Christina Sandsengen is a 27-year-old Norwegian guitarist, with an impressive resume in classical guitar, an instrument she was introduced to at the age of 15. Her Barbie-looking photo on the cover of her CD had made me see her as a sophisticated, almost cold, woman quite different from the sensitive, thoughtful person I had the chance to interview.
Read MoreEliecer Guerrero is not known to most, but those who visit the El Cobre sanctuary in Santiago de Cuba cannot overlook the many kiosks selling copper pieces, candles, flowers & small, wooden Caridad del Cobre virgins sold along the city’s main street. He was one of the first to sell these items. (48 photos)
Read MoreMusic inundated this part of Havana, the melodies of Buena Fe and the melodious voice of Israel Rojas, the group’s leader, were recognizable. This young man seems ready to talk about Cuba at any time.
Read MoreElain Morales is a Cuban singer who has taken several international venues by storm and made a career for himself in the United States. “They say no one is a prophet in their own land,” he tells us during his interview for Havana Times.
Read MoreOne of the male members of Cuba’s Coro Vocal Leo choir, tenor soloist Daniel Noriega, also holds a medical degree and practices plastic surgery. Would one think the two careers are compatible?
Read MoreI’ve known Leosnel Aguilar Padron for more than ten years. I never suspected he would one day become initiated to Santeria. I found out days after he’d gone through the ritual, and I found it so curious I decided to ask him some questions about it. When I arrived at his house, I found him in the company of his Oyirbona, Ambar del Carmen, the person who must be present at all of the initiation ceremonies. She joined our conversation.
Read MoreIn response to a question from a reader of Havana Times, dealing with the recently-concluded Conference of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE) held in Miami, we decided to interview the chair of the association, Professor Ted Henken.
Read MoreArgentinian musician Ismael Torres is coming to the end of an international tour that has taken him to many different countries around Latin America, including Cuba, a nation that, in his words, “is torn between many root questions.”
Read MoreDance teacher and choreographer Bertha Casañas is the director of an artistic project that has already made a name for itself among young, Cuban dance companies. “I also have a dream. I would love to have my own venue, a space where the soul of America can dance.”
Read MoreIn ad for a restaurant given me by a young man handing out flyers on Obispo street, Old Havana, offering patrons the opportunity to “enjoy the World Cup finals on a 57-inch, flat-screen TV”, drew me to the Restaurante-Bar 513, located on 8th street, between 5th and 31st, in Miramar.
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