Thousands of people have enjoyed the two shows that make up the Circuba 2010 international circus festival. It has everything: flexible movements, precision in every gesture.
One beautiful example is the Duo Rose, trapeze artists from the United States.
Another is the young man with two ribbons who also performs this lyrical art, which is very close to classical ballet, except that he "dances" in the air: Cuban Donet Collazo.
Two great artists from Russia have left a trail of applause: hand-balancing acrobat Minasov Maxim (who stands out for the aesthetics of his movements and the entire number, including music) and the very agile juggler Denis Chindyaskin, who surprised the audience with the elegance, novelty and originality of his performance.
Venezuelan Darwin Diaz, juggling with diabolos, leaves the audience stunned with the speed and organization of his stage work, while Mexican Omar Vivas unleashes hilarity from the opening gala, juggling with hats.
He is, undoubtedly, a good candidate for the popularity award at this event, sponsored by the National Circus of Cuba, the National Council for the Performing Arts and Havana Club International, SA.
The clowns have not yet demonstrated their potential in this edition of Circuba, although Cuban clown Pepitin showed off his artistic talents with the fly and cake gag.
The Cuban film El ojo del canario (Eye of the canary), directed by Fernando Perez, will compete in the 14th International Film Festival in Lima, Peru.
The event features many competing works in the categories of fiction and documentary, from several Latin American countries, according to the event's official web site (www.festivaldelima.com). Dialogues between filmmakers, critics and public, workshops, conferences and books on the cinema will also have space in the festival.
Cuban film,
Argentina competes with the films Carancho, Dos Hermanos, Los Labios and Rompecabezas, while Bolivia will show Zona Sur. From Brazil comes Hotel Atlantico, and Viajo porque necesito, vuelvo porque te amo.
Costa Rica will exhibit Agua Fria de Mar, Mexico is seeking nominations with Alamar, Cronicas Chilangas and Norteado, Nicaragua with the film La Yuma, and Uruguay will exhibit La Casa Muda.
The host country is competing with the films Contracorriente, Octubre, and Paraiso, Chile with Navidad and Colombia with Vuelco del cangrejo and Rabia.
About 12 documentaries also entered the festival, showing the revitalization of a gender that has internationally recognized filmmakers in Latin America.
The event's official jury is made up of Maria Novaro (Mexico); Claudia Llosa (Peru), Jean Pierre Garcia (France), Lucrecia Martel (Argentina) and Rosa Montero (Spain).
Spanish television was placing the final touches on a documentary about Cuban prima ballerina Alicia Alonso, one of the all-time legends of classical ballet and the creator of a universal style.
The one-hour documentary, the in of a series entitled "Imprescindibles" (The Essential Ones), will address the artistic careers and lives of great figures in the arts.
Directed by Nicholas Garcia, "Imprescindible: Alicia Alonso" will be screened first in October in Cuba during the opening gala of the 22nd International Ballet Festival of Havana.
The documentary pays tribute to Alicia's enduring legacy, as the founder, together with Fernando and Alberto Alonso, of a company and a school considered by international critics as one of best in the world.
Alicia's ties with Spain, where there is a university department with her name, are longstanding. As she herself recounts in one of her personal memories, the emergence of her passion for dance is tied to Spain, where she travelled for the first time in the late 1920s.
Cuba celebrates International Youth Day today with an extensive program of cultural and sports activities throughout the nation, where the new generations are at the heart of its social system.
The celebrations will run until August 13 at Havana's 13 de Marzo Park. To satisfy all tastes, there will be performances by "trova" singers and theater groups, as well as book sales, magazine releases, and traditional and table games.
These celebrations will be dedicated to the Cuban Five, national heroes; Fidel Castro, on his 84th birthday; Nelson Mandela, and the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students, to be held in South Africa in December.
August 12 was designated as International Youth Day by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999.
According to that organization, nearly 200 million youth live in poverty, 130 million are illiterate, 88 million are unemployed, and 10 million suffer from HIV/AIDS.
With the telluric strength of its irrevocable images Wifredo Lam is today the most universal Cuban artist.
The JungleThe exhibition Journey between the Caribbean and the avant-gardes, which throughout this summer has become the center of attention at the Beau Arts Museum in Nantes, the French city where famous writer Jules Verne was born, has turned the painter of La jungla (the Jungle) into a highly valuable character, since it has been discovered in the integrity of its career by young people who had historical information on the painter’s importance for the artistic renovation of the 20th century, but who didn’t know the real scope of that contribution.
The most important repercussion of the Nantes exposition is that it has returned to the European public a Lam who is not sitting in the throne of the most vibrating current artistic trends, but out of today’s commercial markets. That is to say, in this exhibit Lam is not seen as the artist whose work is auctioned at exorbitant prices (on May 28 the auction of his painting Sur les traces reached the record figure of 1.42 millions dollars in Sotheby’s). It is seen in the elevated stature of a work which has been able to generate readings according to the times we are living now.
Lam has a lot to say today due to the cultural synthesis shown in his painting, the vindication of the Third World, the authenticity of his mixed vision, and his revelation of myths. The words that Cuban scholar Fernando Ortiz wrote about the master 60 years ago are still in effect: "... he doesn’t stop himself in a world of visible realities but delves into the underworld, where he can find the figures which are only found by an introspective mentality in the form of a para-sensorial vision ".
Upon commenting the Nantes exhibit, French critic Gilles Bounoure said that it is the “exemplary poetic experience” of an artist who "through his immense inventive capacity created a new and completely free splendid world in his painting".
On display until late August, this retrospective exposition, much larger than the one held by the DrapperMuseum at the end of 2001 and the beginning of 2002, includes 78 paintings and drawings.
The Beatles phenomenon arrived belatedly in our country. Since our early youth we knew that they were against the Viet Nam war; we could understand their beautiful, noble and clear ideas in their songs; and we could realize that they were, in the true sense of the word, peaceful rebels and advocates of peace and justice.
When John Lennon died, a homage was paid to him here too. In various ways we expressed our pain for that irreparable loss.
Today, when we see that there’s a park in Havana with a statue of him and bearing his name, a mixture of bitterness and pain along with a deep feeling of victory invades us. We cannot stop to think of those who are no longer, of those who died without knowing it was recognized that we were right, that we weren't mistaken 'cause we were Beatles fans.
Something we’ll always remember was the moment when Cuban musical composer and performer Leo Brower publically stated that the Beatles had revolutionized the music of the 20th century. But it was still necessary to wait many years to be able to demonstrate our affinity for this great group that has influenced not only the music of Latin America, including Cuba, but has notably influenced very important Cuban musicians.
Now we have an event called “Beatlemanía en La Habana.” In it, to our great satisfaction, several generations come together. Undoubtedly our children and even our grandchildren have grown up humming the songs of the Beatles, and now we are able to attend, hand in hand, to see and enjoy the diverse activities planned.
Once again challenging reality, since it concurred with the holding of the FIFA Soccer World Cup, this event took place at both the PlazaCulturalCenter and the JohnLennonPark, and concluded the next day at the Maxim Rock Theater in the evening.
There was also a photo exhibition illustrative of their songs, and in which one could also write down their feelings about the work and presence of the Beatles.
At JohnLennonPark, the activities among Beatlemaniacs were set to take place at 8.00 p. m.; however, people of all ages began arriving early. Among them were those who pointedly called our attention to the adults of our generation on Harley-Davidsons.
With John Lennon as a witness, Beatlemanía in Havana concluded successfully.
Companies and artists from Europe, USA and Latin America will compete in Havana in the International Festival Circuba 2010, the largest meeting of its kind in Cuba, from August 10 to 15.
According to the chairman of the event Rolando Rodriguez, 24 contestants from Spain, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico and the United States confirmed their attendance, and will display their skills in 15 events.
Mexico, one of the best represented countries, will bring to Havana jugglers, contortionists, clowns and a show of air ribbons, while from Russia Maxim Minasov and juggler Denis Chindyaskin will come, among others.
As host, Cuba will present 16 varieties of young groups like the Havana Company with its Russian bar show, Lisandra Sanchez with her show of air ribbons and Troupe Scala group with acrobatics in scales.
The jury in this ninth edition is composed of the Russian Boris Ebgemiovich Maykhrovivskiy, Swede Johnny Gasser, Cuban José Felipe Rodriguez, Japanese Satoru Kubota and US citizen John Greagger.
The festival, resumed in 2007 after an 18-year break, will be held in Havana's Karl Marx theater and Trompo loco Tent, where the competitive gala will be held.
The Cuban children’s theater company La Colmenita arrived in Romania on Wednesday as part of a tour that includes Bulgaria and Turkey, director Carlos Alberto Cremata said.
The company, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, was welcomed at the Palace of Children in Bucharest, where they will perform on 12 August.
The group, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, ended a tour of Andalucia and Cantabria in Spain in Monday after performing 24 shows attended by more than 10,500 people.
In theaters, squares, hospitals, schools and centers for the disabled in Seville, Granada, Almodovar del Rio, Torrelavega, Laredo, Huelma, and San Vicente de la Barquera, the children performed their show, "Meñique," an adaptation by Cuban writer Jose Marti of "Le Petit Poucet" by Édouard René de Laboulaye.
As usual, children performed live songs from the Nueva Trova genre, by singer-songwriters such as Pablo Milanes and Silvio Rodriguez, and others by the groups Los Van Van and The Beatles.
Founded in 1990, La Colmenita has several branches in countries like Venezuela, Mexico, Panama and Colombia. Since its creation, it has performed on stages in the United States, Canada, Finland, France and Germany.
