Energy affairs researcher Jorge Piñón, a Cuban-American who left the island during Operation Peter Pan and these many years later continues to talk in first-person-singular when referring to Cuba. Piñón has worked in the oil industry and was president for Latin America of AMOCO Oil Co.
Read MoreYoung Canadian performer Victoria Sol comes to the island to hone her musical studies, and in her appearances before the Cuban public, many have been surprised to hear a vocal style reminiscent of greats like Amy Winhouse.
Read MoreAfter writing a post titled “The Serious Issue of Machismo”, I decided to approach a well-known attorney and former judge at the Tribunal Provincial Popular de la Habana in Centro Habana. She agreed to grant me an interview, provided she could remain anonymous (for she fears losing her current job). I will, thus, refer to her simply as Laura.
Read MoreThe best-selling Chilean novelist Isabel Allende is out with a new book, “Maya’s Notebook: A Novel.” It tells the story of a teenager named Maya Vidal and her struggles with drug addiction, grief and history. Although fiction, the story is rooted in real-life tragedy.
Read MoreThe Variety Show companies draw upon many of the artistic possibilities (theater, dance, circus art, mime, visual art, audiovisual presentation). However, their basis is purely musical, sampling from a variety of sources and thus escaping formal definition. The script doesn’t necessarily have a single unifying theme and the performance is totally eclectic.
Read More“When we saw the call for participation, we were thrilled by the idea of taking our performance out to the street, to public spaces far from the stage, without charging admittance,” said Cyntia Moya, director of the Chilean theater troupe ‘Cyma’ at Havana’s City in Motion event.
Read More“Raul Castro’s reforms are a step in the right direction. The problem is the pace and the scope of these reforms.” This is how Cuban blogger and activist Yoani Sanchez refers to the economic changes and other measures which Castro is introducing in Cuba, today under the close scrutiny of the international community.
Read MoreTransformism is the term used to describe the practice of those individuals who, for aesthetic reasons, adopt the appearance and cultural demeanor traditionally associated with members of the opposite sex, in order to create a character they can “transform” into. It is also considered a variant of transvestitism.
Read MoreIn a Democracy Now! exclusive on Earth Day, climate change activist Tim DeChristopher joins us for his first interview since being released from federal custody after serving 21 months in detention. DeChristopher was convicted of interfering with a 2008 public auction when he disrupted the Bush administration’s last-minute move to sell off oil and gas exploitation rights in Utah.
Read MoreLyric singing marked the beginning of Orley Cruz’s artistic career as a soloist in performances staged by Cuba’s National Lyric Theater, a company he later left in order to start a new path in singing. “I had my first experience on a stage at the age of five during a children’s festival.”
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