy and fruitful stage career who was her teacher and friend. And of course, she tells us about Eusebio Leal, Historian of the City of Havana, heart and soul of the revitalization

Teatro de Títeres El ArcaAvenida del Puerto y calle Obrapía, Habana ViejaFunciones: viernes, sábados y domingos, 3 pm

photos by Y. Monte


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project of Old Havana, who never forgot a project suggested to him by a group who wanted to set up a street puppet theater. “Several years had passed and you might think he wouldn’t remember, but one day we met here on the corner and Leal said, ‘What are you doing? Are you free? Come with me.’ He took me by the hand and showed me this place, recited some verses by Calderón de la Barca and asked me, ‘It’s a theater, isn’t it?’ And that’s how it all began,” Liliana tells us, clearly showing her emotion from knowing that her dream came true.

From the very beginning, the project included a puppet museum. “I asked Eusebio,” Liliana recalls, “How can we have a museum if we don’t have a collection?” And he replied, “Don’t worry, we’ll have one somehow.” “But we have no money,” I said, “so where will we get the puppets?” “We’ll have one somehow,” he said again. Liliana’s eyes shine when she speaks of the City Historian. She can’t hide her respect and admiration for Leal. The adventure of traveling throughout the island knocking on the doors of puppet theaters everywhere in search of pieces for the museum began in 2008. “First we went to the provinces,” says the director of El Arca, “and told everyone that we were going to create a museum and that we wanted all the puppeteers and puppet troupes in the island to be represented in this museum.”

It was neither a quick nor an easy task. Some groups that had been important in the history of puppetry in Cuba no longer existed and many pieces were in the hands of people who had already retired, or of family members who usually had no idea how to preserve them properly. “So, step by step, we began to create a Cuban collection,” and Liliana continues, “I believe that right now our collection has an acceptable level of representation, which reflects certain features that allow us to speak of Cuban puppetry. We owe our international collection to donations made by friends from Belgium, Africa, Spain, India, Brazil, Peru, Mexico. And while some puppets, for some reason or another, may not be extremely valuable as museum pieces, they have an educational value for us.” The idea is to have an interactive museum in which the children will be able to understand and learn the different puppetry techniques and to handle puppets. “Our aim is to make it fun,” assures Liliana.

El Arca Theater opened with “Lilo’s Cat,” a shadow play. This technique was not common in Cuba and Liliana explains further: “Many people thought that El Arca was a theater for shadow plays and I always say, ‘No, El Arca is a laboratory, today it may be shadow plays and tomorrow something else.’”


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And in justification of these words, she tells us about the premiere of The Musicians of Bremen and Brazos Caídos adapted both for paper theater, also called toy or model theater. This is the result of a paper theater workshop for children and adolescents who live in the Historic Center. Like many other institutions in the area, El Arca gives participation to the local community in the cultural process that is part of the revitalization and preservation program of Old Havana’s Historic Center.

At the time of our interview, the company was preparing Sueño de una noche de verano based on William Shakespeare’s immortal A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This show has become a hard learning process especially for the less experienced actors who have had to work with rod puppets for the first time, in addition to the text by Shakespeare, quite different from the everyday language they are used to working with.

Like the biblical Ark, El Arca is a refuge and a place of promise where new puppets are born to help populate the rich world of Cuban puppetry.


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Semana Británica en la Habana: Tremendo swing!Del 9 al 19 de octubre estaremos celebrando diez días con muchísimo swing al mejor estilo británico. No faltarán el cine, la música, el teatro, la historia y mucho más. ¡Algo muy especial !

Cine de primera

Ven con nosotros al Cine 23 y 12. “La mujer invisible” dirigida por Ralph Fiennes y “El Gigante egoísta” del Dir. Clio Barnard son, entre otros filmes los platos fuertes de esta oferta cinematográfica.

“Tropical con swing”

¡Para los cardiacos a la música más movida, el viernes 17 los esperamos con nuestro gran concierto “Tropical con Swing” en el Salón Rosado de la Tropical! ¡No te pierdas a Déjá vu, Robertico Carcasses e Interactivo! Y para los más clásicos, la Camerata Romeu y la joven y talentosa violinista británica Ruth Palmer ofrecerán un concierto el sábado 18 de octubre.


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October 1-31, 2014 Different venues in Havana Lovers of Brazilian culture will have a blast with the wide and diverse program that has been organized for the entire month of October in the Cuban capital, thanks to the joint efforts of the Brazilian Embassy in Cuba, the Cuban Ministry of Culture, ICAIC, Casa de las Am¬é¬ricas and other participating institutions.

The Brazilian Culture Month opens with a concert by sax player César López and Habana Ensemble, which will be followed in subsequent days by a varied program that includes, among other, theater, visual arts and photography exhibitions, lectures and cinema. The latter will occupy a privileged space with the Brazil Film Club, which screens and discusses films from different epochs¸ genres and trends, every Wednesday at 3:00 pm at Multicine Infanta, and especially with the series of feature films as a tribute to the popular actor José Wilker, who passed away in April this year. The films will be shown at Sala Charlot of the Chaplin Theater from October 1-15.

musiccasa de las Américas

OcT 23

7 pmOpening of the 3rd Brazilian Month with a Brazilian music concert featuring sax player César López and Habana Ensemble

Jazz café

OcT 4

10:30pmBrazilian Night: Performance by César López and Habana Ensemble


OcT 18

8:30pmLaunching of the DVD “La Pena de Malandro,” an autobiographical documentary about the musical trajectory of the Cuban singer-songwriter Yolo Bonilla and his love for Brazilian music

exhibitions casa de las Américas

OcT 1 - 31

7 pmExhibition of significant Brazilian artwork from the Casa de las Américas collection

casa de las Américas Library

OcT 22-31, OpENS OcT 22, 4pM

A retrospective of Brazilian literature with an exhibition of books and documents from the institution’s collection


OcT 16-31, OpENS OcT 16, 6pM

Photographic exhibition: Capoeira Cubana

3rd Month of Brazilian Culture in Cuba


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theater centro Fe y cultura Loyola

OcT 18-19

10 am

A Farsa do Boi ou o Desejo de Catirina, Teatro Viajero. Puppet show that mixes African-Brazilian culture with legends from Amazonia.

Teatro Nacional Guiñol

OcT 24, 3pM; 25-26, 11AM & 5pM


OcT 31

9 pm

theoretical eventsFábrica de Arte cubano

OcT 16

7 pmLecture: The Sao Paulo Biennial, Courses of Action and Challenges

casa de las Américas Library

OcT 22

4:30pMPanel: Presence of Paulo Freire in Cuban educational institutions.

traditionsDanza-Teatro retazos

OcT 15

5 pm

Performances of Capoeira, an African-Brazilian tradition


OcT 16-18,

8:30pm

plaza Vieja

OcT 19

4:30pm

Sala charlot, charles chaplin theater

OcTOBEr 1

OcTOBEr 2

OcTOBEr 3

2 pm Los inconfidentes

OcTOBEr 4

OcTOBEr 5

5 pm Doña Flor y sus dos maridos

2pm & 5pm Jango

2 pm El hombre de la capa negra

5 pm La batalla de canudos

2 pm El hombre del año

5 pm María, madre del Hijo de Dios

2 pm Redentor

5 pm El mayor amor del mundo

cinema

OcTOBEr 7 2 pm Canta María

5 pm romance

OcTOBEr 8 2 pm Embarque inmediato

5 pm El bien amado

OcTOBEr 9

OcTOBEr 10

2 pm Giovanni Improtta

OcTOBEr 11

OcTOBEr 12

5 pm Los inconfidentes

2 pm Doña Flor y sus dos maridos

5 pm El hombre de la capa negra

2 pm La batalla de canudos

2 pm María, madre del Hijo de Dios

5 pm El hombre del año

OcTOBEr 14 2 pm El mayor amor del mundo

5 pm Embarque inmediato

OcTOBEr 15 2 pm Romance

5 pm Giovanni Improtta

The event will pay special tribute to actor José Wilker (1947-2014) from October 1-15. The opening will be held on October 2, 8:30pm at Cine 23 y 12 with the film El hombre de la capa negra

casa de África

OcT 18

10 amExhibition Arts & crafts: Skills and Traditions


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around cuBa Fiesta de la Cultura IberoamericanaOctober 24-30, Casa de Iberoamérica, HolguínThe Ibero-American Culture Festival seeks to recover and promote the Spanish roots and background of Ibero-American nations through a program of concerts, exhibitions, workshops and popular festivities, with the participation of important Cuban artists and guests from all over Ibero-America. A different festivity is held each day, including the Fiesta de la Semilla (the recreation of Ibero-American cultural roots), Fiesta de los Tambores (drum festivity), Fiesta de las Guitarras (Guitar Fest), Fiesta de la Solidaridad (cultural dialogue among the communities of Iberian natives and descendants, the neighborhoods and the visitors, which aims to promote joint projects) and Fiesta de los Pueblos (a celebration of the identity built from the American confluence of different ethnic groups and cultures).

Fiesta de la CubaníaOctober 17-20, City of BayamoArt and culture in a festival that contributes to a reunion with the roots of the nation. The theoretical section of the event will deal with the topic The Melting Pot of Cuban Nationality. Highlights of the event include a solo exhibition by Ever Fonseca, National Visual Arts Prizewinner 2012; performances by Pancho Amat, Tony Ávila, Enit y su Piquete, Bororó y su Re Mayor, Arturo Jorge y su Cuarteto Tradición; Reynier Mariño and his band, and a special show with the popular comedian Kike Quiñones. Other activities include fashion shows and the sale of books. The gala on Cuban Culture Day will take place as usual at Plaza del Himno Nacional de Bayamo on October 20. On this occasion, a wax figure of the late musician Juan Formell will be unveiled and His band, Los Van Van will close the festivitoes with a special concert


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Driving through Cuba’s provincial heart with hitchhikers by Lydia Bell

In Cuba, a country where a vehicle is a precious commodity, hitchhiking is popular. In the mind-numbing heat, those resigned to waiting for a ride are found killing time in patches of shade. If I drive past a hitcher, my Cuban husband tuts in reproach.

We are in the Central Provinces of Cuba, the middle chunk of this long streak of island, and in search of the country’s provincial face. We start awkwardly, in commercialized Varadero, where poolside bingo, stale buffets, and cabaret dancers in cerise spandex are easy to leave behind. This close to such self-indulgences, the revolutionary posters that plaster the road out of Varadero read strangely. Patriotism or death. Revolution forever. Quickly though, the spanking bitumen peters out into potholed pathway as we amble through modest villages, and after two hours we are in Cienfuegos, a port city on the south coast.

An adolescent hustler on a pushbike screeches to a halt beside us. We arrange for him to pick us up

An old man, with a warm smile decorated by a single tooth, is our hitcher of choice for the morning. His wiry grandson helps him haul a bulky package into our rented car, which emits a loud grunt. ‘The pig,’ the old man announces in Spanish, ‘is for my eightieth birthday party on Thursday.’

later so we can check out some paladares (private restaurants in the homes of locals). This will set the tone for most of our evenings in the Central Provinces: being whisked around by ‘jineteros’ (aka, hustlers). They get a bad rep, but their commissions are small and they are helpful. This one secures me a £4 seafood grill in a cosy paladar decorated with wall-mounted crustaceans. I can’t reveal the location, since the trade is illegal in Cuba—but you’ll find it if you want to.

To reach Trinidad, our next destination, we edge through the foothills of the palm-smothered Escambray Mountains, then dip down to the coast, passing quiet villages backed by mountains and roads crisscrossed by giant crabs. Without 20-something Abelito in the car (going to visit his mother in Trinidad), we would certainly have got lost. There is a dearth of road signs. Trinidad is simply the most handsome town in Cuba, in one of the most idyllic provinces, Sancti Spiritus. Founded

photos by Alex Menetravel


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in 1514, the giant village—for that’s all it really is—is wedged between the towering Escambray range and shimmering coast. It was once an important colonial town, which grew fat on sugar between 1750 and 1850, when its lavishly beautiful valleys were dotted with scores of sugar mills.

When the slaves were freed, fortunes dipped and Trinidad stopped growing. Today, it’s an exquisitely preserved museum piece of cobblestone streets and sumptuous squares. Walk a few streets and the village peters out into red earth, drooping palms and mountains. Drive eight kilometres and you reach a perfect stretch of beach, Peninsula Ancón, where you step out of your cabana onto white sand. We go in search of views: of red-tiled roofs, sea and mountain from the bell tower of the Museo Nacional de la Lucha Contra Bandidos, and of the soaring countryside from the ruined church nearby.

Next stop, Santa Clara, capital of Villa Clara province, and home to the eternal flame that commemorates Che Guevara’s burial place. We pass through villages, glimpsing the kind of rural life lost in the rest of the Caribbean: oxen ploughing fields; farmers sowing crops by hand. Santa Clara

feels workaday, its concrete-boxes in shades of peeling pastel, but the town has life, and history. The university is dominant, especially its medical school. Students throng the humming streets, many sporting white coats and stethoscopes. Next morning we leave for our final destination: Camaguey, a four hour drive away through flat plains, crisscrossing over railway lines choked with weeds. Cuba’s third largest city—which still feels like a village—is enchanting, especially the Colón hotel, where we are staying. Built in 1927 and apparently unaltered since, it has a soberly mysterious air and an elaborate mahogany bar. We arrive on a Saturday, the night of the weekly street party. There are trestle tables, pigs on spits, copious children and the ubiquitous reggaeton music that has ousted salsa for the Cuban under-25s.

Camaguey’s streets are full of blind alleys and forked streets—a deliberate ploy to foil the pirates who plagued this part of Cuba in the 16th century. Away from the main drag, the town is deserted, its streets strings of genteel terraced houses slinking away down the next curve, where you might find in a quiet square a ruined church with a once-grandiose façade.

We visit the Plaza de la Revolución, reverberatingly empty but for a group of adolescents, kitted out in the full all-American regalia and engaged in a baseball game of some skill. Unbelievably, we come across Pedro, our ancient hitcher, sans pig. ‘Tomorrow!’ he reminds us delightedly. ‘My eightieth!’ So the pig’s time is over then. And so is ours. Tomorrow we hit the road again, this time back to Havana, and then the modern world. We have grown attached to the simple charms of the provinces. On our way home we stop to join the locals on the marble benches of a sleepy square. We stay there till the sun fades then walk back through silent streets.

Lydia Bell is a brilliant award-winning freelance travel and features journalist. See www.lydiabell.co.uk for more information.


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The Gentleman from Paris (El Caballero de París) by Margaret Atkins

Among Havana’s many charming stories, the legend of the Caballero de París (literally, the Gentleman from Paris) is one of the loveliest. In the early 20th century, this immigrant from Galicia, an unsuccessful restaurant server in his teens, was sent to El Príncipe Penitentiary, where he became ill before being released. A renowned lunatic and unforgettable character, the remains of the Caballero de París lie today in a crypt in the Basílica Menor del Convento de San Francisco de Asís, the very same place that holds the remains of viceroys, admirals, famous monks and other important persons. The Caballero de París, who proclaimed himself king and god, has become a sort of miracle-working saint by the divine grace and will of the people. And half serious and half joking, people who pass by the convent touch the beard, a finger or the cheeks of the statue (by renowned artist José Villa Soberón) erected in his memory with the hope of fulfilling a wish or having some good fortune.

When he was born in Fonsagrada, Lugo, Galicia, Spain, he was baptized José María López Lledín, but he lost his name when he quit his job, let his hair and beard grow and began to wander around Havana, which he did for over fifty years. Dressed in French-style suit and coat, with no place to live but the streets of the city (which he baptized his “Dulcinea”), his appearance reminds us of Don

photo by Y. Monte


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The adventures of Andrés began at the age of 16 when he quit school. Pressed by his mother, he began to work at a large spinning mill. He would have stayed there, in anonymity, had he not overheard of an announcement to join a group of theater aficionados. And this is precisely what he became: a stage aficionado who had a long training period. But then came the day when he felt he needed more and found what he was looking for in Cuban stage actor and director Vicente Revuelta (founder of the emblematic company Teatro Estudio, which at one point in time was the best of Cuban theater). Under Vicente, Andrés told me, a new world opened up to him and he became a professional actior. But things were very unstable with Vicente, mainly due to his psychological disorder (and once more a halo of illustrious craziness surrounds this story) and Andrés found himself unemployed again. Then he took a crucial decision: to continue trying until he was 30—that would be his limit. If he hadn’t made a name for himself by then, he would give up the pursuit of art. When he failed to meet the deadline he had set for himself, he headed for a cigar factory to learn the craft of cigar rolling. And it was precisely then when he was asked to play a mute monk in a soap opera directed by a friend from his days of aficionado. The character already had the solemnity of the Caballero, whose spirit would seem to haunt Andrés forever.

But fate took its time. Andrés joined Argos Teatro, one of Havana’s most renowned theater companies, directed by Carlos Celdrán, and a while later went back to working with Vicente. But when the company Giganterías was created under the auspices of the Office of the City Historian to fill the streets of Old Havana with color and music, he felt drawn by the company’s multifaceted work.

The living statue thing came a bit later. There was no tradition in Cuba of this form of street art whatsoever, despite being so common in large cities. However, after a Colombian company introduced it in Havana back in the 1990s—although

Quixote—a French-Creole Quixote who was fed and looked after by the inhabitants of the city. And although he sometimes became the target of mockery and humiliation, there were always more people looking after him than trying to hurt him. But the Caballero de París was no beggar. He would write love letters for free for those who requested his services and give flowers to the ladies who would stop and talk with him. He always had a lucid phrase or verse that would amaze those aware of his condition. And he would not take what was offered to him without giving something in return—a paper fan, a torn page from some old book of poems, a pencil or a feather adorned with colored ribbons.

Ever since he was admitted to the Psychiatric Hospital in 1977 because of his deteriorated health condition and after his death in 1895, Havana thought he had been lost forever. The statue is beautiful, but it’s just standing there, cold bronze. Now, however, you can get to meet him in the form of a living statue thanks to the amazing work of Andrés Enrique Pérez Viciedo, a Habanero whose story is just as romantic as the Caballero de París’s.


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not for the street, but for the stage—this art form was introduced as part of Giganterías’ repertory.

Today, living statues are part of the attractions Old Havana has to offer. There are statues of pirates, angels, old photographers in sepia, a piper, a mother and her baby. Their costumes and makeup imitate bronze, silver, clay. Most performers—professional actors who have undergone extensive training—take their characters very seriously and remain with their eyes closed, breathing imperceptibly until the sound of a coin magically wakes them up. Here in Havana, Andrés was the first actor to take the streets as a living statue. The figure of this 48-year-old man who has found a new lifestyle,

employment and passion, has allowed him to transform, with little effort, into the legendary character of the Caballero de París.

The Caballero de París (first José and now Andrés) makes a woman from overseas smile, and thanks her for the coin she has left in his bag by giving her a paper fan made of old newspapers. The woman, who is magically transformed by the charm of the moment into a fair lady of colonial times, keeps the fan close to her heart. Could this humble present possibly become one of her dearest souvenirs from her visit to Cuba? It makes you laugh and cry, all at once, seeing that touch of delirium in the eyes of the Caballero (now Andrés, first José) when, besieged by a group of adolescents, he comes out of his immobility and replies with a string of words of dark meaning in pure Castilian. Curious people applaud. Children follow him.

He is easy to find. Everyone knows him. Don’t ask for José—obviously—or Andrés for that matter. When visiting Old Havana, ask any passerby for the Caballero de París. Offer him a coin. Take his gift. You will have met one of the most charming characters in this city. You will have met a living legend.

photo by Alex Mene


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