A couple of years ago, Lola Mento (a pun for I'm sorry) burst onto Cuban television, an intrepid little farm girl and in love, as we can see in her adventures on social networks, a character built and well played by young actress Danay Cruz. Born in Holguín, she has developed her career precisely between television and theater. She decided to study acting at the age of 15, after having passed the aptitude tests of Bayamo’s Professional Art School (EPA). Theater has been one of the pillars in Danay’s career, although, as is common in Cuba, the leap to the small screen is vital to gain the preference of a large part of the national audience. At this time, the COVID-19 pandemic has stopped all previewed plans, precisely at the moment when the actress had started rehearsals with the El Portazo theater group, for the staging of “Todos los hombres son iguales,” where in addition to comedy, the actress can be seen dancing and singing. A real challenge, she told us. At the moment, comedy continues to be the driving force for Danay, “mainly in plays,” she tells us, “but it was not until July 2019 when I got into...

Despite the distance and yearning, the Cuban actor tries to remain active in national productions, more closely linked to cinema in recent years.

The Cuban private sector has been one of the most affected during the current pandemic caused by the new coronavirus, whose effects go beyond human health. In economic terms, private businesses in Cuba have had to almost perform magic tricks to face the current crisis, rethinking work mechanisms and methodologies, trying to subsist in their respective markets. Those enterprises that depend almost entirely on tourism are, without a doubt, the ones that have been most affected since March, when the period of confinement began in much of the country, a measure that many countries also took to halt the spread of COVID-19. Several projects associated with the artistic-cultural market have readapted to the new circumstances, adopting more common practices at a global level, taking into account the characteristics of the Cuban market and the island’s current circumstances. https://oncubanews.com/cuba/economia/quien-me-quiere-a-mi-sector-privado-cubano-frente-a-la-covid-19/ In the case of projects such as Producciones Almendares, with a diverse work routine that includes audiovisual productions and cultural events, it is difficult to adapt to current circumstances. “Sometimes we filmed several events at the same time, we responded to job requests that we could undertake simultaneously, there were many daily requests,” its director, Patricia Santa Coloma, tells us. “Suddenly,” she...

It is difficult to find someone in Cuba that doesn’t know Elpidio Valdés. Children today may be excited about Mickey Mouse, Fernanda, or Dora the Explorer, but they know at least one phrase from the iconic cartoon created by Juan Padrón. The younger Cubans might not know as much about the heroes of Cuba's wars for independence, but they do know the mambí of the animated show. Some may not pay attention to history classes at school, or teachers might teach the contents for kids to learn it parrot fashioned, but if many of us today know what a trench was, or the leather cannons in our history, the military bugles, the types of machetes or firearms, guerrilla tactics and a part of the life in the 19th century Cuba, it is thanks to Juan Padrón and his oldest “son”, the one who yesterday celebrated his 50th birthday. With Elpidio we traveled back in time. It allowed us to know each other a little more as Cubans, our customs, part of them even incorporated or brought back by the hand of that character and the entire universe that surrounds him, created by that comic master who was Padrón, who by...

In recent months, the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry has presented several measures for the benefit of independent Cuban cinema, but much remains to be done.

Since last March, the Cuban government started taking significant measures in several sectors of the economy and society to face the growing expansion of COVID-19 on the island. The health crisis has affected all sectors, also the private sector, which does not have the same benefits as the Cuban state sector. The actions taken at that time, related to private enterprises (self-employed sector), included: the suspension of licenses for those who could not maintain their activities, with the consequent reduction of taxes; the postponement of the payment of social security without the special interests; meanwhile, the gastronomic services that saw their activities reduced by 50%, would pay only half of the contribution in the tax accounts and the corresponding tax payment. Likewise, artists, creators and enterprises that were affected, could request deferments in the payment of taxes, among other agreements to decrease the tax burden that the National Tax Administration Office (ONAT) demands. These measures help to lighten the economic weight, but they are not sufficient to face the crisis. The private sector is one of the most affected by the current situation in the country. The losses are already calculated in hundreds of millions of dollars in terms of...

This year the World Health Organization (WHO) designated 2020 as year of the Midwifery and Nursing staff, in recognition of the altruistic work carried out by these health professionals. World Nursing Day is celebrated on May 12, the date established for the birth of Florence Nightingale, pioneer of modern professional nursing, and whose 200th anniversary of her birth is commemorated this year. Florence Nightingale was a British nurse, writer, and statistician, considered the forerunner of modern professional nursing and the creator of the first conceptual nursing model. Photo: Biography.com Sacrifice and dedication are words of order for those who decided to dedicate their lives to caring for the sick day and night, with a devotion that few would understand. In the current circumstances, the work of nurses is vital in caring for patients related to the COVID-19 pandemic, is thanked daily by people around the world with applause for such a noble profession. A few years ago, Natacha Mesa Sánchez was not clear about what she wanted to do with her life, she had just finished junior high, and “at just 15 one is not ready for such an important decision that will mark your life,”...

The home delivery service is a more than necessary alternative in the current situation in the country during this period of social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Enhancing this activity helps social distancing, so necessary to stop the spread of the disease on the island where there already are more than a thousand infected. Although several state and some private restaurants have started providing food delivery―especially in Havana―during this specific situation, for several months a private entrepreneurship project has managed to join several establishments with different offers in the capital. https://twitter.com/MincinCuba/status/1252294207261286406 Mandao Express is the name of this initiative, led by Marta Deus, who in turn is in charge of Deus. Accounting Experts, an enterprise providing financial advice to private businesses. “Mandao Express arose about four years ago due to the need to have a courier service for Deus, focused on sending documents to enterprises, an option that did not exist in the city,” says the Bachelor of Business Administration and Management. “We stopped for a while and since September 2019 this new Mandao is here with other objectives and image, much more focused on food delivery,” she adds. Deus explained to OnCuba that when the first isolation measures...

The current COVID-19 pandemic does not discriminate, it attacks any sector of the population equally and although some evolve better than others in the face of the disease, no one is exempt from the high contagion and threat to life posed by this new virus. The dynamics of societies depend on each region of the planet, although in the case of the medical sector the situation varies little, with less or more resources, the effort is directly proportional to the risk lived daily by these professionals, who face an invisible enemy. Alina is a Cuban doctor residing in Spain who this year started working in Madrid. She prefers to only give her name, so as not to be out of place in a professional environment where health personnel are asked to not spread sensitive information. Although her work began in a “normal way, in an outpatient clinic serving patients of different ages, with all the necessary conditions,” just over a month ago, the first cases started coming in with respiratory symptoms. She has been working directly with infected patients and possible cases for four weeks. “Neither I nor anyone imagined that it would reach this magnitude. When the first infected...

It’s announced in the press, repeated by opinion leaders, multiplied on social networks, demanded by health personnel and in some places, it is law: staying at home and avoiding crowds has become for the moment the most effective remedy to prevent the spread of Covid-19, a pandemic that already affects 177 countries and accumulates more than 435,000 confirmed cases on the planet. At this moment, approximately a third of the world population, more than 2 billion persons, is in confinement to try to stop this enemy. In Cuba there are already 57 confirmed cases. They still seem few, but they keep increasing. Map prepared by Johns Hopkins University. Date: March 25, 2020. Isolation measures have also been decreed in Cuba. The authorities call on the population to stay at home, to decrease their movements. For this, classes at all levels of education have been interrupted, air and interprovincial transportation have been reduced, teleworking and income-cushioning solutions have been sought for people who must stop going to their workplaces. Cultural and sporting events have been suspended, and the population is called to decrease all kinds of crowds. But, when going out in the main cities, and especially...

Several initiatives by different artists are arising these days on the social networks to encourage people to stay home and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is affecting nearly 150 countries across the globe. Under the hashtags #quedateencasa and #quedateentucasa, Cuban artists have joined this campaign on the networks, creating content and making audio or audiovisual archive materials available to Internet users. Cine Cubano en Cuarentena (Cuban Cinema in Quarantine) is a Facebook page created with the aim of encouraging people to stay home and prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the country, where measures have been taken to avoid crowds of people in cultural spaces. The Cuban Institute of Cinema Arts and Industry (ICAIC) has also suspended activities, such as the presentation of the National Film Award to Senel Paz and Francisco (Paco) Prats, the film exhibition for the Francophonie Week (March 18 to 29), as well as the national premiere of the Cuban film El Mayor. To counter these actions, Cine Cubano en Cuarentena makes Cuban film archives of any time available to the public, an initiative created by young Cuban filmmakers. Created this Sunday, March 15, “it was an idea that came up, some...

There were rehearsals the whole week to be ready for 28th, 29th and 30th. The performances at the National Theater of the ballet classic Romeo and Juliet would feature two companies: Prodanza, directed by Laura Alonso, and Verb Ballets, headed by Margaret Carlson, from Cleveland, Ohio. First came the rehearsals separately: in Havana and the state of Ohio, the dancers were preparing to later polish details of the performance, a cultural exchange that has several years of history and that unites both countries thanks to the cultural bond. The U.S. company had already performed in Cuba in 2018 together with Prodanza, directed by the daughter of Prima Ballerina Assoluta Alicia Alonso, who died last October. On that occasion Yarini was the piece chosen for the artistic alliance, choreographed by dancer Iván M. Alonso, about whom Laura says “I know a little...from afar,” she jokes in an interview with OnCuba. “On that occasion the work was chosen by a former Prodanza member, who works with Verb Ballets, for the variety of styles in Ivan's choreography: neoclassical, folkloric and also classical, with music by Edesio Alejandro, and it was the piece most liked by the American group,” adds Laura, who confesses that...

A brief review of the conflict between Cuba and the United States in the last decade was the main theme of the panel Nuevas miradas a la historia del conflicto entre Cuba y Estados Unidos: ¿geopolítico, económico, ideológico, nacional o las cuatro cosas a la vez? (New outlook on the history of the conflict between Cuba and the United States: geopolitical, economic, ideological, national or all four things at once?), held at the Casa del Alba as part of the program of activities of the 29th Havana International Book Fair. Specialists on the subject, such as Carlos Alzugaray Treto, Milagros Martínez, together with historian Ernesto Limia and political scientist and essayist Rafael Hernández, moderator of the colloquium, discussed the most important moments regarding the change relations underwent as of the presidential term of Barack Obama (2008-2016), a stage in which there was a substantial unprecedented turn in Cuba-U.S. diplomatic relations. Martínez, a Master in Caribbean Studies and a specialist in Cuban studies in the United States, takes as a starting point for these changes the U.S. policy’s failure throughout more than 50 years, and noted the change in Washington's foreign policy towards Latin America in general. Another point would be...

When Firdaus is officially inaugurated, the doors of paradise will be open for the Muslim female community in Cuba. This old wish will allow women who profess Islam on the island to acquire, among other products, clothing and accessories in line with their beliefs and that meet their aesthetic needs. Prior to the inauguration of the store that will function as a bazaar, OnCuba spoke with two young Cuban women converted to Islam who are about to start this venture completely related to the religion they have professed for years. Kira Romero, owner of Firdaus, and Maryam Camejo, its director of communication and at the same time director of Con/texto Magazine, a publication that “tries to make political analysis in the era of influencers.” “In Cuba there are basically Sunnis, Shiites and Sufis, mostly Sunnis,” says Maryam. “What happens is that we defend that assuming Islam is not a process of Arabization or transculturation or importation of cultures, Islam does not call for rejecting what you are, you can comply with Islam from your own culture and it has been this way throughout centuries,” argues the journalist. “In particular,” says Kira, “I don't like being called Sunni or Shiite, I'm...

NewMen Studio is the name of the Cuban audiovisual studio that will represent the island in the next edition of the Sundance Festival, which will be held in the United States from January 23 until February 2. Led by young filmmakers Patricia Díaz and Marcos Louit, this project will present on the 24th Bembé, its most recent cinematographic work, a short filmed with the virtual reality (VR) technique that is included in the New Frontiers section of the prestigious event, founded by filmmaker Robert Redford. This material seeks to approach the viewer to a unique experience that is part of Cuban culture: the possibility of closely appreciating one of the ancestral festivals within the Yoruba religion. An experience between two worlds: the real and the spiritual one, which the cinematographic material tries to capture. Patricia Díaz and Marcos Louit, founders of NewMen Studio. Photo: Fernando Medina. Journey to the root “Everything came up in a pre-production trip that we made to the eastern region of the country. We went to get to know the stories and meet people from the municipality of Felicidad de Yateras, in Guantánamo, where we planned to search for experiences, as we...

Despite the low production, 2019 was a fruitful year for independent Cuban cinema, due to a great extent to the nomination for the Oscar Awards of the film El traductor, by the Barriuso brothers, as well as the approval of Decree Law 373, which legally recognizes the independent audiovisual and cinematographic creator, in addition to the creation of the Creator's Registry and the Promotion Fund for Cuban cinema, measures that took their first steps in the final stretch of the year. This 2019 there were not many productions of Cuban cinema in fiction feature: only the titles Buscando a Casal by Jorge Luis Sánchez, Agosto by Armando Capó and Habana Selfie by Arturo Santana, premiered in 2019 in Cuba. Agosto The New Latin American International Film Festival was once again the epicenter of Cuban cinema and the region, to host the presentations of the aforementioned films, among others, an event where Armando Capó’s first opera prima deserved the prize for the best film in that category, after an international tour that included important festivals such as those of Toronto and San Sebastián. The film presents autobiographical nuances of the director himself, who frames the story in his native Gibara, where...

A total of 300 films to enjoy in 10 days (from December 5 to 15), that is the proposal presented this year by the organizing committee of the International New Latin American Film Festival (FINCL), which this time will be dedicated to the 60 years of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) and filmmaker Santiago Álvarez on the centenary of his birth. The Festival will be officially inaugurated at the Karl Marx Theater on the 5th at 6:00 p.m., with a special gala where the National Ballet of Cuba will perform for the first time, in homage to its founder Alicia Alonso, who died last October 17 in Havana. The Argentine film La odisea de los giles (Heroic Losers) will be the proposal for the night, with the presence of actor Ricardo Darín and his son Chino Darín, protagonists of the film directed by Sebastián Borensztein, who repeats at the inauguration of the FINCL as he did in 2011 with Un cuento chino, also starring Darín. In addition to the Argentine film, shortlisted in the 2020 Oscar Awards, other titles that seek to be among the 10 nominees for Hollywood awards such as La vida invisible de...

The Cuban fashion brand Clandestina presented on November 22 its 2020 Sports Glories collection, endowed with a special symbolism and a lot of Cubanness, by paying tribute to the Cuban sports movement in its designs, as well as the Soviet aesthetics that was reflected in the Cuba of the 1970s and 1980s. Sports such as baseball, swimming, fencing, judo, basketball, athletics, gymnastics, among others, were revered in the dress ware presented by the models on the court of the Ramón Fonst Multipurpose Hall in Havana, where the public was able to appreciate the 50 designs chosen by their authors for the occasion. The parade began with the route of the Olympic torch, in charge of stellar athlete Ana Fidelia Quirot, one of the sports glories that presided the parade along with volleyball player Regla Torres, designated best athlete of the last century in her discipline, as well as Javier Sotomayor, who closed the show on the catwalk. These athletes and other models also presented designs allegorical to the Olympics between 1970 and 1980, where Cuba started ranking in relevant positions in the medal table by countries, in what was one of the best stages...

The Palace of the Captains General made its centuries-old courtyard beautiful on November 13 with a special decoration for a very exclusive event. The building, which started being built in 1776, served as the venue for the official dinner hosted by the king and queen of Spain, Felipe VI and Doña Letizia, during their recent state visit to Cuba. The meeting between the monarchs of the Iberian nation with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel took place in a warm atmosphere thanks to the work of Made in Cuba events, a private project led by two young Cuban entrepreneurs. Dalney Alverdi and Yeni Verrier come from the world of tourism and communication, an ideal mix to make their way in this specialty of organizing events, with all the complexities and magnitude involved in the trade. Accepting the challenge of organizing such a far-reaching evening was a major effort, with barely a year in the market, as both businesswomen confessed when talking with OnCuba. Did you have any experience in preparing events of this nature? We had never participated in presidential events, but in several of great magnitude, especially in terms of number of attendees and levels of decoration, our group is very...

As of now, Galiano Street in Havana will not be the same. A whole constellation system adorns about a kilometer of the Avenida de Italia, official name of this popular street in the Cuban capital. The new light system named Planetario, the work of Italian stage designer Carmelo Giamello, who used several lights and spheres to recreate a kind of Milky Way, was inaugurated on the night of this October 30. The work is part of a similar initiative being carried out in the Italian city of Turin since 1998, and was donated to Cuba by the Italian city’s mayor’s office in honor of Havana's 500th anniversary. People flocked to Havana’s Galiano Street to see the lights donated by the Italian city of Turin. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez. Until 2021 the lights will be in the Cuban capital. The inauguration of this work is the prelude to the Avenida Italia event, which will take place from November 5 to 7 in the capital’s centrally located street. The lights extend from Zanja to San Lázaro streets, almost reaching the Malecón, to liven up the nights of this street, where several Havana spaces and centers of cultural and social...

Ernesto Daranas has lived all his life in Old Havana, a landscape he has taken to the big screen, not as he would have liked in all cases, but glad to be able to work freely. This is a fundamental premise for the director of films such as Los dioses rotos, Conducta and Sergio y Serguei, recently awarded a special prize in Moscow. In his youth―he was born on December 7, 1961―it was almost impossible to study cinema in Cuba, so when he finished senior high he decided to study for a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography in the Pedagogical School because "there were not many options of art schools in the country. I really chose this career because there were few boys in a classroom of 30-odd girls (he smiles), and it seemed very appropriate at the time." In his apartment in Havana's Historic Center, Daranas agreed to talk with OnCuba about his work, what motivates him to write and, of course, Cuban cinema. Ernesto Daranas writes his scripts in the same room where his father used to work. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez How does a Bachelor of Geography become a film director? "When I was in...

Since 2014 a piece of Cuba arrives in the Spanish city of Huelva during the CubaCultura event, a space where through different artistic and traditional manifestations, exponents of dance, music, cinema, plastic arts, among others, are presented at the Harina de Otro Costal Art Center, in Trigueros, Huelva. A summer referent in the Spanish province, in this year's edition from August 23 to 30, leading artists of photography, architecture, literature, music, dance and culinary art; Cubans and Spaniards, will pay tribute to Havana on its 500th anniversary. This year the celebration coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Muelle de las Carabelas museum, which is why "the idea is to extend some of the activities of CubaCultura to the museum," according to Lourdes Garrido, the city’s culture deputy. "Havana would not be understood without its architecture and heritage," said Lourdes Santos, co-director of the center, who announced that the cycle dedicated to both professions on this occasion will be presented on the 27th featuring the study Un sueño en peligro: las Escuelas Nacionales de Arte de La Habana, by María José Pizarro, architect and professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid. The inauguration of the exhibitions by Raúl Cañibano and...

It is unusual to find foreign dancers who have graduated from the ranks of the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC). Goyo Montero, son of Spanish dancer and choreographer Goyo Montero Cortijo and dancer and teacher Rosa Naranjo, maintains a close relationship with this island that saw him form himself as a promise of world dance. Defined as a purely classical dancer, Goyo seeks his own language as a choreographer from a more contemporary perspective, an evolution that he describes as natural for any dancer today. In an interview with OnCuba, the principal director and choreographer at the Nuremberg State Theater Ballet, Germany, comments on his relationship with the Cuban school of ballet and his current work with Acosta Danza. How did you get to study in Cuba? My parents were looking for a school where I could finish my training and that was strong in the technique for boys. Then they thought of the National Ballet of Cuba, which was touring the country at the time, and decided to contact several friends. Mirta Pla and Azari Plisetsky gave courses as part of the program of activities and they met with my parents. It was they, thanks to common contacts and...

The exhibition which opened this July 18 at the Servando Cabrera Gallery in Havana is not a usual proposal in "gallery art." There are no paintings hanging on the wall or sculptures on a pedestal. En tiempos de androides… is the title of the exhibition that is being displayed during the summer at the Servando Cabrera Gallery, where the public can interact with the fascinating world of robotics, a distant environment in Cuba compared to other countries, but in which Cuban young engineers and programmers seek to insert themselves. The popular drone, unmanned aviation vehicles, robotic arms, a prototype of an intelligent house, among other devices and inventions, make up this exhibition in which, in addition to interacting with the artistic object, it takes on more significance due to its particular function and characteristics than for the aesthetic value the work itself may have. SCARA Robotic Arm, designed by Automatics Engineer Jesús Leonel Vichot. The wide scope of robotics in the world entails multiple implications in daily life. In Cuba, it doesn’t have that much impact beyond the industrial sphere, but this branch of technology has a busy road and En tiempos de androides… confirms it....

The 40th edition of the Montreal Jazz Festival, Canada, considered among the most important in the world, will have Cuban music among its protagonists thanks to the presence of renowned figures such as Omara Portuondo, Chucho Valdés and Roberto Fonseca. The Diva of the Buena Vista Social Club will open the curtains for Cuba on Thursday the 27th at the Maisonneuve Theater, Place des Arts, as part of its One Last Kiss farewell world tour of the stages. On the following day, Chucho and his Jazz Batá will be at the Maison Simphonique in Montreal. The Cuban Latin jazz legend will be preceded on stage by Colombian harpist Edmar Castañedo. Chucho Valdés. Photo: eventsmusicbcn.com For his part, the talented pianist Roberto Fonseca will be on stage for three consecutive days: the 29th along with the French trumpeter Erik Truffaz, on the 30th he will have a solo performance, while on July 1 he will be accompanied by DJ Joe Claussell, all concerts in Gesù. The group Trabuco Habanero, formed in 2010 by Cuban and Latino musicians, proposes the Noche cubana en compañía del Trabuco Habanero show on July 1, at the Dièse Onze Club, where they...