Culture

A one-only performance of the opera, Tosca, by composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) and performed the National Lyrical Theater of Cuba takes place on Saturday, November 29 at Havana’s Gran Teatro as the top attraction of an Italian culture week on the island.Joining the Lyrical Theater in a special appearance will be Italian baritone Daniele Massimi in the role of Police Chief Baron Scarpia.

The 30th Havana Film Festival is right around the corner. Havana Times will bring you regular updates and photographs so you can get a feel for what’s happening on the streets and movie theaters of Cuba’s capital. Several elements combine during the annual cinema fest that gives it the power to transform Havana, almost magically.These include the pleasant December weather with temperatures of 20-25 Celsius; the sea of people of all ages hustling from one theater to another; the chance to run into famous directors and actors on any corner, and side cultural activities including expositions, book launchings, concerts and conferences.

Rock music has a new space in Havana: Maxim Rock, a night club located at the headquarters of the Cuban Rock Agency. With concerts every Thursday though Saturday from 8:00 p.m. to 12 midnight, Maxim Rock will feature a variety of Cuban and foreign bands, from groups with a long tradition to the most popular and recently formed bands.

JoJazz 2008, a magnet for young jazz musicians and composers as well as audiences of all ages, takes place in Havana from November 27-30.

Gen Rosso, a legendary Italian performing arts group, will stage two shows of its musical Streetlight in Havana on November 21 and 22. Gen Rosso was founded in Florence, Italy in 1966, out of an idea of Chiara Lubich (UNESCO Prize for Peace Education.)

French painter Alain Kleinmann (Paris, 1953) has chosen Cuba to organize his first Latin American exposition under the title: “Viajero del tiempo: Alain Kleinmann en La Havana” (Time traveler: Alain Kleinmann in Havana).Kleinmann has exhibited his work at the Pompidou Museum in Paris, at the Velasquez Palace in Madrid and at many other important cultural institutions in Europe. The painter presents the public with a series of works mainly inspired by Havana buildings.

A photo exposition of artists and important moments of nueva trova movement that began in the 1960s in Cuba opens on November 22 at the Pablo de la Torriente Brau Center, located at 63 Muralla St. in Old Havana.

Ballet is one of the things which Cuba is known for, along with its rum, tobacco, politics, baseball, salsa, jazz, beaches and its Caribbean flair. Every two years the Havana International Ballet festival draws packed houses of Cuban and foreign dance enthusiasts and critics.

A photo, painting and drawing exposition by Eduardo Ruben is the new show at the Villa Manuela Gallery in the Vedado district of Havana. The exposition titled “Fade Out” includes 30 of the artists’ works.Many of the pieces are of large format and have as a recurring and homogenizing element the presence of stars.