Let us Pray, Sep 8 6th Leo Brouwer The Word on the

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sep
In co-operation with
2014
Let us Pray, Sep 8
6th Leo Brouwer
Festival, Sep 26-Oct 12
The Word on the
Street. by Conner Gorry
Cuba spiritual ISSUE
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editorial
Cover picture by Alex Mene:
Devotees of Our Lady of Regla,
Sept 2013
We have found our spiritual side month. Maybe it was the ice-cold bucket of water that provoked some inner
contemplation; perhaps it was the 24-hour yoga session or maybe it was simply something in the air this
month—whatever it was, we are paying tribute to Cuba’s smorgasbord of beliefs and traditions, which largely
co-exist in a happy equilibrium.
After all, when you scratch beneath the surface in Cuba everyone believes in something—observe the most
inflexible atheist when the Cuban baseball team gets to the final of the World Baseball Classic!
September 8 marks the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and this is celebrated in various processions
throughout Cuba. Conner Gorry is not buying into this religious renaissance and her article on the Pope’s
visit to Cuba back in 2013 may be the necessary antidote for any remaining atheists who are not buying it.
Lydia Bell and Antonio Baiano, who explore Santeria and the Secrets of the Saints, delve into the African roots
of Cuba. Victoria Alcalá rounds out this religious issue with a piece on the past and present Jewish community in Cuba.
September is a month for dance in Havana. Ballet, folkloric, Modern dance, Spanish dance—take your pick.
We recommend Danza Abierta’s ShowRoom (Sep13), Ballet Español de Cuba (Sep 16-17) at Teatro Mella and
Habana Rakatán at Centro Cultural Bertolt Brecht (Sep 12-13).
At the end of September, get ready for the 6th Leo Brouwer Festival, which is truly one of Cuba’s premier
music festivals with world-class invitees scheduled to participate.
If you have a chance, don’t miss the final summer party at Club Havana on Sunday night. These parties have
been rocking all summer—beautiful people blowing bubbles at a hedonistic fiesta of music and dance.
Do check out our expanded Havana Guide, which is growing to accommodate the new bars, restaurants and
casas particulares that continue to spring forth adding vitality and energy to Havana’s entertainment and
hospitality scene.
September 2014 Highlights (Havana, unless stated)
•
Sep 7, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
•
Sep 26-Oct 12, 6th Leo Brouwer Festival
Thanks to all of our contributors, sponsors, partners and readers. Do please keep providing us with your
feedback, comments and suggestions. All enquiries should be directed to Sophia Beckman at CubaAbsolutely@gmail.com. All the best. Viva Cuba!
September 2014
photo by Alex Mene
Features
[Cuba spiritual ISSUE]
Cuba’s religious ajiaco (stew) p8
by Margaret Atkins
Praise Be to Our Lady of Charity p11
by Lucia Lamadrid
The black Cuban Virgin dressed in blue p14
by Victoria Alcalá
Let Us Pray: The Pope comes to Cuba p16
by Conner Gorry
The Jewish community in Cuba: past and present p19
Unlocking the secrets of the saints in Cuba p22
by Lydia Bell
Santeria, the African roots of Cuba p25
by Antonio Baiano
Summer Fashion: Iyawó Style p28
by Isabella Ramos
Havana
Listings
Havana style
Visual Arts p30 — Photography p34 — Dance p35 —
Music p38 — Theatre p48 — For Kids p49
Alicia Leal: A universal mysticism p32
6th Leo Brouwer Chamber Music Festival p50
The Word on the Street p56
by Conner Gorry
El Gato Tuerto – 54 years old and still packing it for
‘filin’ p59
El Litoral – An inspiration on the Malecón p61
Havana Guide
Features — Restaurants — Bars & Clubs — Live Music —
Hotels — Private Accommodation p66
Not to miss during September 2014 what’s on havana
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sum
1
8
15
22
29
What’s On Havana is Nativity of the
out—make a plan for Blessed Virgin Mary
the rest of the month
Frank Delgado and
Buena Fe in Concert
September 15, 10pm
Teatro Karl Marx
Monday night—go
traditional bar
hopping: Bodeguita
del Medio, El
Floridita, Sloppy
Joe’s.
El papel de la
cultura en el Caribe
hoy Casa de las
Américas, September
29-October 3
2
9
16
23
30
Dinner at Mr Miglis’s
Swedish-Cuban
fusion oasis of good
food and style in
Centro Habana
Y lo español se baila
así... @ Teatro Mella,
Sept 16 & 17,
Get a beer or six at
Girl’s night out—
Havana’s best new
Cocinero, Up &
brewery: Cervecería Down, Sangri-La
Antiguo Almacén de
la Madera y el Tabaco
3
10
17
24
Dinner at Santy,
Jaimanitas’s off the
beaten track world
class sushi restaurant
Dinner at El Litoral,
one of Havana’s best
new restaurants—
watch life pass by the
Malecón.
4
11
18
25
Jornada Pinar HipHop, September 4-7,
Pinar del Río
Dinner at La Guarida Festival Nacional
Metal HG, September
Havana’s legendary
restaurant located in 18-21, Holguín
Centro Habana
5
12
Concert by pianist
Ernán López-Nussa
and his trio @ Basílica
Menor de San
Francisco de Asís
Posible imposible by
Habana Rakatán @
Centro Cultural Bertolt Retazos @ Sala Las
Carolinas, Sept 19 &
Brecht (Sep 12-13)
20
La Cenicienta según
los Beatles Compañía
“La Colmenita”, Sept
12 & 14, 10:30am.
6
13
Watch peace break out
between Russian and
Ukranian diplomats
at Cuba’s premier
Soviet restaurant,
Nazdarovie
Ecos Dance Company
Danza Abierta
ShowRoom @ Sala de @ Teatro América,
El Ciervo Encantado, 8pm
8.30pm
Ernán López-Nussa
@ Teatro Nacional,
Ballet Nacional de
8.30pm
Cuba @ (Sep 12-13)
En Buena
Compañía, Carpa
Trompoloco, Sat &
Sun, 4pm & 7pm
7
14
21
28
Weekend at Cayo
Levisa organized by
Cubania Travel
La Máquina de la
Melancolía, with
Frank Delgado and
Luis Alberto García
@ El Sauce, 5pm
Beach day–enjoy the
gorgeous Jibacoa
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19
III Encuentro Amigos
del Jazz, September
25-28, Santiago de
Cuba
26
20
Opening of En
colección @ Factoría
Habana, Sep 26-Oct
12, 6th Leo Brouwer
Festival
27
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3
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Mon
Tue
Wed
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Mon
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sum
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photos by Alex Mene
Cuba’s religious ajiaco (stew)
by Margaret Atkins
It is an undeniable fact that Cubans are on the
whole a religious people. Strictly-by-the-book dialectic materialism, poorly taught, poorly repeated and poorly believed never firmly took hold of
the collective consciousness. Atheism has lost the
battle and it is a fact that today, in Cuba, almost
everybody believes in “something.” “Something”
can mean Marist devotion, adherence to the entities making up the Yoruba pantheon, the Bantu
spirits of Africa, the spirits of the dead who are
called upon to help or torment the living, the soul
that helps a woman hold on to her man, universal energy, Our Lord Jesus Christ who died on the
Cross to relieve us of our sins…or the mushroom
that grants the person growing it three wishes and
passes it on to another to form a chain of faith.
In Cuba, there are Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons,
Jews, Orthodox, Muslims, Protestants of various
denominations, disciples of the “New Era” movement and followers of the spiritualism of Yoga.
The economic crisis unleashed after the fall of
the socialist bloc and the religious tolerance after
years of political roadblocks that terminated with
the constitutional reform of 1991 and the aperture
permitting believers of all faiths to join the Communist Party are factors that have helped along
the religious explosion that today permeates every stratum of society. Of all the tendencies, the
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Catholic faith is the oldest; it was brought by the
Conquistadors and the aboriginal religions disappeared along with the aboriginal peoples. The Africans would enter the picture later on when the
local labor force had become spent.
In a recent publication, the Catholic Church stated
that in 2012 approximately 52 % of the population
was Catholic; this included non-apostate baptized
persons. It has been said, however, that formal
practitioners only number around 200,000. Popular religions are very noticeable: this is something
common to all peoples but much more extended
throughout Latin America. It is a term that has
been much discussed and which includes a long
list of phenomena. There are those in Cuba who
are visibly and actively committed to the Christian community. There are those who believe “in
their own way,” belonging to a church in which
they have been baptized and for which they feel a
certain sense of belonging, but do not regularly attend Mass. They will have their children baptized
because it is the custom or because they think it is
something “good for them.” And that’s the extent
of it. There are those who believe in God but not in
the priests and they won’t set foot inside a church
if their lives depended on it. There are those who
have Masses for their dead, they pray and wear
crucifixes and collect blessed palm leaves on Palm
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Photo by Alex Mene
faith, died struck down by lightning in holy retribution. She is the patron of storms, firemen and
miners. Saint Barbara is a Christian martyr and is
often shown lifting the sword that cut off her head
and for that reason she is erroneously associated
with war.
Saint Jude Thaddeus, Saint Rita of Cascia and Saint
Expeditus have been gaining in popularity in recent years. They intercede in impossible cases and
urgent causes and Cubans beseech them whenever they are faced by some circumstance that they
cannot resolve on their own. Saint Jude is especially consulted to intercede in migratory matters.
Sunday and attend the Midnight Mass once a year.
There are those who feel themselves to be Catholic and yet they incorporate into their faith the
elements of the African cults in an act of syncretism. A young colleague of mine once said that for
him spiritual life was like an empty bag that gained
in value the more it contained. And that was why
he managed to be babalawo, palero, spiritualist,
Catholic and Communist all at the same time.
Without going to such lengths of cultural mixing,
it is true that many Cubans are Catholic in a very
special way. It is amazing to see the passionate devotion to the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, patroness of the Island. Our Lady of Charity’s Basilica
at El Cobre near the city of Santiago de Cuba is
visited by countless faithful who go there to make
and carry out promises and make offerings. Before
she became the official patroness of Cuba, she was
the protector of Indians and blacks. The first Cuban flag that fluttered over the liberating troops
of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes was sewn from the
cloth of the Virgin’s canopy.
People pray to the Virgin of Regla, a black virgin
brought from Andalusia in Spain. The fishing village on the other side of Havana Bay was named
after her and is where the Iglesia de la Virgen de
Regla church is located. Our Lady of Mercy also
has a large following. There are home which also
have a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus so that
prayers can be offered to Jesus for indulgence
and compassion. The Virgin of Loreto has been
extra-officially declared patron of Havana’s newborn real-estate business. If you want to sell or
buy a house, that’s who you should pray to.
In every case, devotion to these saints is based on
utilitarian needs. If you have lost something, get
in touch with Saint Dismas, the Good Thief; if you
San Lázaro, whose sanctuary is at El Rincón on the
outskirts of Havana, is a strange case because he
is not an official saint nor does his name appear
on any calendar. The image that presides the altar
of the church is Lazarus, Bishop of Marseille, but
the pilgrims actually pay respect -- to another image situated to the left of the high altar, which the
Church considers the same saint, but which popular tradition identifies with the Syncretic Lazarus,
the one in crutches accompanied by a dog. If you
are in Havana in December, you can take part in
a huge pilgrimage because this poor, sickly Saint
Lazarus accompanied by his dogs has been attributed with extraordinary powers over life and
health.
Another beloved saint is Barbara. A popular saying
has it that there are persons who only remember
Saint Barbara whenever it thunders because her
father, who had her put to death on account of her
Photo by Y. Monte
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want to get married, hang an image of Saint Anthony on the wall. One lady who is in charge of selling prints at an important church in Havana says:
“People ask me what the saints are good for, as if
they were appliances.” And in many cases, there is
a syncretic relationship between Catholic saints
and the entities in the Yoruba pantheon. To add to
the confusion, these African deities are generically
referred to as santos, that is, saints.
Are you confused now? Well, that’s hardly surprising. Cuba is a small island but its spiritual world is
enormous. What is perhaps the best feature is that
every faith appears to coexist in harmony. Across
the street where I live, there is an apartment building. The family on the first floor are 100% Catholic;
the one on the second floor are santeros—the kind
that play the drums at least three times a year—
while the family of Pentecostals who libve on the
top floor go to church regularly on Wednesdays
and Sundays. Every morning, these three families
all go and buy their bread at the same bakery, they
greet each other and share stories, troubles and
vicissitudes. That’s what people are like here. I love
that, don’t you?
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Praise Be to Our Lady of Charity
(La Virgen de la Caridad)
by Lucia Lamadrid
photos by Alex Mene
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While many Cubans are by nature somewhat skeptical when it comes to religion, it doesn’t take much
of a mishap before “Our Lady of Charity” (often
known by the more intimate “Cachita”) is invoked
for believers and non-believers alike. The church
is well aware that while some people venerate the
Marian image of Our Lady of Charity, others worship Ochun, the Orisha of love and money, the river Goddess, who always wears yellow and still others manage to worship both the Christian virgin
and the goddess of the Yoruba religion syncretized
in one.
The image itself is syncretic—part of a process
that has occurred through the centuries. The
white man, the black man and the mulatto that
lie at her feet in a small boat is a reminder of the
three men—one black and two Indians—who found
a small wooden statue of the Virgin Mary holding
the child Jesus in her arms while sailing around the
Bay of Nipe in the early 17th century. The statue
was fastened to a board with an inscription saying “I am the Virgin of Charity.” This is the same
diverse, multiracial and devout Cuban people that
now make the pilgrimage, rain or shine, and adorn
the road with yellow sunflowers, calling out to her
over and over: “Praise be to Our Lady of Charity!”
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For the Catholic world as a whole, September 8
marks the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She
is venerated in many countries, cities and regions
as their patroness, usually under a specific title
or apparition. This is the case of Cuba, which celebrates that day as the feast day of Our Lady of
Charity.
Every year, several thousands of Cubans of all ages,
races and social position accompany the statue in
the traditional procession that takes place in the
working-class neighborhood of Centro Habana.
This tradition was taken up again after the historic
visit of Pope John Paul to Cuba in 1998. The statue
of the Virgin is carried on a platform followed by
a throng of people that carry candles or flowers—
sunflowers mostly. Many wear yellow, which is the
color that identifies Our Lady of Charity. The people walk solemnly for several blocks around Nuestra Señora de la Caridad Parrish in Centro Habana.
The procession is headed by Jaime Ortega, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Havana.
Mass and made an appeal for peace around the
world, in particular Syria.
Although the principal celebration on this day
takes place in Santiago de Cuba at the Virgin’s
National Sanctuary, this beautiful and moving
demonstration of faith takes place all over Cuba.
Our Lady of Charity is a symbol of identity for Cubans wherever they may be, and her significance
transcends the Catholic faith to the culture and
history of Cuba.
This past September 8, 2013, was no different in
Havana. During the procession, the people sang
hymns, prayed and shouted Viva! to Cuba’s Patroness and the Church. Other people followed
the procession from the rooftops and porches of
their homes. The procession ended at the Parrish
of Our Lady of Charity where the Archbishop said
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photos by Alex Mene
The black Cuban Virgin dressed in blue
(The pilgrimage of Our Lady of Regla)
by Victoria Alcalá
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Our Lady of Regla has an illustrious history that
goes back to Saint Augustine (354–430), one of the
early Fathers of the Church who, it is said, had received heavenly instructions to carve a statue of
a black virgin in wood and to place it in his chapel in Hippo, present-day Annaba in Algeria. Thirteen years after the death of St. Augustine, when
Hippo was attacked and destroyed by the Vandals,
the monks fled to Spain and took the statue with
them. They placed it on a spot that looked out to
sea, and this is where the devotion began. In time,
Our Lady of Regla became the patroness of mariners. This is why it was also adopted as the patron
saint of the quaint village of Regla, located on the
northeastern side of Havana’s Bay in a pre-Columbian Indian settlement that would later be populated by fishermen and sailors.
On the Virgin’s feast day, September 7, the faithful come to Cuba’s National Sanctuary of Our Lady
of Regla, continuing a tradition that began in the
17th century. The image that we see today is an
exact copy of the head of the original statue. It
was brought from Spain in 1696 by Sergeant Major
Don Pedro de Aranda y Avellaneda and placed on
the altar of the church that substituted the original wooden structure, which was destroyed by a
hurricane. Today’s Sanctuary, a modest and humble building erected from 1811 to 1818, is far from
majestic. Its altars are not filled with gold or other
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material riches. It stands on a small rise fittingly
facing the sea.
The statue of the Black Madonna, as it is also
known, has lived an adventurous life. When Havana was captured by the British in 1762, it was taken to the church of the small town of El Calvario,
and then to a sugar mill in nearby Managua. This
was done to prevent the statue from falling in the
hands of the subjects of “treacherous Albion.” In
1958, it was abducted, with the priest’s knowledge
and consent, by young revolutionaries who opposed Batista’s dictatorship.
As with Our Lady of Charity, devotion for Our
Lady of Regla is part of this wonderful potpourri,
which, according to the Cuban scholar Don Fernando Ortiz, is the basis of the Cuban nationality.
The Virgin of Regla is syncretized with the Orisha
Yemayá, owner of the moon, the seas and everything that lives there. She is vested with marine
symbols, such as shells, conches, anchors, boats,
corals, seaweeds and starfish. And her color, of
course, is blue like the sea. While the pilgrimage
of the patron saint of Cuba, Our Lady of Charity,
is filled with yellow, the pilgrimage of Our Lady of
Regla, the Cuban black virgin, is blue, as befits the
Queen of the Seas.
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Let Us Pray: The Pope comes to Cuba
by Conner Gorry
As anti-climactic as the Immaculate Conception—I’m sure you’ve already divined that the
religious importance of having his Holiness here
held no interest for me and in this I’m not alone:
I’ve never seen an event so thinly attended in
the iconic Plaza de la Revolución in my 10 years
here. In fact, we strolled into the central area
just a few moments before the 9:30 mass kicked
off and were going against the current of people
streaming away from the square. “I came and
took the pictures I wanted; I’m going home,” a
friend I ran into said. The curiosity seekers and
thin crowds were surprising but make sense: as
a whole, Cubans just aren’t that church-y. Religious and faith-bound, yes, but that’s different
from kneeling before a man in a dress and goofy
hat while he proselytizes a doctrine peppered
with sins bound to doom your mortal soul.
from there—especially when refracted through the
lense of reporters sent to cover such an event—
does not accurately reflect what we’re experiencing on the ground. It’s not only that every media
outlet from The Militant to FoxNews has an agenda. The view is skewed also because Cuba newbies rarely grasp the complexities of our context
(see note 2), nor the attendant history influencing
those complexities. You don’t get this perspective
unless you’ve been around and stick around and
only if you speak Spanish—even a translator is no
guarantee (see note 3).
So let me tell you about the mass I attended yesterday under a blazing sun, delivered by a frog-like
man in a funny hat.
What folks are saying: One of the pervasive myths
about Cubans is that they’re afraid to speak their
I ventured once again outside my comfort zone
yesterday here in Havana: I went to mass. It was
as oppressive (and let’s be frank, hypocritical) as
I remember from Jesuit high school (see note 1),
although this one was presided over by the big
Catholic kahuna himself, Pope Benedict XVI. It was
also mercifully short.
While I’m sure you’re oversaturated with ‘The
Pope in Cuba’ news up your way, one of the indelible lessons I’ve learned in my 10 years of island residency is that the picture you get of here
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minds or offer opinions, and that self-censorship
is rampant. While it’s undeniable that people keep
their heads far below the parapet in the workplace
and have the tendency to adjust responses to what
they think people want to hear, I’ve always found
Cubans to be fiercely opinionated—once you get to
know them. Or more to the point: once they get to
know you.
The Pope’s visit confirmed this impression.
“I’m so sick of this Pope.”
“Wasn’t he a Fascist?”
“I’ll come by your house once The Almighty Pope
leaves and things calm down.”
“Son of a b@&*h! The Pope took our Internet.” (see
note 4)
“Faith, hope, and peace: that’s what it’s all about.”
Rocking our rum-pork-party holy trinity:
Another element piquing my interest was how
Cubans approached this whole Papal visit. Essentially, yesterday felt much like hurricane preparation and landfall: people laid in stores and stayed
home watching events unfold on TV, with some
chicharrones and a bottle of rum close at hand.
Except—and this was a rude awakening for several
of my unprepared friends—authorities instituted a
booze ban the evening before, which lasted until
the Pope Mobile and its cargo were safely at the
airport. So those who didn’t lay in the ron were
homebound with pork, friends, and family, but no
curda. In my decade here, I only recall a few alcohol-free events: election days are always dry and
if I’m not mistaken, they did the same during the
Non-Aligned Summit here in 2006. Let me tell you:
no rum makes Havana kinda grumpy.
Revenue coup:
The cleverness of Cuba never ceases to amaze me
and yesterday didn’t disappoint once I saw the
huge numbers of tourists in the Plaza for mass. My
first clue was the distinguished older gentleman of
means dressed in khakis, a pink Oxford, and penny
loafers, with not a gin and tonic in sight; clearly not
one of us. I started looking closely at the crowd and
their clothes and distinguishing different accents.
Nicaragua, Argentina, Chile, Panama, the DR, USA,
PR, Mexico, Venezuela—flags from all across Latin
America snapped in the wind whipping across the
Plaza and I realized that aside from the pride and
so-called “soft power” the Papal visit signified, it
also represented a hugely-needed and greatly-ap-
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preciated influx of tourist cash. There wasn’t a hotel room to be found; paladares overflowed; extra
charter flights were added from Florida. And all
Habaneros (save for cops and docs), were given a
paid day off. This is the type of devotion we could
use more of and we thank you for supporting the
cause.
The US matters less: After Juan Pablo II’s visit in
1998, Bill Clinton’s White House issued a press release announcing new policies ostensibly resulting
from this historic trip. Most importantly, the release approved people-to-people visits in order to
foment “regime change” and “promote a peaceful
transition to democracy”—concepts mentioned no
fewer than six times in the short document. Blatantly threatening the national sovereignty of an
independent and peaceful country thusly is absurd enough, but that Obama maintains precisely the same policies and parrots exactly the same
rhetoric 14 years later, that’s just loco. While the
US is embarrassingly and unjustly static in its policy, the world and, importantly, Cuba has changed—
is changing still. Raúl is a different bird from his
brother and that manifests itself in many ways, including less of the ping pong policy-making that
based decisions on what the bully to the North was
doing. That’s how it looks publically anyway.
Holy jama!
As anti-climactic as the Immaculate Conception:
I’m sure you’ve already divined that the religious
importance of having his Holiness here held no interest for me and in this I’m not alone: I’ve never
seen an event so thinly attended in the iconic Plaza de la Revolución in my 10 years here. In fact, we
strolled into the central area just a few moments
before the 9:30 mass kicked off and were going
against the current of people streaming away from
the square. “I came and took the pictures I wanted; I’m going home,” a friend I ran into said. The
curiosity seekers and thin crowds were surprising
but make sense: as a whole, Cubans just aren’t that
church-y. Religious and faith-bound, yes, but that’s
different from kneeling before a man in a dress
and goofy hat while he proselytizes a doctrine
peppered with sins bound to doom your mortal
soul. Cubans just aren’t down with that, but they
do love a spectacle: one of my favorite moments
was when a women who wanted to taste the host
tried to fake her way through the motions while
the priest held the wafer aloft. When he caught on,
he patted her on the head and returned the host to
his jaba. Though the Pope himself failed to inspire,
Cubans never do.
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Notes
1. This, Fidel and I have in common, except those same Jesuits expelled me my junior year (another story entirely!)
2. A simple example: journalists arrive here and compose some flaccid or purply prose (even leading with it occasionally, dios mío)
about all the old cars rumbling about. For those of us with continuity here, that’s ‘dog bites man.’ The more compelling, ‘man bites
dog’ story is the unbelievable amount of new cars on the road and what that means for traffic, transport options, pollution, etc.
3. The press conference by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez upon the Pope’s arrival is case in point: his response to an Englishspeaking reporter about “freedom of consciousness” was elegant and sweeping in the original Spanish, mangled and less inspired
in English.
4. Cuba has limited bandwidth due to the US embargo-cum-blockade which prohibits the island from connecting to underwater
cables running nearby. Instead, the connection for the entire island is provided by a sole, slow Italian satellite. This bandwidth was
prioritized for visiting press so they could report live from Cuba. It’s back now, thankfully, obviously.
Conner Gorry is one of the most insightful writers about Cuba. Author of Here is Havana blog
(http://hereishavana.wordpress.com/), she also puts together the Havana Good Time iPad/
Phone/Touch application http://itunes.apple.com/app/havana-good-time/id385663683?mt=8
(Android version) http://sutromedia.com/android/Havana_Good_Time - essential guide to
What’s On in Havana.
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Photos by Humberto Mayol
The Jewish community in Cuba:
past and present
by Victoria Alcalá
There are records that the first Jews, among them
Luis Torres the man who introduced tobacco to
Europe and Rodrigo de Triana, arrived in Cuba
with Christopher Columbus. By undertaking such
a hazardous journey into the unknown they were
hoping to escape the long arm of the Spanish Inquisition. It is said that the one and only female
governor of Cuba, Doña Isabel de Bobadilla, wife
of Hernando de Soto, also governor of Cuba and
explorer of Florida, had been converted to Christianity. Likewise, it is thought that Pedro Agustin
Morell de Santa Cruz, Bishop of Santo Domingo,
much loved in Havana for his dignified attitude
during the 1762 English invasion, was a convert;
at the moment of his death he spoke words in a
“strange language” that could be attributed to
his possible condition of convert to Christianity.
Within the quiet and under-cover settlement of
Jews during the colonial era, there was the outstanding Diaz-Pimienta “dynasty” of Portuguese
descent; some members of this family were wellknown shipbuilders and smugglers and they intermarried with African women.
the new possibilities opening up with the recently won independence from Spain. Just two years
after the birth of the Republic in 1904, the United Hebrew Congregation was inaugurated and in
1906 they acquired a cemetery in the outskirts of
Guanabacoa (Independencia and Avenida de los
Mártires). The community at that time numbered
around one hundred families, including the prominent family of the businessman Steinhart, founder
of the Cuban Tramways and Electrical Company.
Sephardic Jews who had been expelled from Tur-
A number of Jews took part in the wars for Cuban
independence and others collaborated with José
Martí in the United States. During the American
intervention of 1898, a number of Jews (almost all
of Rumanian descent) arrived in Cuba attracted by
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the early 1920s: the Orthodox Jewish Adath Israel
(1925), the Jewish Leftist Union (1926), the women’s organization Forein Farein (1926), the Zionist
Union of Cuba (1929), Knesset Israel (1929) Wiso
(1942), etc. In 1953, the Jewish Community House
Trust was established and its large community
center was built, an excellent design by architect
Aquiles Capablanca, who combinrd the Cuban
Modernist Movement with Jewish spirituality becoming one of the jewels of modern Havana architecture. In 1959, the Sephardic Jewish Center of
Cuba was founded.
In 1952, the total Jewish population reached around
15,000 with approximately 75% of them living in
Havana and the rest in the other provinces except
Pinar del Rio. By this time the poverty which had
accompanied many of the new-arrivals was far
behind, transformed into family prosperity with
some considerable fortunes and a highly respected professional sector. Ideas of work-ethic and intelligence identified the Jewish community among
other Cubans. In relatively a few short years, the
Jewish community had transformed from peddlers (it was said they had introduced credit sales
to Cuba) to prosperous businessmen and entrepreneurs. Their descendants were doctors, architects and lawyers and they left the so-called Jewish or “Polaco” Quarter in La Habana Vieja to set
up homes in El Vedado or Miramar as a symbol of
their newly-acquired social status.
key and the Middle East, suffering from the asphyxiating economic situation, arrived in Cuba in
the first decades of the twentieth century and established the Chevet Ahim community organization. In the 1920s, the Ashkenazi immigration from
Eastern Europe began to arrive bringing mostly poverty-stricken Poles, Russians, Czechs and
Hungarians, among others. It seems that their ultimate goal was to go on to the United States but the
toughening of US immigration policy forced them
to lay down roots in Cuban soil, which welcomed
them into an open and hospitable society. This European wave of immigrants received the nickname
of “polacos.” Cubans tended to call all Jews Poles
regardless of their actual geographic provenance.
By 1925, there were roughly 8,000 Jews on the
Island (about 5,200 Ashkenazi, more than 2,500
Sephardic Jews and 100 Americans). Anti-Semitic
persecutions of the 1940s in Europe also contributed to Jewish emigration. Refugees from Belgium
introduced the diamond industry into Cuba; at its
height there were 24 factories with approximately
1,000 workers.
With the abolishment of private business and
schools after 1959, more than 90% of the Cuban
Jewish community, mainly businessmen and professionals, emigrated. Most went to the US and
others left for other parts of Latin America, Europe
and even to Israel. This sudden exodus caused a
marked decline in the activities of the Jewish organizations, to the extent that the Jewish Trust
Many centers and institutions were created in
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was forced to rent space in their splendid building
to theater groups while the Sephardic Center entered into similar agreements with musical institutions.
Nevertheless, the Jewish community was reorganized and rebuilt. Today, there is a sustained increase in numbers of young practicing Jews due
to the flexibility of accepting not just those born
to Jewish mothers as tradition dictates, but also
those who are Jewish on the paternal side and
even converts with no family histories. Of the
1,500 Jews in Cuba today, only about 100 have both
parents who are Jewish. Increases in Jewish weddings, numbers of young people learning Hebrew
and studying Jewish history, activities in the community library housing more than 13,000 volumes
on Jewish philosophy and history including texts
written in Yiddish all point to the revitalization of
a community whose heritage is part of the “ajiaco”
[‘stew’ or melting pot] that is Cuban nationality.
Comunidad Religiosa Hebrea Adath Israel de Cuba (Acosta
y Picota, La Habana Vieja)
Principal Jewish Institutions Present Today in
Cuba:
Cemeteries of Guanabacoa, Santa Clara, Camajuaní,
Camagüey and Santiago de Cuba.
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Centro Hebreo Sefaradí de Cuba (17 y E, El Vedado)
Unión Hebrea Chevet Ahim (Inquisidor 407, La Habana
Vieja)
Patronato de la Casa de la Comunidad Hebrea de Cuba (13
e I, El Vedado)
Sinagoga Tiferet Israel (Camagüey), Sinagoga Hakitva
(Santiago de Cuba)
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photos by Humberto Mayol
Unlocking the secrets of the saints in Cuba
by Lydia Bell
Rain is beating down on steaming asphalt in central
Havana, a hard-bitten patch of town. I am looking
for a street-corner rumba and know my destination will call me by the 12/8 slap of a palm on the
Cuban batá and cajones—wooden boxes—and that
distinctive clave sound. Finally, I find Callejón de
Hamel, a graffiti-plastered alley where, at noon on
Sundays, Havana’s Afro-Cuban community worship their gods with bewitching dance and song.
by the Spanish were forbidden to practise their
native religion. They resisted by fusing African deities with Catholic saints, worshipping them like
the Spanish did, but imbuing them with their own
gods’ characteristics. So the super-macho African God, Shango, became Santa Barbara, a woman
clothed in the red colour associated with her fiery
African counterpart; Oya, the undergoddess of the
Niger River, became the Virgin of Candelaria.
Rumba is more than music and dance—it is the
expression of Cuba’s creole identity. The music
is a hybrid, blending Congolese percussion and
flamenco-style soul-baring singing in the Yoruba language. It is rhythmic, dark, intense—one of
the island’s first and enduring sounds, and one
that has changed little since the colonial era. I see
a man and a woman doing a rooster-hen dance.
Soon, other dancers join. At some point, it becomes a drum-fuelled marathon with spectators
piling in. The air is thick and soupy, the beat relentless. Finally, I’ve had enough and elbow my way
out of the tiny corridor and head toward the work
of local painter Salvador González Escalona, who
started plastering the walls of this back alley with
vivid murals in 1990, bringing a sacred space to
this poorest part of town.
Over time, they genuinely integrated customs and
Four centuries ago, African slaves brought to Cuba
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imal sacrifice to keep evil from the doors. There’s
a common phrase in Cuba: “Voy a tener que ir a
Guanabacoa” or “I need to go to Guanabacoa.” But
what it actually means is: “I am in trouble; only a
priest can save me.”
This township in eastern Havana, once a major
trading centre for slaves, has a marked Afro-Cuban
musical and cultural identity strongly associated
with Santería; the secret brotherhood of Abakuá
and Palo Monte, a nature-worship cult. It’s one of
those barrios where the potencia—literally, spiritual potency--is strong. I go there with Tomás, a
Santería practitioner who runs grassroots Santería
tours in Havana for the uninitiated.
The Museo Histórico de Guanabacoa tells a compelling story of the evolution of Afro Cuban culture.
Here, clever, youthful guides will prep you on the
main deities, from maternal Yemaya to firebrand
Shango. My guide, José, tells me that you cannot
understand Cuba until you know Santería, which is
present in the way Cubans eat, dress, speak, think
and act. He also tells me Santería, because of its
natural-born secrecy, could never be suppressed
during the austere Communist years in the way
Catholicism was.
beliefs from the Spanish. Some white Creoles—native born Cubans of European descent—adopted African practices too, and continue to do so.
Santería is growing in every sector of the community, more publicly so since the mid-1990s, as the
government started to show a new tolerance towards religion.
In many Cuban houses, eerie, unblinking dolls
form a mini altar laced with fruit and tobacco offerings, icons of saints, crosses and seemingly random objects. You might think this is a deep devotion to Catholicism. But these are in fact marks of
Santería, still one of the best-kept secrets here.
Next stop is the Babalawo, the high priest. Tomás
takes me to the top guy in his neighborhood, Diez
de Octubre. The Babalawo is a tall white man in his
sixties, who is quietly dignified. I ask for a consultation and I offer him some money. (He makes the
sign of the cross with it before pocketing it.) He
says he will consult Olorun—the divination aspect
of the great divine entity—about my past, present
and future, and leads me into a bare kitchen.
He begins by writing details of my name and date
of birth, then embarks on a ritual of chanting in
Yoruba (invoking his ancestors to clarify his mind,
Tomás advises), splashing water from half a coconut shell, tapping the table, clicking his fingers and
throwing a chain hung with discs of coconut rind
on to the table. He keeps telling me to keep my
open palms towards him. I am slightly distracted
You can spend weeks in Cuba, learn about the
Revolution, cigars, the proportion of Cadillacs to
Chevrolets, and how to live on ration books, and
yet learn nothing about Afro-Cuban culture. This
is due not to the lotus-eating indolence of tourists, but the secrecy in which Santería is cloaked.
It was born in Nigeria, along the banks of the Niger
River, among the Yoruba people who had a pantheon as rich as the Ancient Greeks. In Cuba, about 25
deities remain. Santería says the orishas need to
be placated through gifts or, in extreme cases, an-
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by the sound of a squealing pig somewhere in the
house – Tomas tells me that there is an initiation
ceremony going on as we speak, when the faithful make official their association with Santería
through days of intense ritual and animal sacrifice. Then his wife bursts in and makes everyone
coffee, he lights up a cigarette and starts chatting
with Tomás . The famous Cuban pragmatism is not
diluted by any magic at work, and it puts me at
ease.
He tells me (Tomás is available to translate for
anyone who cannot speak Spanish) that I am in a
state of positive evaluation, that I have been blessed with great tranquility in my relationship, gifted
to me by the orisha Oya. I’m feeling quite relieved.
Then he announces: “until the point of marriage.
The trouble is you are very bossy. You seem quiet
now but you could change suddenly and become
like a hurricane, doing something completely out
of character. You are way too demanding and your
husband knows this.”
He leans forward: “You better watch out because
you could become demented.”
Later that evening, slightly perturbed by this onslaught, I read up on Oya. She is a warrior woman who raises tornadoes and hurricanes, and who
guards the underworld.
Ever since meeting Tomás, I can’t help noticing
motifs of Santería everywhere I go: discarded
herbs on street corners; “initiated” Cubans wearing white from head to toe (even their earrings,
shoes and umbrellas); strange artefacts and animal
bones in the surf.
One day, crossing the Rio Almendares, I look down
the lush, iridescent green vista of palm smothered
banks. On a boulder at the river edge is a smiling
woman about to chop a chicken’s head off into the
swirling emerald waters. Santería is everywhere, if
you choose to see it.
TRAVEL ESSENTIALS
Getting there
Lydia Bell travelled with Esencia Experiences (01481 714 898; esenciaexperiences.
com), which offers a seven-day Santeríathemed holiday to Cuba from £1,590pp,
including Virgin Atlantic flights from
Gatwick, B&B at the Saratoga Hotel in
Havana, an expert-led half-day Santería
tour with a visit to a rumba and the Museo
Histórico de Guanabacoa.
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The images of Che Guevara and
Fidel Castro seem to watch over a
Santeria shrine.
Santeria, the African roots of Cuba
photos and text Antonio Baiano
I came into contact with Santeria for the first time in 1999. Impressed by the fervor that my Cuban
friends showed for it, I decided to investigate this cult, which may superficially appear as a form
of superstition or witchcraft in its worst meaning. Santeria indeed conceals great complexity in
both active and passive practice. It represents for its believers a guide and a support to their lives,
whose benefits are to be found in earthly life. A limpieza (cleansing) is a way to get rid of negative
influences and self-purify. An ebbò (offer) to an Orisha (the deity), whether a fruit basket or a ritual sacrifice, is important to maintain closeness to the deity and receive help against the adversity.
Consulting a santero or a santera is a frequent practice, being primarily a moral support to the
daily difficulties.
Many people who have visited Cuba will have
come into contact with some aspects of daily life
intertwined with the culture and traditions of Africa whether from the complex rhythms of Cuban
music through visual artists and performance art.
Probably the most explicit reference to the African
soul is to be found in Santeria, which represents
the synthesis of the cults of African slaves and the
Catholic religion. This embodies almost all aspects, mystic and earthly, of the identity of African
origin.
Josvani Hernández González,
possessed by Babalú-Ayé,
sprinkles some rum on the
participants to purify them.
I came into contact with Santeria for the first time
in 1999. Impressed by the fervor that my Cuban
friends showed for it, I decided to investigate this
cult, which may superficially appear as a form of
superstition or witchcraft in its worst meaning.
Santeria indeed conceals great complexity in both
active and passive practice. It represents for its believers a guide and a support to their lives, whose
benefits are to be found in earthly life. A limpieza
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In the first part of the ceremony,
the musicians play for the Orishas
facing the shrine.
(cleansing) is a way to get rid of negative influences and self-purify. An ebbò (offer) to an Oricha (the
deity), whether a fruit basket or a ritual sacrifice,
is important to maintain closeness to the deity
and receive help against the adversity. Consulting
a santero or a santera is a frequent practice, being
primarily a moral support to the daily difficulties.
When strolling the streets of Havana or of another Cuban city, it is possible to be reached by the
echoes of drums and songs and eventually run
into the house from which they come. It is likely
a Toque de Santo (or de Tambor), one of the rituals that I consider among the most fascinating and
engaging. This is one of the rites where the African roots occur with their greatest intensity. Facing the participants and the altar erected for the
rite, musicians play the sacred batàa drums and
other percussion, weaving complex polyrhythms
of African origin and singing chants to the Orishas in the Yoruba language. Under the guidance
of drums and singings, one can see the trancelike
state of some participants. For the believers this
is the Oricha, who, through the possession of the
body and mind of the person, shows himself to the
participants and gives them support and advices.
It is this ritual as well as those involving the sacrifice of animals, which provoke the most critical
reactions in non-believers. The trance can generally provoke distrust, fear or charm, while the
ritual sacrifices often generate indignation and
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pity. Critics often claim that Santeria is a means
to deceive and suck money from believers. In my
opinion, clearly there are some less than honest
santeros, which combined with naïve tourists may
contribute to a superficial appearance in some instances.
We should not however go from this observation
to a general condemnation especially when this is
based on our own prejudices and our cultural filters. This religion is one of the essential aspects of
Cuban culture, influencing the daily life of a large
part of the population. Understanding Santeria
and its rites is one of the ways for the comprehension of the primary rhythms of everyday life in
the island; without forgetting that this cult is the
testimony of an identity that in vain conquerors
attempted to obliterate.
The “akpwon” (singer) “calls” the
Orishas in the ancient language
of the slaves to the rhythm of
batás, the ritual drums.
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Leading a santero to trance.
Antonio Baiano
Born in Naples (Italy) in 1962, Antonio has lived in Turin, Italy since 1990. He began his photography career in 1997
shooting jazz concerts. His main interest is in reportage and
travel photography, which he sees as a mean of exploration
and knowledge of social themes and cultural diversities and
identities. He has attended several workshops with David H.
Harvey, Kent Kobersteen, Tomasz Tomaszewski and Alexandra Boulat, which he considers fundamental in developing
his photo skills.
Antonio started the project “Roots” based on the Afro-Caribbean religions, in 2001 and traveled various times until 2007
to Cuba and Brazil to shoot Santeria and Candomblé rites
and people. The photos from these reportages have been exhibited in Cuba, France and Italy and a copy of them is stored
in “Casa de Africa” museum in Havana.
Antonio has also published pieces in various magazines and newspapers, and is a member since 2002 of
American Society of Media Photographers.
Antonio is an Italian reportage and travel photographer who has put together the ‘Roots’ project on
Santeria in Cuba and Candomble in Brazil.
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Photo Y. Monte
Summer Fashion: Iyawó Style
by Isabella Ramos
“Santo Iyawó.” That’s what a young man on the
street said to me as I walked by him one afternoon
dressed in white. White skirt, white blouse and
white sneakers identified me as an Iyawó. In Cuba,
the branch of the Yoruba religion called Regla de
Osha designates an initiation period for a person
who will become a Santero or Santera that begins
with the initial ceremony and lasts one year. A
guardian angel, holy father or mother is crowned
to look after their person and they are delivered
to the rest of the deities in the pantheon. The ceremony lasts seven days and that is what they call
“hacerse santo”. According to the santo and along
with the prophesy dictated by the “Diloggun” of
the babalosha, the person receives advice that
they must follow for the rest of their life. Along
with this, there are some rules that they must follow during the “iyaboraje” stage.
At this time, the initiates are considered to be newborns. They are persons who, even though they
have just received a great power, are in a fragile
process of purification. That’s why they must dress
entirely in white and always wear protective head
gear and clothing to protect the feet and the back.
This includes everything from caps, stockings,
closed shoes, skirts and shawls for women, even
walking-stick parasols. The “layette” of these initiates refers to morality and social projection. Such
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by the religion such as using shorts and low-cut
blouses or t-shirts.
Many Iyawós also start to personalize their clothing with small white handbags, white Ipods, white
headphones, white wallets, white earrings and
even white SmartPhones.
A certain baroque element is also introduced with
the wearing of multicolored necklaces that denote
the santos they have received, often up to a dozen at a time. The special necklace that announces
the guardian angel always matches the bracelet or
“iddé” worn on the left wrist. Nowadays, the designs are undergoing modernization. Materials
used in the religious costume jewelry have started having more “bling” and sequin decorations,
and the beads emulate Swarovski crystals that are
symbolic of popular luxury.
When the year ends, the worn-out clothing stops
being the rule. Many never wear them again. Some
will just put them away in some drawers while others will show them off to family and friends, or give
them away. What is certain is that after the party
and the offerings to the gods have come to an end,
the clothing remains as evidence of the sacrifice.
customs have nothing to do with fashion trends
and they form part of the sacrifice the person undertakes with pride.
And although I am not Iyabó, I wear white, and
while I walk around Havana, I enjoy the blessings
of those who have made this style a cult.
On many Havana streets, you will find private
stores that sell this kind of clothing. Even though
the dress code is quite strict, the way of wearing
white as well as the ritual and the “being Iyawó”
gets established depending on each “house of
saints” (casa santoral) because, as the saying goes,
“every person writes their own ticket.” Within all
these customs, however, certain esthetic tastes
can be identified: women prefer lace shawls, pantyhose or ankle socks with frills and embroidered
skirts. Men use pointy shoes, berets, sports caps,
long sleeved shirts, guayaberas, kerchiefs, etc. It’s
no news that wearing all these clothes is a serious
challenge during the long hot Cuban summers, and
whoever wears it stands out in any crowd. These
articles are a reflection of a recycled esthetic that
belonged to the rules of being well-dressed in the
mid-twentieth century. There is a certain vintage
feeling to all this brilliant white.
The initiation period for an Iyabó is divided into
different periods according to the ceremonial
phases characterizing them. They are cleansing
and purification ceremonies that eliminate the rigidity of the clothing after the first three months
until finally the year has passed and the person is
considered to be grown up and can abandon the
regime. Iyawós then start mixing articles of clothing with colors, such as blue jeans, and the women
use ribbons in their hair instead of headscarves.
Some even assume behavior that is less accepted
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Visual Arts
Cundo Bermúdez: pasión y
lucidez
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.
Edificio de Arte Universal
Through Oct 13
With this selection of 25 pieces from 1940 and
1964, the National Museum of Fine Arts has organized, for the first time, a solo exhibition of one of
the leading artists of the so-called School of Havana and of the second Cuban artistic avant-garde,
who, according to Roberto Cobas Amate, curator
of the exhibition, “deserves that both critics and
the public recognize the validity and strength of
his art.”
2x2
Galería La Acacia, Opens Sept 17
Works by artists who participated in two exhibitions that were landmarks in Cuban visual production: Once pintores y escultores (1953) and
Volumen uno (1981).
En colección
Factoría Habana, Opens Sept 26
Conceived as part of the 6th Salón of Cuban Contemporary Art, this exhibition includes works
by artists representative of the 1980s which are
part of the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros collection:
Juan Francisco Elso, Tomás Esson, José Manuel Fors, René Francisco, Flavio Garciandía, Félix
González-Torres, Ana Mendieta, Glexis Novoa,
Gustavo Pérez Monzón, Ricardo Rodríguez Brey
and Lázaro Saavedra. The exhibition is supplemented with texts and videos on collecting.
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Casa Oswaldo Guayasamín
Through Sep
15
Galería Diago
Crónicas de una existencia.
Paintings by Dimas Bencomo in
which—through irony, parody and
suggestions—different objects are
witnesses to the material scarcity
of some sectors of Cuban society.
Opens Sept
12
Galería El Reino de este Mundo
Opens Sept 5
Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam
Opens Sept 13
Las otras narraciones: una década de animación independiente.
As part of the 6th Salón of Cuban
Contemporary Art, this exhibition
explores a decade of the work of
50 Cuban artists involved in animation films through TV spots,
messages for the public, cartoons,
music videos, installations, videogames, visual experimentation,
interactive works and mapping.
Opens Sept
12
Cómplices y testigos. Yoan Pérez
plays ironically with the symbols
of power and manipulates them to
provoke different interpretations.
Sept 19-Oct
16
Sept 19, 8pm
Noche de galerías. Exhibition
by artists from the Génesis: Art
Gallery Catalogue plus the performance of Aires de Concierto Jazz
Group. Works will be sold with a
20% discount for those accredited to the event.
Tribute to the poet, ethnologist
and painter Samuel Feijóo (19141992) who found in Cuban Nature,
popular fables and what is simple
in appearance an inexhaustible
source for his creation.
Museo Nacional de la Cerámica Contemporánea
Opens Sept
19
Consejo Nacional de las Artes Plásticas
En el mismo tiempo, en el mismo
lugar. Group exhibition by artists
Frank Mujica, Eduardo Ponjuán,
Léster Álvarez, Yornel Martínez,
Alejandro Campins and José E.
Yaque, who all have in common
the conceptual approach as the
ultimate intention of their work.
Memorial José Martí
Centro Provincial de Artes Plásticas y Diseño
Through
Oct 3
Un día cualquiera. Felipe Dulzaides, essential figure in Cuban
photography, video art, installation and public art, explores everyday commonplaces.
Galería Servando
Throughout A ambos lados del Atlántico. ExSeptember
hibition of 25 illustrations and
drawings made by 20th-century
Spanish, Mexican and Cuban artists, such as Picasso, Miró and
Saura; Rivera, Orozco, López Loza
and Eloy Tarcisio; and: Amelia
Peláez, Arístides Fernández, Carlos Enríquez and Fidelio Ponce,
respectively.
Solo exhibition by José Yaque,
who has a taste for the hybridization of formats and the complicity of the works with the space
around them.
Galería Habana
Opens Sept
12
Centro Hispano Americano de Cultura
Exhibition of naive art.
Eros. An exhibition by artist Aisar
Jalil.
Taller de Serigrafía René Portocarrero
Opens Sept
12
Exhibition of graphic arts. Group
show of young graphic artists who
will present and sell silkscreen
posters from the CACA (Club
Amigos del Cartel) Project
Galerías Collage Habana y Galiano
Opens Sept 12 Post-it. Competition and ex-
po-sale of works by artists under
35.
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Through
Oct 27
page 27
Artistas afronorteamericanos y
abstracción. Thirty-eight works
by nine artists make up this selection, which was curated by Nanette Carter, Melvin Edwards and
Ben Jones.
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Alicia Leal: A universal mysticism
by Victoria Alcalá
In Alicia Leal’s work, in which one can appreciate the appropriation of medieval color theory,
spatial layout and a decorative delight in fabrics, floors and curtains reminiscent of Matisse,
women play a central role, providing refuge, as
in the recurring image of the Virgin of Charity,
patron saint of Cuba and eternal protector of
mariners and fishermen syncretised with the
sensuous Ochún of Afro-Cuban religions. Victoria Alcalá sits down with her to find out what
makes her tick…
Fascinated by the mystery and magic of the
work of Alicia Leal, I visited the studio-gallery
that the artist shares with her husband, painter Juan Moreira, at 262, 8th St. in El Vedado.
The spacious, high-ceilinged house with pale
walls has typical Creole inner doors that partition off the rooms where wooden and wicker furniture are predominant. The location of
the studio, very close to Línea Street—one of
Havana’s main thoroughfares—and the park
dedicated to John Lennon, seems to relate to
Alicia’s work, full of universal symbols in a harmonious symbiosis with Cuban nature, mythology and idiosyncrasy.
You’ve
waited Long Enough
page 28
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Born in the central region of Cuba—where
16th century chronicles depict the presence
of hundreds of demons that possessed the
bodies and souls of terrified inhabitants, and
the site of an important colony of immigrants
from the Canary Islands—Alicia admits her
debt to the rich popular tradition that spontaneously, and not consciously, emerges in
her work. During her beginnings, after graduating from the San Alejandro Academy, the
oldest art school in Cuba, she wanted to be an
expressionist painter, but did not succeed in
channeling her creative urges into this style.
The search for her own personal expression
led her to a primitive, naïve manner of bringing forth an inner world populated by symbols,
tales and the desire to commune with nature.
In Alicia Leal’s work, in which one can appreciate the appropriation of medieval color theory, spatial layout and a decorative delight in
fabrics, floors and curtains reminiscent of Matisse, women play a central role, either providing refuge, as in the recurring image of the
Virgin of Charity, patron saint of Cuba and
eternal protector of mariners and fishermen
syncretised with the sensuous Ochún of Af-
ro-Cuban religions; in the poignant Death of
Martí, where the Apostle of Cuban independence, in the arms of an angel embarks on the
journey to immortality; in Chagallesque flying
beings, who refer to other dimensions different from what is depicted; and even in the
series dedicated to the circus where women
participate in a microcosmic world in which
the painter seems to perceive subtle similarities with society, behind the show’s lights and
masks.
Alicia’s work is of a markedly narrative nature; her characters speak intensely, not only
amongst themselves, but with the onlooker,
who becomes an active participant and even
protagonist of the painter’s unsettling scenarios. Intensely subjective, symbolic, exploring
the subconscious and dreams, Alicia Leal’s
work establishes a magnetic relationship with
the viewer; the critics’ task is to determine
where the secret of this magic is concealed.
Perhaps the key lies in the profound humanism and in the warm compassion, admixed
with humor, with which Alicia Leal approaches the heartbreaks and pleasures of the every-
Alicia Leal Veloz (Zaza del Medio, Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, 1957) graduated in 1980 from
Havana’s San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts. She has held solo shows in Havana, Matanzas and Sancti Spíritus in Cuba, and in Kuala Lumpur; Kingston; Houston and Berlin,
and she has taken part in collective exhibitions in numerous countries. Her work forms
part of permanent and private collections in many countries internationally. She has
illustrated a number of Cuban and foreign books and cultural magazines.
You’ve
waited Long Enough
page 29
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photography
Eso que anda
Throughout September
Solo show of photographer Iván Soca as a tribute
to Juan Formell and his popular orchestra Van Van.
The photographer has accompanied the band on
tours and concerts over the last ten years.
Silencio roto
Casa Oswaldo Guayasamín , Opens Sept
12
In the 16 black and white pictures by Annia Leyva
and Aníbal de la Torre, the human figure is combined in the forefront with objects associated with
everyday life.
xl´2.
Fototeca de Cuba, Opens Sept 12
Focused on the concern of young artists in relation to the meaning of communication in everyday
life, this exhibition, which is part of the 6th Salon
of Cuban Art, deals with the impact of alternative
forms in information flow in Cuba.
You’ve
waited Long Enough
page 30
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dance
Lago de los cisnes
Ballet Nacional de Cuba
photo by Alex Mene
Taller coreográfico del
Programa de concierto del
Performance of works by the Choreography
Workshop organized by the National Ballet of
Cuba, including Concerto by Carlos Luis Medina;
Preludios de la noche by Maysabel Pintado; El
relato by Regina Hernández; SDOS by Ariadna
Suárez; 3D by Juan Carlos Hernández; Piazzolla X
6 by Tania Vergara (all of these world premieres);
SAFE by Raúl Reinoso; Sobre un hilo y Retrato by
Concert program with Les silphidés (choreographed by Alicia Alonso based on Mijaíl Fokín’s
original version with music by Chopin), Dido abandonada (choreographed by Alicia Alonso based on
the ballet of the same name by Gasparo Angiolini
with music by Angiolini), and the Tchaikovsky pas
de deux from the Third Act of Swan Lake (choreographed by Alicia Alonso based on Marius Petipa’s
Habana Rakatán
Del Caribe soy
Open to a wide diversity of styles within modern and contemporary dance, the Rakatán Dance
Company harmoniously combines African dances,
Show by the Ban Rará Company with an interesting dramatization of the Tumba Francesa with expression of yoruba origin, campsino dance styles
and different forms of Son.
Teatro Nacional de Cuba. Sala Avellaneda
Sept 6, 8:30pm; Sept 5, 5pm
Centro Cultural Bertolt Brecht. Sala Tito
Junco
Sept 12 & 13, 8:30pm; Sept 14, 5pm
You’ve
waited Long Enough
Sept 12 & 13, 8:30pm; Sept 14, 5pm
Cine teatro Miramar
page 31
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dance
Danza Teatro Retazos
photo by Ana Lorena
Momentos
Posible imposible
Based on fragments of works from the Danza Teatro Retazos repertoire, Momentos potentiates
the expressiveness of the body and the integration
of dance with visual arts, music, cinema and literature.
By Danza Teatro Retazos, Possible Impossible
takes off from a landscape where the known laws
of time, space and power have ceased to be valid…
In this surprising world of dreams, the door opens
to other universes where the mind is free and the
impossible becomes possible.
ShowRoom
Programa de concierto
The brilliant contemporary dance company Danza
Abierta performs ShowRoom, choreographed by
Susana Pous with music by X Alfonso.
Concert program by the Ballet of Cuban Television,
a company that can undertake choreographies of
different Cuban and international musical genres.
Presentación del grupo
Persona
Sala las Carolinas
Sept 12 & 13, 8:30pm; Sept 14, 5pm
Sala Las Carolinas
Sept 19 & 20, 8:30pm; Sept 21, 5pm
Sala de El Ciervo Encantado
Teatro América
Cine teatro Miramar
Sept 16 &17, 8:30pm
Concert program by the Neotango Company with
attractive modern versions of tango.
You’ve
waited Long Enough
Teatro Trianón
Sept 19 & 20 8:30pm; Sept 21, 5pm
Presentation of Persona, a company directed by
Sandra Ramy that erases the boundaries between
dance and theater.
page 32
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dance
Y lo español se baila así...
De la misma rama
An anthology of the work carried out by the Ballet
Español de Cuba, whose repertoire includes Spanish regional dances, flamenco and fusion, incorporating techniques from classical, modern and
contemporary dance.
Show by the Ecos Dance Company, which combines traditional and contemporary flamenco with
contributions from the music and dance of Cuba.
Fusión y pasión
De Cuba y el Caribe
Habana Compás Dance performs an exciting and
original combination of rhythms and dances which
merges the essence of Spanish dance with Afro
Cuban rhythms and contemporary dance.
Show by the Santiago Alfonso Company, which integrates modern and contemporary dance, theatre
codes and popular dances into shows conceived
both for the stage and nightclubs with a fresh and
experimental spirit
A escena
Concert program by the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional, the first professional folkloric dance company created in Cuba to delve into and recover
certain manifestations of traditional popular Cuban culture.
A selection of works by the Ballet Lizt Alfonso, a
successful dance company that features a fusion
of Spanish and Cuban dance within contemporary
choreographic and theatrical work.
Teatro Mella
Sept 16 & 17, 8:30pm
Teatro América
Cine teatro Miramar
Teatro América
Sept 16 &17, 8:30pm
Teatro Mella
Sept 19 & 20, 8:30pm; Sept 21, 5pm
You’ve
waited Long Enough
Sept 19 & 20, 8:30pm
page 33
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MUSIC
Contemporary Fusion
Club Habana Party
Photo Alex Mene
The contemporary fusion and electronic music scene has expanded recently as new bars and
clubs have opened party promoters have organized events in parks and public spaces. Good live
music venues include Bertolt Brecht (Wed: Interactivo, Sunday: Déjá-vu) and El Sauce (check out
the Sunday afternoon Máquina de la Melancolía)
as well as the newly opened Fábrica de Arte Cubano which has concerts most nights Thursday
through Sunday as well as impromptu smaller
performances inside.
In Havana’s burgeoning entertainment district
along First Avenue from the Karl Marx theatre to
the aquarium you are spoilt for choice with the
always popular Don Cangreco featuring good live
music (Kelvis Ochoas and David Torrens alternate
Fridays), Las Piedras (insanely busy from 3am) and
El Palio and Melem bar—both featuring different
singers and acts in smaller more intimate venues.
Ernán López Nussa and
his group in Concert
Frank Delgado and
Buena Fe in Concert
September 20, 8:30pm
Teatro Nacional. Sala Covarrubias
You’ve
waited Long Enough
September 15, 10pm
Teatro Karl Marx
page 34
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Contemporary Fusion
Café Cantante, Teatro Nacional
Fresa y Chocolate
Wednesdays Performances by Qva Libre
Sundays
5 pm
10 pm
Thursdays
Elaín Morales
Havana Hard Rock
5 pm
Sept 19
Isis Flores
5 pm
5 pm
La Máquina de la Melancolía, with
Frank Delgado and Luis Alberto
García
Thursdays
Mucho Ruido
Sat & Sun
Cover bands
Jardines del Teatro Mella
Sept 11
Sept 14
Sept 14
9 pm
9 pm
Sept 18
Sept 20
9 pm
9 pm
Interactivo
Maxim Rock
Sept 11
Café Corner
Thursdays
Sept 12
Sept 13
Zeus
9 pm
Grupo Síntesis
7 pm
Sept 14
Eddy Escobar
9 pm
Centro Cultural Bertolt Brecht
Wednesdays Roberto Carcassés and Interactivo
10 pm
Sundays
Estigma
9 pm
Casa del Alba Cultural
Sept 20
Tesis de Menta
9 pm
Tesis de Menta
10:30 pm
Sept 15
Congregación
9 pm
Sept 15
Deja Vu
La Vieja Escuela
9 pm
10 pm
Sept 15
Dead Point
9 pm
Escaleras al Cielo
Miriela Moreno and her group
Aceituna sin Hueso for inclusión,
diversity and difference.
Sept 15
Síntesis and Family
10 pm
Combat Noise
9 pm
Sept 15
Fábrica de Arte Cubano
Sept 14
Frank Delgado
6 pm
Gretel Barreiro
Sept 17
Yerbabuena
6 pm
DJ Alejandro Nuñez and guests
Sept 15
Deja Vu
6 pm
Luna Manzanares and Alejandro
Falcón
Sept 12
Grupo Síntesis
6 pm
Deja Vu
Sept 11
10 pm
Soul Train, a show of soul music
6 pm
10 pm
Fridays
Every other
Friday
10 pm
Café Concert El Sauce
Sundays
Aceituna Sin Hueso
David Blanco
9 pm
Sept 15
Síntesis
9 pm
You’ve
waited Long Enough
page 35
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Contemporary Fusion
Submarino Amarillo
Piano bar Diablo Tun Tun
Ernesto Blanco
Sept 11
9 pm
Wednesdays Gerardo Alfonso
5 pm
Sept 12
Tierra Santa
9 pm
Gens
Fridays
5 pm
Sept 13
La Vieja Escuela
9 pm
Rap with El Urbano
Sept 12
11 am
Sept 15
Miel con Limón
9 pm
Los Tackson
Sept 14
11 am
Sept 16
Los Tackson
9 pm
Sept 16
Concert Con sello urbano
11 am
Sept 18
Eddy Escobar and his group
9 pm
Sept 19
Gretel Barreiro
9 pm
Sept 15
Dimensión Vertical
9 pm
Sundays
Los Kents
9 pm
Aldo López-Gavilán
Sept 11
9 pm
Sept 17
Gerardo Alfonso
9:30 pm
Tercera y 8
Mondays
Baby Lores
11 pm
You’ve
waited Long Enough
page 36
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Photo by Alex Mene
los Van Van
Salsa / Timba
Casa de la Música Habana
Casa de la Música de Miramar
5 pm
11 pm
5 pm El Noro y 1ra Clase
11 pm NG La Banda
Mondays
Thursdays
5 pm Pupy y los que Son Son
11 pm Charanga Latina
Tuesdays
5 pm Habana D’Primera
11 pm Pedrito Calvo y La Justicia
Fridays
5 pm Tania Pantoja
11 pm Azúcar Negra
Wednesdays
5 pm Juan Guillermo
11 pm Adalberto Alvarez y su
Thursdays
5 pm Juan Guillermo
11 pm Adalberto Alvarez y su
Fridays
5 pm El Niño y La Verdad
11 pm NG La Banda
Wednesdays
Saturdays
11 pm Adalberto Álvarez y su
11 pm Manolito y su Trabuco
Sept 12
Sept 19
Café Cantante Mi Habana
Sept 16
Arnaldo y su Talismán
5 pm
Sept 19
Caribe Girls
Saturdays
Sundays
11 pm
Café Cantante, Teatro Nacional
Mondays
Manana Club
Sur Caribe
5 pm Tumbao Habana
5 pm Lázaro Valdés y Bamboleo
11 pm Azúcar Negra
Hotel Nacional de Cuba. Salón 1930
Sept 11
Orquesta Jorrín
10 pm
11 pm
You’ve
El Micha
waited Long Enough
page 37
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Salsa / Timba
Salón Rosado de La Tropical
Adalberto Álvarez y su Son
Sept 11
9 pm
Teatro Karl Marx
Van Van
Sept 11
10 pm
Sept 12
Laritza Bacallao
9 pm
Sept 12
Pachito Alonso y sus Kini Kini
10 pm
Sept 13
NG La Banda
9 pm
Sept 13
Habana D’Primera
10 pm
Sept 14
Elito Revé y su Charangón
9 pm
Sept 14
Laritza Bacallao
10 pm
Sept 16
Van Van
9 pm
Sept 19
Maraca y su Familia
10 pm
Sept 17
Pablo FG y su Élite
9 pm
Sept 20
Pablo FG y su Élite
10 pm
Sept 18
Yumurí y sus Hermanos
9 pm
Sept 21
Charanga Habanera
10 pm
Sept 19
Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco
9 pm
Sept 20
Pachito Alonso y los Kini Kini
9 pm
Sept 21
Haila Mompié y Vania Borges
9 pm
Diablo Tun Tun
Mondays
Sept 13
Isaac Delgado
9 pm
Sept 20
Los Van Van
9 pm
Jardines del 1830
Wena Onda
11 pm
Fridays
Azúcar Negra
10 pm
Wednesdays To Mezclao
Sundays
11 pm
10 pm
Thursdays
Dancing casino with Moncada
José Luis Cortés y NG La Banda
Tercera y 8
11 pm
Saturdays
Manana Club
5 pm
You’ve
waited Long Enough
Wednesdays Alain Daniel
11 pm
page 38
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MUSIC jazz
Café Jazz Miramar
Shows: 11 pm - 2am
This new jazz club has quickly established itself as
one of the very best places to hear some of Cuba’s
best musicians jamming. Forget about smoke filled
lounges, this is clean, bright—take the fags outside.
While it is difficult to get the exact schedule and in
any case expect a high level of improvisation when
it is good it is very good. A full house is something of a mixed house since on occasion you will
feel like holding up your own silence please sign!
Nonetheless it gets the thumbs up from us.
Jazz Café
Calle 88A No. 306 e/ 3ra y 3ra
A, Miramar. +53 (07) 209-2719
Shows: 10:30pm - 2am
Mellow, sophisticated and freezing due to extreme
air conditioning, the Jazz Café is not only an
excellent place to hear some of Cuba’s top jazz
musicians, but the open-plan design also provides
for a good bar atmosphere if you want to chat.
Less intimate than La Zorra y el Cuervo – located
opposite Melia Cohiba Hotel.
La Zorra y el Cuervo
Shows: 10:30pm - 2am
The ‘Fox & Crow’ offers an intimate environment
in this basement venue notably marked by a red
English telephone box at its entrance. Top jazz
players perform here on a nightly basis. Dark,
cramped, low ceilings and an absolute firetrap this
has much more atmosphere of the gritty kind than
the Jazz Café, which seems too pretty and sterile
by comparison.
Asociación Cubana de Derechos de Autor Musical
Sept 18
6 pm
Alexis Bosch (pianist) and Proyecto Jazz Cubano.
Teatro Karl Marx
Saturdays
10 pm
Sept 11
Jardines del Teatro Mella
6 pm Carlos Miyares (saxophon)
Sept 12
Sept 17
6 pm PMelvis Santa (singer)
10 pm
Sept 20
6 pm Sexto Sentido
Sept 16
10 pm
Sept 17
Casa del Alba Cultural
8 pm
Ruy López Nussa (percussion) and
La Academia
9 pm
Sept 18
10 pm
You’ve
waited Long Enough
Aires de Concierto
10 pm
Sept 15
Sept 13
Roberto Carcassés (pianist &composer) and his trio
page 39
Harold López-Nussa (pianist
&composer) and his band
Lynn Milanés (cantante) y su grupo
Bellita Expósito (pianist & composer) and her Jazztumbatá
William Roblejo (violinist) and Alejandro Moroño
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MUSIC Bolero, folklore, son & trova
Casa Memorial Salvador Allende
Asociación Yoruba de Cuba
Saturdays
Los Ibellis (Folkloric group)
Peña La Juntamenta, with trovador Ángel Quintero.
Sept 26
4 pm
5 pm
Café cantante, Teatro Nacional
Saturdays
Centro Iberoamericano de la Décima
Waldo Mendoza
El Jardín de la Gorda with trovadors from every generation.
Sept 28
4 pm
5 pm
Juego de Manos
Sept 12
Centro Memorial Martin Luther King, Jr.
4 pm
Marta Campos
Aug 21
4:30 pm
Tuesdays
8 pm
Plus Trova with Charly Salgado
and guests.
El Jelengue de Areíto
Mondays
Fridays
Frank Delgado
5 pm
11 pm
Tuesdays
Sept 18
Son del Nene
Adrián Berazaín
Sexteto Habanero
5 pm
10 pm
Wednesdays Trovando, a meeting with good
Sept 19
Tony Ávila
9 pm
Homenaje a las dos aguas: Yemayá
y Ochún, a cargo del grupo Síntesis.
4 pm
Gala didáctica dedicada a Ochún,
Yemayá y Obbatalá, con el grupo
folclórico Obiní Batá
Sept 13
3 pm
Casa del Alba
Casa de la Cultura de Plaza
Peña with Marta Campos.
Sept 13
Timbalaye
Sundays
5 pm
Hotel Telégrafo
Ivette Cepeda.
7 pm
Mundito González.
10 pm
Get-together with trovador Ireno
García.
5 pm
5 pm
Sept 13
Casa de la Cultura Comunitaria Mirta Aguirre
Sept 28
Rumberos de Cuba
Fridays
Hurón Azul, UNEAC
Peña El Canto de Todos, with
singer-songwriter Vicente Feliú
6 pm
Conjunto de Arsenio Rodríguez
9:30 pm
8 pm
Sept 25
Thurdays
Fridays
Polito Ibáñez
Sept 18
trova.
5 pm
Casa de África
Sept 6
5 pm
Pabellón Cuba
Peña Tres Tazas with trovador
Silvio Alejandro
Fridays
5 pm
Piano Bar Tun Tun (Casa de la Música de Miramar)
Thursdays
Centro Cultural Habaneciendo
Sundays
Fausto Durán and guests
3 pm
Peña with trovador Ray Fernández
5 pm
Salón Rosado de La Tropical
Sept 15
Orquesta Aragón y Juego de M
5 pm
You’ve
waited Long Enough
page 40
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Bolero, folklore, son & trova
Palacio de la Rumba
Teatro Raquel Revuelta
Estrellas Cubanas
Sept 11
Pedro Luis Ferrer
Sept 18
6 pm
8:30 pm
Sept 12
6 pm
Sept 13
Fausto Durán y Septeto Habanero
Sept 19
Timbalaye
8:30 pm
Sept 20
10 pm
Septeto Nacional de Ignacio
Piñeiro
Sept 14
Clave y Guaguancó
Sept 21
6 pm
Sept 15
Orquesta de Barbarito Diez
9 pm
Sept 16
Yoruba Andabo
6 pm
Sept 18
Orquesta Sensación
6 pm
Polito Ibáñez
Tony Ávila
8:30 pm
Adrián Berazaín
8:30 pm
Jardines del teatro Mella
D’Corazón
Sept 12
6 pm
Dúo Jade
Sept 13
6 pm
William Vivanco
Sept 19
Sept 19
Timbalaye
10 pm
Sept 20
Los Papines
9 pm
Habana C
Sept 21
9 pm
Conjunto de Arsenio Rodríguez
Sept 20
Yoruba Andab
Liuba María Hevia
9:30 pm
Hotel Nacional de Cuba. Salón 1930
Agrupación Compay Segundo
Sept 13
10 pm
Casa de 18
Leo Vera and Beatriz Márquez
Sept 15
9 pm
Plaza de San Francisco de Asís
Rumba
Sept 17
Centro Cultural Bertolt Brecht
Tania Pantoja
Sept 18
8:30 pm
4 pm
Centro Memorial Martin Luther King, Jr.
Marta Campos
Sept 18
4:30 pm
UNEAC
2 pm
Vocal Sampling
Sept 13
9:30 pm
5 pm
Sept 11
Edificio de Arte Cubano
Clave y Guaguancó
Casa de la Música Habana
Sundays
6 pm
Peña La Esquina del Jazz hosted
by showman Bobby Carcassés.
You’ve
waited Long Enough
page 41
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classical MUSIC
Photo by Ivan Soca
Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís
6 pm
Soprano Ivette Betancourt and pianist Mayté Aboy, with guests soprano Cristina Rodríguez,
tenor Roger Quintana and flutist Niurka González will play works by Hector Berlioz, Gabriel
Fauré, Ernest Chausson, Jules Massenet, Nadia Boulanger, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy,
Francis Poulenc, André Caplet and Albert Roussel.
Sept 13
Concert by pianist Ernán López-Nussa and his trio
Sept 6
5 pm
Concert in honor of Leo Brouwer by the guitar orchestra Sonantas Habaneras conducted
by Jesús Ortega. Guest musicians Yalit González, Alexander Álvarez and Luis Ángel Chouza
(guitarists) and the Contraste.duo.
Sept 13
5 pm
Biblioteca Nacional José Martí
Saturdays
Performances by soloists and chamber ensembles.
5 pm
Casa del ALBA Cultural
Sept 7
En Confluencia, conducted by guitarists Eduardo and Galy Martín.
5 pm
Sept 14
Tarde de Concierto, conducted by soprano Lucy Provedo.
5 pm
Sept 21
De Nuestra América, conducted by pianist Alicia Perea.
5 pm
Sept 28
Concert by guitarist Rosa Matos.
5 pm
You’ve
waited Long Enough
page 42
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Conert by Schola Cantorum Coralina conducted by Alina Orraca.
Sept 13
5 pm
Iglesia de Paula
Concert Las cortes europeas del siglo XVIII by cellist Alejandro Saúl and guest musicians
Anolan González, Maite Rodríguez, Alberto Rosas and Yanner Rascón.
Sept 5
7 pm
Concert by students of the Convivium Musicum academic program led by the Ars Longa
Early Music Ensemble.
Sept 12
7 pm
Concert Música en mujeres. Siglos XVII y XXI by the Ensemble Vocal Luna and sopranos
Lucelsy Fernández and Vanessa Herrera.
Sept 19
7 pm
Concert by the Ventus Habana quintet conducted by Alina Blanco with guest musician, the
Móviles trio.
Sept 26
7 pm
Museo Nacional de Bella Artes. Edificio de Arte
Concert by guitarist Luis Manuel Molina
Sept 20
4 pm
Oratorio San Felipe Neri
The Promúsica duo has announced a program with works by Cuban composers Amadeo
Roldán, Juan Piñera and Javier Iha.
Sept 6
4 pm
Concert by Cuban pianist Víctor Díaz.
Sept 18
7 pm
Concert by Cuban pianist Fidel Leal, Cubadisco prizewinner in the concert soloist category
for his album Cuatro por uno.
Sept 25
7 pm
Sala Covarrubias, Teatro Nacional
Camerata Romeu.
Sept 12
8:30 pm
Frank Fernández and the Música Eterna chamber orchestra.
Sept 13
8:30 pm
National Symphony Orchestra.
Sept 14
5 pm
Aldo López-Gavilán, Ernán-López Nussa and Chamber Orchestra.
Sept 19
8:30 pm
Sala Gonzalo Roig. Palacio del Teatro Lírico Nacional
Sept 28
Cuerda Dominical with guitarist Luis Manuel Molina.
5 pm
You’ve
waited Long Enough
page 43
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Theatre
Antigonón, un contingente épico
Teatro El Público / by Carlos Díaz, Teatro Trianón, Fri & Sat, 8:30pm; Sun,
5pm
Antigonón, un contingente épico, Carlos Diaz and
his troupe, Teatro el Publico’s most recent performance involves a trip back to the classics, guided and partnered by Rogelio Orizondo who wrote
Antigonón, un contingente épico especially for
them. Carlos is the most well-known and brilliant
Cuban theatre director with a reputation for directing plays with abundant nudity, transvestites
and subtle winks at the Cuban national reality. Antigonón does not disappoint–go see it for yourself!
Delirio habanero
Teatro de la Luna / Directed by Raúl
Martín
Sept 14, 17 & 18, 6pm, Sala Adolfo Llauradó
A prize-winning play written by Alberto Pedro in
which three delirious characters who believe they
are Varilla (a former waiter at La Bodeguita del
Medio Restaurant), Benny Moré and Celia Cruz
meet every evening at a run-down building to recall a long gone Havana, or to plan a future that
will never be.
Que el diablo te acompañe
Teatro Pálpito / Directed by Ariel Boza
Sept 19 & 20, 8:30pm; Sept 21, 5pm
Sala teatro El Sótano
Based on the famous literary myth of Don Juan,
this pleasant comedy by Cuban playwright Abelardo Estorino delves into a recurring theme on the
Cuban stage and society—machismo, and reflects
on defects like slander and prejudices that weigh
down the fulfillment of man.
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For kids
La Cucarachita Martina y
los Van Van
Compañía infantil de teatro La Colmenita,
Sept 19, 6pm; Sept 20 & 21, 10;30am, Sala de
teatro de la Orden Tercera
Another version by La Colmenita based on a classical children’s story as a tribute to the popular
Los Van Van band, whose songs are interpreted by
the children with great self-assurance.
Mowgli, el mordido por los
lobos
Teatro La Proa, 9-10 de agosto, 10am, Teatro
de la Orden Tercera
This puppet show, written by Erduyn Maza, based
on Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, tells about
the adventures of Mowgli, the jungle boy when he
returns to a human village.
La Cenicienta según los
Beatles
Compañía infantil de teatro La Colmenita, Sept 12 & 14, 10:30am; Sept 13,
6pm, Sala de teatro de la Orden Tercera
Agustín (Tin) Cremata, director of La Colmenita
Children’s Theater Company, has created this version of Cinderella with songs by The Beatles sung
by the company’s child actors.
En Buena Compañía
Carpa Trompoloco
Sat & Sun, 4pm & 7pm
The magical and adventurous world of the circus
continues. Cuba’s prime circus venue, Carpa
Trompoloco, presents “En Buena Compañía” (In
Good Company), the new show featuring, among
other acts, tightrope walkers, acrobats, clowns,
gymnasts, trained animals, and the fascinating
flying trapeze, which was awarded the Grand Prix
during the past CIRCUBA 2013 Festival.
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Photos by Alex Mene
events in havana
6th Leo Brouwer Chamber Music Festival
September 26-October 12, 2014
Karl Marx, Mella, Martí, Miramar theaters; Basílica Menor del Convento de San Francisco de Asís, Charles Chaplin Cinema, Fábrica de Arte Cubano, Café Miramar, Habana
Café, Centro Cultural El Sauce, Casas de la Música de Miramar y Habana
Alternative and integrating, the Leo Brouwer
Chamber Music Festival Festival, named after the
greatest Cuban musician ever, aims to “make the
perfect combination of different kinds of intelligent music” integrating, free of any bias or exclusion, genres and many types of rhythms. The
organizers have announced the participation of
over 300 musicians and artists from 16 countries,
including Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud, US vocalist Bobby McFerrin and Argentinean
singer-songwriter Fito Paez, as well as other musicians from Brazil, Mexico, Spain, the Czech Republic, Colombia, Paraguay, Italy and Uruguay.
More than 40 world and national premieres will
take place, featuring music from the Renaissance
to remixes as a tribute to leading names in popular
music. part from the main attraction, which is the
concerts, the event has also scheduled lectures,
master classes, film screenings, video art, exhibitions, flashmobs, jam sessions, tributes to Cuban
and international artists and cultural institutions,
launching and sale of CDs, books and sheet music.
The Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, who has been
acknowledged as one of the living geniuses of classical music in the international arena, has been,
since its inception, the heart and soul of the festival through his supervision and total devotion.
With regard to the festival, Brouwer has said: “Our
policy is not figure-oriented, but rather repertoire-oriented…We have the privilege of having
excellent Cuban musicians and first-rate young
artists performing the best versions that exist in
this regard, perhaps not the only ones, but certainly the best.”
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Program
6th Leo Brouwer Chamber Music Festival
Sunday, Sept 28
Friday, Oct 3
Teatro Mella, 11am
Las Aventuras de Elpidio Valdés y Los Van Van
Compañía de Teatro infantil La Colmenita (Cuba)
Teatro Martí, 5pm
Concert Noruega en su música
Henning Kraggerud (Norway), Orquesta de Cámara
de La Habana and Schola Cantorum Coralina
(Cuba)
Café Miramar, 7pm - 2am
Noche blanca del Jazz (dedicada a Julio Cortázar)
Chucho Valdés, Ernán López-Nussa, Rolando Luna,
Yasek Manzano, Ruy López-Nussa and La AcaMonday, Sept 29
Teatro Martí, 8:30pm
Concert En la ruta de la danza oculta
Schola Cantorum Coralina (Cuba), Gorgias Sánchez
and Gabriel Meneses (Venezuela)
Tuesday, Sept 30
Teatro Mella, 8:30pm
Concert Sonidos de la América oculta
Orchestra of native instruments and new technologies (Argentina)
Kcho Estudio Romerillo. Laboratorio para el Arte,
5:30pm
Exposición Praga, ciudad de la música
Photos: Jiří Všetečka
Casa de la Música Miramar, 7pm-2am
Noche Blanca del Flamenco
Aceituna sin Hueso, Josué Tacoronte, Reynier
Mariño, Gabriel Elizondo, and others
Concert Les Voix Humaines
Jordi Savall (Spain)
Saturday, Oct 4
Teatro Martí, 5pm
Concert Donna in Musica. Compositoras italianas
ss. xvi-xvii
Anna Aurigi y Giovanni Bellini (Italy), Vocal Luna
(Cuba) and guests
Concert Vivaldi siglo xxi.
Sinfonity (España)
Sunday, Oct 5
Wednesday, Oct 1
Teatro Mella, 5pm
Concert Del medioevo al danzón
Horacio Franco, Victor Flores and Santiago Álvarez
(Mexico)
Teatro Karl Marx, 9pm
Concert Fito Páez Esencial
Leo Brouwer, Orquesta de Cámara de La Habana
(Cuba) e invitados
Monday, Oct 6
Thursday, Oct 2
Teatro Miramar, 9:30 am-12:30pm
Clase magistral de Leo Brouwer
Concert Palabras
Haydée Milanés, Ernán López Nussa, Enrique Plá,
Gastón Joya, Nam Sam Fong, Edgar Martínez, Roberto García, Molote, Carlos Frank, Schola Cantorum Coralina and Cuarteto de Cuerdas Presto
(Cuba) e invitados
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Teatro Miramar, 2:30pm-5:30pm
Clase magistral de Leo Brouwer
waited Long Enough
Concert De Praga a La Habana
ArteMiss Trio y Pavel Steidl (Czech Rep.), Niurka González, Gretchen Labrada and Orquesta de
Cámara de La Habana (Cuba), Leo Brouwer
Tuesday, Oct 7
Concert Jenny Q Chai & Friends
Jenny Q Chai (US), Niurka González and Orquesta
de Cámara de La Habana (Cuba) and guests
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Saturday, Oct 11
Wednesday, Oct 8
Concert Tras las huellas de Mangoré
Berta Rojas (Paraguay), Arístides Porto (Cuba), Ricardo Gallén (Spain), Josué Tacoronte (Cuba-Mexico), Orquesta de Cámara de La Habana (Cuba) and
guests
Thursday, Oct 9
Basílica Menor del Convento de San Francisco de
Asís, 10am
Cello Plus (el cello más largo)
Professional cellists and students of the instrument throughout the Island will play the longest
cello
Concert Las cartas de Julieta
Cuarteto Latinoamericano (Mexico), Niurka
González and Augusto Enríquez (Cuba)
Centro Cultural El Sauce, 7pm-2am
Friday, Oct 10
Cine Charles Chaplin, 5pm
Presentación del documental Festival Leo Brouwer,
sus raíces de Joel Ramírez
Teatro Mella, 8:30 pm
Alas
Ballet Lizt Alfonso
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Basílica Menor del Convento de San Francisco de
Asís, 6pm
Concert El amor en el baile. Inéditos pianísticos
cubanos del s.xix
Liana Fernández, Lianne Vega, Milagros de los
Ángeles Soto, Lisa María Blanco and Gabriela Pineda (Cuba), Josué Tacoronte (Cuba-Mexico),
Concert El arco y la lira
Carlos Prieto (Mexico), Yo-Yo Ma (US), Ricardo
Gallén (España), Brasil Guitar Duo (Brazil)
Sunday, Oct 12
El Ciervo Encantado, 11am
Musica electroacústica: 50 años del primer concierto en Cuba
Quinteto de Viento Nueva Camerata, Ricardo
Martínez and Victor Piverno (Cuba)
Teatro Karl Marx, 5pm
Concert de los ancestros
Leo Brouwer, Orquesta de Cámara de La Habana,
Chucho Valdés, , Cuarteto Presto, Rodney Barreto,
Gastón Joya, Yaroldy Abreu, Dreiser Durruthy and
Reinaldo Melián (Cuba), Ricardo Gallén (Spain)
Casas de la Música de Miramar and Habana
10pm-6am
Noche Blanca del Son (homenaje a Juan Formell)
For more information:www.festivaleobrouwer.com
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events in havana
El papel de la cultura en el
Caribe hoy
Casa de las Américas, September
29-October 3
Organized by the Center for Caribbean Studies
of Casa de las Americas in collaboration with the
Goethe Institute, Germany) the French Institute
and the Cultural Services of the Embassy of Germany and France in Cuba, the Seminar includes lectures by Dr. Anja Bandau, Richard Price, Sally Price
and Felix Valdés, plus panels and workshops that
will foster the conception and sharing of projects.
The themes that will be addressed are “Contemporary Caribbean: A Multicultural, Transterritorial
Cultural Context,” Transdisciplinary Approaches:
Popular Religiousness, Community, Marginality
and Exclusion in the Caribbean,” “The Role of Culture and Critical Debate in the Caribbean Today:
Artistic Creation and Institutionalization,” Knowledge Perspectives and New Dissemination Net-
VI Congreso Latinoamericano y del Caribe sobre
Calidad e Inocuidad de los
Alimentos
September 15-18
Palacio de las Convenciones
Organized by the Food Science and Technology
Association of Cuba, the 6th Latin American and
Caribbean Congress on Food Safety and Quality
will be held under the theme “Nutritional Culture in Food Science, Gastronomy and the Media.”
The event will include the Expo-Fair Latin American and Caribbean Salon for the Food Industry
(SIAL-CUBA, 2014) in which Cuban and international companies involved in food processing,
equipment, state-owned and private restaurants,
as well as educational and health institutions will
exchange experiences and discuss new trends in
the preparation of foods, gourmet cuisines and
molecular gastronomy.
Another associated event will be Cubalumieregourmet 2014, which aims to facilitate the union
of the science and technology sectors, food tourism and culture with the participation of actors,
filmmakers, filmgoers, gourmets, visual artists,
musicians, craftspeople, journalists, technologists, chefs, sommeliers, barmen and maître d’.
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Around Cuba
Festival Nacional Metal HG
September 18-21, Casa del Joven
Creador Armando Mestre Martínez,
Holguín
One of a kind in the eastern part of the country,
this festival promotes a space in which different
generations of Cubans, who decades ago defended a music considered as “resistance music,” can
exchange experiences with more recent bands
under absolute freedom of expression and aes-
Jornada Pinar Hip-Hop
September 4-7, Pinar del Río
Meetings, concerts and talks on Hip-hop and Rap
with musicians, critics and other participants
from all around Cuba.
III Encuentro Amigos del
Jazz
September 25-28, Santiago de Cuba
Important jazz musicians from areund Cuba will
participate in concerts, jam sessions and theoretical meetings. Guests include, among others, Bobby Carcasses, National Music Award 2012; César
López, Yasek Manzano, Alfred Thompson, and Arruan Ortiz, who lives in the United States.
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The word on the street
by Conner Gorry
Anyone who speaks a language foreign to their
own knows what an embarrassing, ego-crushing,
confusing and even dangerous proposition it can
be. If you’ve poked around my blog a bit, you know
I’ve had my share of missteps, malapropisms, and
foot-in-mouth moments. Trust me: it sucks.
and dichos, oblique (for non-Cubans) historical/
cultural/political references, and island particular vernacular, it can get tricky. Few people believe
me, let alone heed my counsel (see note 1).
I figure I suffer more than most in this foreign-language-learning struggle for three reasons: 1)
there’s a lot of static in that part of my brain wired
for music and language (luckily I make up for lack
of natural ability with pure tenacity); 2) as a writer, words are my medium and I’m spoiled in English, where I have many and varied options to
express myself clearly and precisely (not that it
always works). When you’re learning a foreign language, for instance, it takes time to learn how to
say sneaker, stiletto or ballet flat, obligating you to
default to the generic ‘shoe’ in the meantime; and
3) Cuban Spanish is far removed from the español
I learned in university, Guatemala and the streets
of NYC.
“¿Que bolá asere? Tengo pincha y me hace falta
una botella. Tírame un cabo y te doy un pescao.”
I can hear some readers scoffing across the World
Wide Web. But take this exchange for example:
Very simply, this translates to: Hey man. I have to
get to work and need a lift. Help me out and I’ll give
you 10 pesos.
See what I mean? Tricky.
I often advise native Spanish speakers to prepare
themselves for a different linguistic experience
here, adding that they may encounter problems
understanding Cubans. Clearly, asking directions,
exchanging pleasantries, or ordering a meal/
drink/bit of fellatio will be (or should be) straightforward enough for hispanoparlantes. But once
conversations get cooking, seasoned with slang
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Of course, every country has its own terms for
this, that, and the other thing. Vocabulary varies
from region to region and between cities as well.
For instance, I recently took a straw poll amongst
friends from across the USA, asking what they
called the type of sandwich sold at Subway. In
New York, we call it a hero. In other parts of the
country, you’ll hear it referred to as a submarine, a
sub, grinder, or po’ boy (which really is in a class by
itself, as anyone who has feasted in New Orleans
will tell you).
But although we have regional differences on the
island, it’s much more complex. This way-withwords business goes beyond variable regional vo-
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cabulary since Cubans pepper their Spanish with
terms of African origin (like the aforementioned
asere); many American English words are in daily use, including lager, homerun, and brother, all
uttered in a sultry accent; and entire syllables are
regularly dropped (e.g. ño), while other words are
contracted (e.g. equivoca’o). Needless to say, this
complicates matters, as does Cuban-specific vernacular. Some of these words may be used in other Spanish-speaking countries, but probably not
in the same way Cubans use them. Have insights?
Drop me a line or submit a comment.
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Almendrón – Old US car; almendra means almond.
Almendrón is a big almond, which these cars resemble.
Bala, bata, petaca – Cigarette
Caña, fula and tabla – Every day terms, these are
used to denote CUC or ‘kooks,’ the hard currency here. Other terms include chavitos (which I
hear infrequently in Havana) and morrocota, used
exclusively for the 1 CUC coins. ‘Fula’ has other
meanings as well; see below.
Curda – Alcohol; can also be used as an adjective
for someone who’s drunk.
Faster – Bicycle; also called a chivo.
Fula – Screwed up, twisted, somehow malevolent
or damaged. Used to refer to situations or people:
“¿Ella? Tremenda fula.”
Guagua – Bus
Jama – Food; grub
Jeva/o – girlfriend/boyfriend
Nescafé – Nothing doing; no way, as in ‘did you two
hook up?’ ‘¡Nescafé!
Pincha – Work, job
Run run – Word on the street; rumor; grapevine.
Synonyms include radio bemba and la bola.
I could go on (and on), but I’ve got other work to
do, deadlines to meet, and dreams to realize.
Me voy en fa’.
Notes 1. Anyone planning a visit here will benefit from
learning a few phrases and sayings with the Cuban dichos app.
Gabo – Slang term for house or home; also a diminutive of Gabriel, used most famously for García
Márquez.
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El Gato Tuerto
Calle O e/ 17 y 19, Vedado
(+53) 7-833-2224
Cover CUC 3
Open 12m-4am
Performances from 10pm
Photos Y. Monte
El Gato Tuerto – 54 years old and still packing it for ‘filin’
by Lily Moreno
I had been told that this was a favorite hangout of
Elena Burke and one of the clubs where she gave
her last performances before her untimely death.
Nicknamed “Lady Sentiment,” she seemed to have
left part of her feelings and emotions in that small
space called El Gato Tuerto—The One-Eyed Cat.
Other artists who have been protagonists here include Omara Portuondo of Buena Vista Social Club
fame, the late Moraima Secada (Elena, Omara and
Moraima all came from the Cuarteto d’Aida), Lino
Borges, César Portillo de la Luz and José Antonio
Méndez, just to name a few. These voices of “filin”
(see note 1) will always be part of the spirit of the
iconic bar, which this past August 31 celebrated its
54th anniversary with a big bang.
charismatic editor and cultural promoter Felito
Ayón (who rubbed shoulders with the avant-garde of Havana) who put El Gato Tuerto on the map
turning it into an intimate, glamorous and select
place, chosen by Havana intellectuals for their
nocturnal meetings. The house was refurbished
and when it reopened on August 31, 1960 it had already become famous for being the place to enjoy
the best “filin.”
Throughout the years, the club’s walls have been
graced with paintings by renowned Cuban artists,
like Acosta León, Mariano Rodríguez, Luís Mariano Pedro, Alberto Falcón, Tomás Marai and Raúl
Tickets had been sold out early that week, but I
never suspected that such a small place could
pack so many people, who effectively bumped into
one another. Sitting at the tables, people chatted,
laughed or shared intimate moments. I chose to
sit at the bar and ordered a mojito. Settled there,
with cocktail in hand, I felt like I too was part of the
history of this place.
Before 1959, El Gato Tuerto was one of the two
bars in Havana that opened 24/7. The owner would
sometimes delight guests with trumpet solos, and
in time, the club began to attract popular musicians as well as artists of all kinds. But it was the
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Tapia. And the restaurant’s first dinner service was
designed by Amelia Peláez (author of the spectacular mural on the façade of the Habana Libre Hotel).
on the tall building next to the club that said “I love
El Gato Tuerto” amidst colors and lights, the work
of the Cuban video mapping group *.IMG.
But August 31 was special. Musicians and singers
filled the stairs are tuning up their instruments
and their voices. The show was presented by the
popular Cuban TV host Julio Acanda, who is also
the artistic director of El Gato Tuerto. He has managed to bring El Gato back into the spotlight with
a new generation of musicians who, although continuing to perform songs from the filin repertoire,
have also incorporated other rhythms, aesthetics,
lyrics and thoughts that are making El Gato a place
of renewal that takes pride in good Cuban music.
The restaurant on the second floor, which faces
the sea, had been decorated with works by painters Fabelo, Mendive, Lara and Maikel Herrera, as
part of an exhibition on occasion of the anniversary. Passersby around the Malecón, O Street or the
Nacional Hotel could easily make out a projection
The party ended with cheers and a toast to the club’s long life, which was honored by the countless musicians who performed that evening at El Gato Tuerto and the enthusiastic crowd who were lucky enough
to take part in the celebration.
Note 1: filin, a renovating movement in Cuban song that evolved from bolero and trova, and was influenced by jazz.
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Photos Y. Monte
El Litoral – An inspiration on the Malecón
by Margaret Atkins
Would you like to feel like you owned a little piece
of the Havana Malecón, even if only for a little
while? Well, that’s exactly what I felt this afternoon
as I sat under one of El Litoral’s umbrellas. The location can’t be beat: Malecón Ave. on the corner
of K Street, where a solitary piece of the seawall is
visible. It’s just you, the blue sky and the vastness
of the sea. The place is unrivaled if you want to
watch how the sun, turned into a red rubber ball,
is swallowed by the sea at sunset while you dine or
sip your favorite cocktail. And in the evening, you
might catch the flickering lights of some distant
ship.
Alain, the chef was busy in his kitchen, I decided
I would explore the place. When you cross the
glass door, which bears the name of the restaurant, you enter into an air-conditioned area that
is much appreciated in the August heat. To your
left, you will find the bar and to your right, a halflit waiting room. There is lots of black, white and
gray. The first impression is of elegance and comfort. “The interior of a luxury boat, that’s what we
wanted to achieve,” said Mae, who along with her
husband Alejandro, has created this lovely restaurant in what was once her husband’s family home.
Remodeling the place took them an entire year,
but scarcely eight months after they first opened
to the public, El Litoral has a loyal clientele. The
central hall leads to the main dining room with six
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And now we come to the main dishes, and this being a sea-themed restaurant, it is only natural that
the specialty of the house is fish, like the cava style
lobster, stir fry shrimp or fish stew. But if you’re
more of a meat person, then you should go for the
filet mignon served on a timbale of roasted potatoes and onions, which, like almost every dish
here, comes with steamed vegetables in a tropical
color scheme. But if you are undecided as to what
to choose, then close the menu and talk to your
waiter. Tell him what you would like to eat and
how you would like it to be prepared. Your waiter
will then go to the kitchen, he will talk with Alain,
and will do everything possible to come back with
a dish that will meet your expectations, even if it’s
not on the menu.
The maitre d’ personally chooses and trains all the
waiters and bartenders, and the chef takes care
that no ingredients are missing, despite the unstable and variable Cuban market. Alain is proud
of his menu, which is not only stable, but expanding. Proof of this is a project they have in mind for
late this year involving avant-garde cooking techniques, also known as molecular gastronomy.
It is really difficult to capture the enthusiasm and
commitment of the people that make El Litoral,
not just a business but also an inspiration.
tables, while the private room retains somewhat
the spirit of the dining room you would find in a
large Cuban home. They have also set up a room
for smokers in what was once the garage and
lateral courtyard.. A mural of sea motifs in relief
created by Cuban artist Rafael Consuegra graces
the sand-colored wall. The decor here is coherent, a feature that is hard to find in the many new
restaurants that are gradually populating the city.
At last I come to the kitchen and I meet Alain.
Proud of his sanctuary, Alain takes me to where
the hors d’oeuvres are prepared. For a fixed price,
guests may choose from a number of cold starters: four different kinds of cheese; salads made of
truly organic vegetables; fish escabeche, shellfish,
sushi, salmon, smoked fish, ham, sausages, olives,
dressings, breads from the in-house bakery and so
much more.
If you liked the cold starters, then you will simply
have to come back another day and choose from
the tapas (more like hot entrees) menu: beef and
salmon carpaccio; bruschetta topped with tomato,
ham and mozzarella; crunchy focaccia topped with
octopus; croquettes in cheese fondue (mmm!);
chorizo casserole in wine, risottos (which the chef
tells me are made with the high-starch, mediumor short-grain white rice that this dish requires,
and so much more.
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Ice Ice Baby
by Sophia Beckman
Cuba has remained largely immune to the Ice
Bucket Challenge fever that has swept the rest of
the world over this summer. There are a few exceptions including British Ambassador to Havana,
Tim Cole whose daughter put him under the gun
to pay up or suffer the consequences.
Then again in Cuba’s endless summer having a
bucket of ice cold water poured over one’s head
actually sounds quite refreshing. Hold my checkbook and let me ponder my options.
In any event we spent the day with Alex Mene
looking for the right Cuban alternative to the Ice
Bucket Challenge. Lets call it Ice Ice Baby since we
are skipping the video upload and going straight
to stills.
We will donate US$ 100 to charity of the Winner’s
Choice for the best still photo of someone getting
the Ice Ice Baby treatment in a Cuban context!
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The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving dumping a bucket
of ice water on someone’s head to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encourage
donations to research. The challenge dares nominated participants to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured
on their heads and then nominating others to do the same. A common stipulation is that nominated participants have
24 hours to comply or forfeit by way of a charitable financial donation
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La California
For Quality Food, impeccable service & an intimate ambience
Dine in a beautifully restored 19th-century
colonial building just one block away from the
emblematic Malecón drive and seawall. La
California is located on the place where legendary Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo used to
hang out.
La California now offers a tour of Havana in a
Classic Vintage Car plus lunch or dinner.
Your chauffeur will pick you up from your hotel
or private accommodation and show you around
the historical sights of this incredible city for one
hour before heading to La California.
Calle Crespo No.55 e/ San Lázaro y Refugio,
Centro Habana. Tel (+53) 7 8637510
Superb Cuban-Creole/International menu
The offer includes:
For reservations, call
Welcoming cocktail
(+53) 7-863-7510
Bread + surprise extra
Chef’s salad California style or Pumpkin Cream topped with
parmesan
Pork Steak Creole style / Curry Chicken with apples / traditional
Ropa Vieja (shredded meat) / Grilled Fish with ﬁne herbs / Cuban
Lamb in red wine & mint tea / Grilled Lobster with sweet potato
in caramel & cider (at your choice)
Moros y Cristianos (rice and beans) or vegetables
Traditional Cuban dessert (ﬂan, sweet potato and rice puddings)
Domestic non-alcoholic beverage (water, soda or juice)
Price: CUC 60 per person
Open daily noon-midnight
lacaliforniarestaurant@gmail.com
facebook.com/restaurant.lacalifornia
Nazdarovie
Havana’s best places to eat
El Atelier
CA
5
Bella Ciao
CA 5
Café Bohemia
CA
5
Café Laurent
CA 4+
Experimental fusion
Homely Italian
Café
Spanish/Mediterranean
Beautiful décor, interesting
menu.
Great service, good prices. A
real home from home.
Bohemian feel. Great
sandwiches, salads & juices
Beautiful penthouse restaurant
with lovely terrace.
Calle 5 e/ Paseo y 2, Vedado
(+53) 7-836-2025
Calle 19 y 72, Playa
(+53) 7-206-1406
Calle San Ignacio #364, Habana
Vieja
Calle M #257, e/ 19 y 21, Vedado
(+53) 7-831-2090
La California
Carboncita
La Casa
Casa Miglis
CA 5+
CA 4+
CA 5
CA
Cuban-Creole/International
Italian
Contemporary fusion
Swedish-Cuban fusion
Beautiful C19 colonial building.
Great fresh pastas.
Walter’s place. Great pizza.
Quick & reliably good
VIP service. The Robaina family
place. Thurs Sushi night.
Oasis of good food & taste in
Centro Habana
Calle Crespo #55 e/ San Lázaro
y Refugio, Centro Habana
(+53) 7-863 7510
Ave. 3ra #3804 e/ 38 y 40,
Miramar
(+53) 7-203 0261
Calle 30 #865 e/ 26 y 41, Nuevo
Vedado
(+53) 7-881-7000
Lealtad #120 e/ Ánimas y
Lagunas, Centro Habana
(+53) 7-864-1486
Chanchullero
Le Chansonnier CA
Cocina Lilliam CA
El Cocinero
CA 5
4+
4+
5
CA 5+
Contemporary fusion
International
International
Fabulous value hole in the wall
tapas. Trendy.
Stylish & contemporary with
good food. Not cheap.
Beautiful garden setting, quite
posh.
Teniente Rey #457 bajos, Plaza
del Cristo, Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-872-8227
Calle J #257 e/ Línea y 15,
Vedado
(+53) 7-832-1576
Calle 48 #1311, e/ 13 y 15,
Miramar
(+53) 7-209-6514
Spectacular industrial chic
alfresco rooftop with a buzzing
atmosphere
Corte Príncipe CA
Il Divino
D. Eutimia
5+
CA 4+
Italian
International
Sergio’s place. Simple décor,
spectacular food, excellent
service.
Set in huge gardens outside
town. Great for the kids.
Calle 26, e/ 11 y 13, Vedado.
(+53) 7-832-2355
CA 5+
Esperanza
CA 4+
Cuban/Creole
Cuban fusion
Absolutely charming. Great
food.
Intimate, idiosyncratic &
charming (although not cheap).
Calle 9na esq. a 74, Miramar
(+53) 5-255-9091
Calle Raquel, #50 e/ Esperanza
y Lindero, Mantilla, Arroyo
Naranjo
(+53) 7-643-7734
Callejón del Chorro #60C, Plaza
de la Catedral, Habana Vieja
(+53) 7 861 1332
Calle 16 #105 e/ 1ra y 3ra,
Miramar
(+53) 7-202-4361
La Fontana
La Guarida
Iván Chef
El Litoral
CA 4+
CA 5+
CA 5+
CA 5+
International
International
Spanish
International
Consistently good food,
attentive service. Old school.
Justifiably famous. Follow
footsteps of Queen of Spain &
Beyonce.
Brilliantly creative and rich
food.
Watch the world go by at the
Malecón’s best restaurant.
Aguacate #9, esq. a Chacón,
Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-863-9697
Malecón #161 e/ K y L, Vedado
(+53) 7-830-2201
Piccolo
Río Mar
Calle 46 #305 esq. a 3ra,
Miramar
(+53) 7-202-8337
Nautilus
Concordia #418 e/ Gervasio y
Escobar, Centro Habana
(+53) 7-866-9047
CA 5
Nazdarovie
CA 5
CA 4+
CA 5
French/Mediterranean
Soviet
Italian
International
Imaginative, tasty and
innovative menu.
Cuba’s first true Soviet style
restaurant. Beautiful view,
great food.
Kitsch pizza place with animals.
Great after the beach.
Contemporary décor.
Wonderful sea-view.
Calle 5ta A #50206 e/ 502 y
504, Guanabo, Habana del Este
(+53) 7-796-4300
Ave. 3raA y Final #11, La Puntilla,
Miramar
(+53) 7-209-4838
Starbien
El Templete
Calle 84 #1116 e/ 11 y 13, Playa.
(+53) 5-237-3894
(+53) 5-4001068
San Cristóbal
CA 5+
Malecon #25, 3rd floor e Prado
y Carcel, Centro Habana
(+53) 7-860-2947
Santy
CA 5+
CA 5
CA 5-
Cuban/Creole
Sushi/Oriental
Deservedly popular.
Consistently great food. Kitsch
décor.
Authentic fisherman’s shack
servicing world-class sushi.
Fabulous.
Spacious. Serving some of
Havana’s best food at present.
Overlooking harbor. Good
quality but expensive.
San Rafael #469 e/ Lealtad y
Campanario, Centro Habana
Calle 240A #3023 esq. a 3ra C,
Jaimanitas
(+53) 5-286-7039
Calle 29 #205 e/ B y C, Vedado
(+53) 7-830-0711
Ave. del Puerto #12 esq. a
Narciso López, Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-866-8807
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La Guarida
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Style of food
Contemporary fusion
CostExpensive
www.laguarida.com
Type of place Private (Paladar)
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for Authentic, charming and intimate
atmosphere in Cuba’s best known
restaurant. Great food, professional. Classy.
Don’t Miss Uma Thurman, Beyoncé or the
Queen of Spain if they happen to be dining
next to you.
Concordia #418 e/ Gervasio y Escobar, Centro
Habana.
(+53) 7-866-9047
Iván Chef Justo
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Style of food
Spanish
CostExpensive
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for Spectacular innovative food. Light
and airy place where it always seems to feel
like Springtime.
Don’t Miss The lightly spiced grilled mahimahi served with organic tomato relish.
Try the suckling pig and stay for the cuatro
leches.
Aguacate #9, Esq. Chacón, Habana Vieja.
(+53) 7-863-9697 / (+53) 5-343-8540
El Litoral
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Style of food
International
CostExpensive
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for Quality décor, good service and
great food. Best new place recently opened.
Don’t Miss Drinking a cocktail at sunset
watching the world go by on the Malecón
Malecón #161 e/ K y L, Vedado.
(+53) 7-830-2201
Santy
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Style of food
Sushi
CostModerate
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for Fabulous sushi, wonderful ambience
overlooking fishing boats heading out to sea.
World class.
Don’t miss Getting a reservation here.
Calle 240A #3023 esq. 3raC, Jaimanitas.
(+53) 5-286-7039
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La California
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Style of food
Cuban-Creole/International
CostModerate
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for Beautiful C19 colonial building.
Popular place with quality food and great
service. Love the fresh pastas.
Dont’t Miss The interesting history of the
neighbourhood, where Chano Pozo (legendary Afro-Cuban jazz percussionist) hung out.
Calle Crespo #55 e/ San Lázaro y Refugio,
Centro Habana
(+53) 7-863-7510
Casa Miglis
CA 5
CA TOP PICK
Style of food
Swedish-Cuban fusion
CostExpensive
www.casamiglis.com
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for The beautifully designed interior,
warm ambience and Miglis’s personality
create the feeling of an oasis in Central
Havana.
Don’t Miss Chatting with Mr Miglis.
The Skaargan prawns, beef Chilli and
lingonberries.
Lealtad #120 e/ Ánimas y Lagunas, Centro Habana.
(+53) 7-864-1486
Nazdarovie
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Style of food
Soviet
CostModerate
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for Getting a flavor of Cuban-Soviet history along with babuska’s traditional dishes
in a classy locale.
Don’t miss Vodka sundowners on the
gorgeous terrace overlooking the malecon.
Malecon #25 3rd floor e/ Prado y Carcel, Centro
Habana
(+53) 7-860-2947
Starbien
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Style of food
CostModerate
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for Eating some of Havana’s best food
at present. Consistently good, excellent
service
Don’t miss The fish terriaki is to absolutely
die for. Get a reservation on the main
terrace.
Calle 29 #205 e/ B y C, Vedado
(+53) 7-830-0711
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Atelier
CA 5
CA TOP PICK
Style of food
Experimental fusion
CostExpensive
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for Interesting menu, beautiful building
with great décor and service.
Don’t miss Dinner on the breezy terrace
during summer.
Calle 5ta e/ Paseo y 2, Vedado
(+53) 7-836-2025
atelierdedecuba@yahoo.es
Café Bohemia
CA 5
CA TOP PICK
Style of food
Café
CostModerate
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for Bohemian feel. Great sandwiches,
salads & juices
Don’t miss Thursday night happy hour
(7-9pm)
Ground floor of the Palacio de la Casa del Conde
de Lombillo, Calle San Ignacio #364,
(Next to Factoría Plaza Vieja)
bohemia.plazavieja@gmail.com
http://www.havanabohemia.com
El Cocinero
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Style of food
International
CostExpensive
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for Fabulous industrial chic alfresco
rooftop with a buzzing atmosphere, great
service & good food.
Don’t miss The best parties in Havana, held
on the rooftop attracting a new crowd of
Cuban entrepreneurs.
Calle 26, e/ 11 and 13, Vedado.
(+53) 7-832-2355
La Casa
CA 5
CA TOP PICK
Style of food
International/sushi
CostExpensive
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for Warm hospitality and openness
from the four generations of the Robaina
family. Quality food.
Don’t miss Thursday night sushi night.
The Piña Colada.
Calle 30 #865 e/ 26 y 41, Nuevo Vedado.
(+53) 7-881-7000
alerobaina@restaurantelacasacuba.com
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Sloppy Joe’s
Havana’s best Bars & Clubs
Traditional Bars
El Floridita
CA 4+
Hemingway’s daiquiri bar.
Touristy but always full of life.
Great cocktails.
Obispo #557 esq. a Monserrate,
Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-867-1299
Factoría
Plaza Vieja
CA 5
Microbrewery. Serves ice
chilled bong of light locally
brewed beer. New locale as
well overlooking Havana bay.
Sloppy
Joe’s Bar
CA 4+
Recently (beautifully)
renovated. Full of history.
Popular. Lacks a little ‘grime’.
Ánimas esq. a Zulueta, Habana
Vieja
(+53) 7-866-7157
San Ignacio esq. a Muralla,
Plaza Vieja, Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-866-4453
Cervecería
CA 5+
Antiguo Almacén de la
Madera y el Tabaco
Stunningly well done larger
version of the microbrewery
on Plaza Vieja. Located by
the waterfront area. Simply
brilliant.
Avenida del Puerto y San
Ignacio, La Habana Vieja
Contemporary Bars
El Cocinero
CA 5+
Fabulous rooftop setting, great
service, cool vibe.
Calle 26 e/ 11 y 13, Vedado
(+53) 7-832-2355
Espacios
CA 5-
Laid back contemporary bar
with a real buzz in the back
beer-garden.
Esencia
Habana
CA 4+
Spacious modern bar. Good
service and nice cocktails. Nonsmoking inside.
Calle 10 #510, e/ 5ta y 31,
Miramar
Calle B e/ Línea y Calzada,
Vedado
(+53) 7-836-3031
(+53) 7-836-3031
Contemporary bars/clubs
Don Cangrejo CA
4+
Love it/hate it—they have at
least filled in the pool—this is
the oldest Friday night party
place and is still going strong.
Outdoor by the sea.
CA 4
Über modern and stylish indoor
bar/club. Miami style crowd
and attitude.
Calle 94 #110 e/ 1ra y 3ra,
Miramar
(+53) 7-206-4167
Ave. 1ra e/ 16 & 18, Miramar
(+53) 7-204-3837
Other
Meliá Sports Bar CA
Kpricho
4
Big-screen sports-bar in
modern outdoor terrace
with cooling air jets (when
working!). Good for sports
and live music, not cheap for
drinks/food.
Up & Down
CA 5
From the team that brought
you Sangri-La. Attracting
a young party crowd, very
popular.
Calle 3ra y B, Vedado
El Gato Tuerto CA
4+
Late night place to hear
fabulous bolero singers. Can
get smoky.
El Tocororo
CA 4+
Expat favorite hangout. Small
indoor bar with live music and
eclectic clientele.
Fábrica
de Arte
CA 5+
X Alfonso’s new cultural center.
Great concerts, funky young
scene.
(next to the Puente de Hierro)
(+53) 5-329-6325
www.facebook.com/fabrica.
deartecubano
Sangri-La
CA 5
For the cool kids. Basement
bar/club which gets packed at
weekends.
Ave. 21 e/ 36 y 42, Miramar
(+53) 7-264-8343
Bertolt Brecht
CA 5
(+53) 7-833-2224
Calle 18 e/ 3ra y 5ta, Miramar
Think MTV Unplugged when
musicians play. Hip, funky and
unique with an artsy Cuban
crowd.
Humboldt 52
Fashion
Bar Havana
Café Bar
Madrigal
Meliá Habana Hotel
Ave. 3ra e/ 76 y 80, Miramar
(+53) 7-204-8500
Calle 13 e/ I y J, Vedado
(+53) 7-830-1354
Gay-friendly
Cabaret
Las Vegas
CA 4
Can get dark and smoky but
great drag show (11pm) from
Divino—one of Cuba’s most
accomplished drag acts.
Infanta #104 e/ 25 y 27, Vedado.
(+53) 7-870-7939
You’ve
CA 5
One of the hottest venues
for gay nightlife in Havana at
present.
Humboldt #52 e/ Infanta y
Hospital, Centro Habana.
(+53) 5-330-2989
waited Long Enough
CA 5
A superb example of
queer class meets camp,
accompanied by a fantastic
floor show.
San Juan de Dios, esq. a
Aguacate, Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-867-1676
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CA 4
Pop décor, fancy cocktails, and
the staff’s supercilious attitude,
this is a gathering spot for all
types of folks, including gay
men and women.
Calle 17 #809 e/ 2 y 4, Vedado
(+53) 7-831-2433
.com
Bertolt Brecht
CA 5
CA TOP PICK
Contemporary Bar/clubs
Ambience
Popularity
Entertainment
Service & drinks
Best for Hanging out with hip & funky
Cubans who like their live music.
Don’t Miss Interactivo playing on a
Wednesday evening.
(+53) 7-830-1354
Espacios
CA 5-
CA TOP PICK
Contemporary Bar
Ambience
Popularity
Entertainment
Service & drinks
Best for Laid back lounge atmosphere in
the garden area which often has live music.
Good turnover of people.
Don’t Miss Ray Fernandez, Tony Avila, Yasek
Mazano playing live sets in the garden.
Calle 10 #510 e/ 5ta y 31, Miramar
(+53) 7-202-2921
Sangri-La
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Contemporary Bar/CLUB
Ambience
Popularity
Entertainment
Service & drinks
Best for Hanging out with the cool kids on
the Havana Farundula in the most popular
bar/club.
Don’t Miss The best gin and tonic in Havana.
Ave. 21 e/ 36 y 42, Miramar
(+53) 5-264-8343
Don Cangrejo
CA 4+
CA TOP PICK
CONTEMPORARY
Ambience
Popularity
Entertainment
Service & drinks
Best for Interesting venue with good décor
and great bands. Busy.
Don’t Miss Friday night attracts a LGBTI
crowd. Great bands, hip crowd, pole
dancing—what more could you want?
(+53) 7-204-3837
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Humboldt 52
CA 5
CA TOP PICK
Gay friendly
Ambience
Popularity
Entertainment
Service & drinks
Best for Hot staff, comfortable setting, and
welcoming vibe at Havana’s first full-time,
openly-gay bar
Don’t Miss The disco ball, a talented opera
duo performing Wednesdays and karaoke
and drag performances other days of the
week
Humboldt #52 e/ Infanta y Hospital,
Centro Habana.
(+53) 5-330-2989
Fábrica de Arte
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Contemporary Bar
Ambience
Popularity
Entertainment
Service & drinks
Best for X Alfonso’s superb new cultural
center has something for everyone
Don’t Miss Ne pas manquer Les meilleurs
musiciens cubains
(next to the Puente de Hierro)
Fashion Bar Havana
CA 5
CA TOP PICK
Gay-friendly
Ambience
Popularity
Entertainment
Service & drinks
Best for A superb example of queer class
meets camp, accompanied by a fantastic
floor show.
Don’t Miss The staff performing after 11pm
San Juan de Dios, esq. a Aguacate, Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-867-1676
Kpricho
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Contemporary Bar/CLUB
Ambience
Popularity
Entertainment
Service & drinks
Best for Über cool & stylish indoor space
where Havana’s coolest DJs keep the party
going.
Don’t Miss ‘Mas que una noche es un kpricho’
94 e/ 1ra y 3ra #110, Miramar.
(+53) 7-206-4167
barkpricho@gmail.com
Kpricho Facebook
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Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís
Havana’s best live music venues
Concert venues
Karl Marx
Theatre
CA 5
World class musicians perform
prestigious concerts in Cuba’s
best equipped venue.
Calle 1ra esq. a 10, Miramar
(+53) 7-203-0801
CA 4+
Salsa/Timba
CA 4
Attracts the best Cuban
musicians to play including for
matinees. Recently renovated
with an excellent new sound
system.
Ave. Paseo esq. a 39, Plaza de la
Revolución
(+53) 7-878-4273
Contemporary
CA 5
Think MTV Unplugged when
musicians play. Hip, funky and
unique with an artsy Cuban
crowd.
(+53) 7-830-1354
Trova & traditional
Barbaram
Pepito’s Bar
CA 4+
Some of the best Cuban Nueva
Trova musicians perform
in this small and intimate
environment.
Casa de la
Música
CA 4
and popular!). Great mix of
people.
Calle 26 e/ 11 y 13, Vedado (next
to the Puente de Hierro)
Privé Lounge
CA 5+
Small and intimate lounge
club with great acoustics and
beautiful decor. Jazz groups
play Sunday night.
Calle 88A #306 e/ 3ra y 3raA,
Miramar
(+53) 7-209-2719
Casa de la
Música
CA 4
Centro Habana
Miramar
A little rough around the edges
but spacious. For better or
worse, this is ground zero for
the best in Cuban salsa.
Smaller and more up-market
than its newer twin in Centro
Habana. This is an institution
in the Havana salsa scene
although probably seen better
days.
Galiano e/ Neptuno y
Concordia, Centro Habana
(+53) 7-860-8296/4165
Calle 20 esq. a 35, Miramar
(+53) 7-204-0447
Don Cangrejo CA
4+
Love it/hate it—they have at
least filled in the pool—this is
the oldest Friday night party
place and is still going strong.
Outdoor by the sea.
(+53) 7-204-3837
Gato Tuerto
CA 4+
Late night place to hear
fabulous bolero singers. Can
get smoky.
Calle O entre 17 y 19, Vedado
(+53) 7-833-2224
Calle 26 esq. a Ave. del
Zoológico. Nuevo Vedado
(+53) 7-881-1808
You’ve
CA 4
Galerías de Paseo
Ave. 1ra e/ Paseo y A, Vedado
Cine Teatro Miramar
10:30pm – 2am
Ave. 5ta esq. a 94, Miramar
Café Teatro
Bertolt Brecht
Jazz Café
A staple of Havana’s jazz
scene, the best jazz players
perform here. Somewhat cold
atmosphere wise.
This newish club is clean,
modern and atmospheric
where Cuba’s best musicians
jam and improvise.
Café Cantante
Mi Habana
A truly beautiful church,
which regularly hosts fabulous
classical music concerts.
Oficios y Amargura, Plaza de
San Francisco de Asís, Habana
Vieja
Jazz
Café Jazz
Miramar
Basílica Menor CA 5 Fábrica de Arte CA 5 Sala CovarrubiasCA
de San Francisco de X Alfonso’s new cultural center. Teatro Nacional
Great concerts inside (small
Recently renovated, this is
Asís
and funky) and outside (large
El Sauce
CA 5-
Great outdoor concert venue to
hear the best in contemporary
& Nueva Trova live in concert.
Ave. 9na #12015 e/ 120 y 130,
Playa
(+53) 7-204-6428
Legendarios
de Guajirito
CA 5
See Buena Vista Social Club
musicians still performing
nightly from 9pm. Touristy but
fabulous.
Zulueta #660 e/ Apodaca y
Gloria, Centro Habana
(+53) 7-861-7761
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one of Cuba’s most prestigious
venues for a multitude of
events.
Paseo y 39, Plaza de la
Revolución.
CA 5
La Zorra y el Cuervo
Intimate and atmospheric,
this basement club, which
you enter through the Red
telephone box, is Cuba’s most
famous jazz club.
Calle 23 e/ N y O, Vedado
(+53) 7-833-2402
Salón Rosado
de la Tropical
CA 5
The legendary beer garden
where Arsenio tore it up in
the 40s Look for a salsa/timba
gig on a Sat night and a Sun
matinee with an older crowd.
Ave. 41 esq. a 46, Playa
Times: varies wildly
(+53) 7-203-5322
Teatro de
Bellas Artes
CA 4+
Small intimate venue inside
Cuba’s most prestigious arts
museum. Modern.
Trocadero e/ Zulueta y
Monserrate, Habana Vieja.
CA 4+
Salón 1930
‘Compay Segundo’
Buena Vista Social Club style
set in the grand Hotel Nacional.
Hotel Nacional
Calle O esq. a 21, Vedado
(+53) 7-835-3896
.com
Havana’s Best Hotels
Hotel Nacional de Cuba
Simply the best…
CA
Iberostar
Parque Central
5+
Santa Isabel
CA 5+
Luxurious historic mansion
facing Plaza de Armas
Luxury hotel overlooking
Parque Central
CA 5+
Stunning view from roof-top
pool. Beautiful décor.
Narciso López, Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-860-8201
Neptuno e/ Prado y Zulueta,
Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-860-6627
Saratoga
Terral
CA 5
Wonderful ocean front
location. Newly renovated.
Paseo del Prado #603 esq. a
Dragones, Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-860-8201
Malecón esq. a Lealtad, Centro
Habana
(+53) 7-862-8061
Boutique Hotels in Old Havana
Florida
CA 5
Beautifully restored colonial
house.
5
Cuban baroque meets modern
minimalist
Obispo #252, esq. a Cuba,
Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-862-4127
Oficios #152 esq. a Amargura,
Habana Vieja
Business Hotels
Meliá Cohíba
CA
Palacio del Marqués...
CA 5
Oasis of polished marble and
professional calm.
Ave Paseo e/ 1ra y 3ra, Vedado
(+53) 7- 833-3636
Meliá Habana
CA 5
Attractive design & extensive
facilities.
CA 4
A must for Hemingway
aficionados
Mercure Sevilla CA
4
Stunning views from the roof
garden restaurant.
Calle Obispo #153 esq. a
Mercaderes, Habana Vieja
(+53) 7- 860-9529
Trocadero #55 entre Prado y
Zulueta, Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-860-8560
Economical/Budget Hotels
Bosque
CA 3
On the banks of the Río
Almendares.
Calle 28-A e/ 49-A y 49-B,
Reparto Kohly, Playa
(+53) 7-204-9232
You’ve
Deauville
CA 3
Lack of pretension, great
location.
Galiano e/ Sán Lázaro y
Malecón, Centro Habana
(+53) 7-866-8812
waited Long Enough
5+
Immensely charming, great
value.
CA
Occidental Miramar
Conde de
Villanueva
CA 5
Delightfully small and intimate.
For cigar lovers.
Oficios #53 esq. a Obrapía,
Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-867-1037
Mercaderes #202, esq. a
Lamparilla
(+53) 7-862-9293
4+
Good value, large spacious
modern rooms.
Ave. 3ra y 70, Miramar
(+53) 5-204-8500
For a sense of history
Ambos Mundos
Hostal Valencia CA
H10 Habana
Panorama
CA 4+
Cascades of glass. Good wi-fi.
Modern.
Ave. 5ta. e/ 70 y 72, Miramar
(+53) 7-204-3583
Ave. 3ra. y 70, Miramar
(+53) 7 204-0100
Hotel Nacional
Riviera
CA 5
Eclectic art-deco architecture.
Gorgeous gardens.
CA 3
Spectacular views over wavelashed Malecón
Calle O esq. a 21, Vedado
(+53) 7-835 3896
Paseo y Malecón, Vedado
(+53) 7-836-4051
Saint John’s
Vedado
CA 3
Lively disco, tiny quirky pool.
Popular.
(+53) 7-833-3740
page 71
Produced by
CA 3
Good budget option with a bit
of a buzz
(+53) 7-836-4072
.com
Havana’s
best private
places to stay
Maison Cuba
For Help reserving any Private Accommodation (Casas Particulares) in Cuba please contact
CubanCasas@gmail.com
Mid range - Casa Particular (B&B)
1932
CA 4
Carlos in cuba
CA 5
Gay Friendly BED and
Breakfast in Havana
Visually stunning, historically
fascinating. Welcoming.
Campanario #63 e/ San Lázaro
y Laguna, Centro Habana
(+53) 7-863-6203
Calle 2 #505 e/ 23 y 21, Vedado
(+53) 7-833-1329
(+53) 5-295-4893
carlosincuba@yahoo.com
www.carlosincuba.com
Habana
CA 5
Beautiful colonial townhouse
with great location.
Julio y Elsa
CA 5
Cluttered bohemian feel.
Hospitable.
Calle Habana #209, e/
Empedrado, y Tejadillo, Habana
Vieja.
(+53) 7-861-0253
Consulado #162 e/ Colón y
Trocadero, Centro Habana
(+53) 7-861-8027
Artedel
Hostal Guanabo
Up-scale B&Bs (Boutique hostals)
Rosa D’Ortega
CA 5
Beautiful and welcoming large
home
Patrocinio #252 esq. a Juan
Bruno Zayas, 10 de Octubre
(+53) 7-641-4329/5-263-3302
info@larosadeortega.com
www.larosadeortega.com
Vitrales
CA 5
Hospitable, attractive and
reliable boutique B&B with 9
bedrooms.
Habana #106 e/ Cuarteles y
Chacón, Habana Vieja
(+53) 7-866-2607
CA 5+
Ydalgo Martínez Matos’s
spacious and contemporary
3-bedroom penthouse is
magnificent.
CA 5
Beautiful 4 bedroom seafront villa in sleepy Guanabo.
Excellent food.
Calle I #260 e/ 15 y 17, Vedado
(+53) 5-830-8727
Calle 480 #1A04 e/ 1ra y 3ra,
Guanabo
(+53) 7-799-0004
Habana Vista
Suite Havana
Apartment rentals
Bohemia Hostal CA
5+
Gorgeous 1-bedroom
apartment beautifully
decorated apartment
overlooking Plaza Vieja.
CA 5
Two-storey penthouse b&b
with private pool
CA 5
Rent Room elegant and wellequipped. Beautiful wild
garden and great pool.
Calle 17 #1101 e/ 14 y 16, Vedado
(+34) 677525361
(+53) 7-832-1927
(+53) 5-360-0456
Casablanca
CA 5
Elegant well-equipped villa
formerly owned by Fulgencio
Batista. Beautiful wild garden.
Calle 13 # 51 esq. a N, Vedado
(+53) 5-388-7866
Morro-Cabaña Park. House #29
(+53) 5-294-5397
www.havanacasablanca.com
waited Long Enough
CA
Michael
and María Elena
This leafy oasis in western
Havana has an attractive
mosaic tiled pool and three
modern bedrooms.
Calle 66 #4507 e/ 45 y Final,
Playa
(+53) 7-209-0084
page 72
Produced by
CA 5
Elegant 2-bedroom apartment
in restored colonial building.
Quality loft style décor.
Lamparilla #62 altos e/
Mercaderes y San Ignacio,
Habana Vieja
(+53) 5-829-6524
Concordia #151 apto. 8 esq. a
San Nicolás, Centro Habana
(+53) 5-254-5240
www.casaconcordia.net
Luxury Houses
You’ve
5+
Beautifully designed
and spacious 3 bedroom
apartment. Spanish colonial
interiors with cheerful, arty
accents.
San Ignacio #364 e/ Muralla
y Teniente Rey, Plaza Vieja
Habana Vieja
(+53) 5- 403-1 568
(+53) 7-836-6567
www.havanabohemia.com
Villasol
Casa Concordia CA
5
Residencia
Mariby
CA 5
A sprawling vanilla-hued
mansion with 6 rooms
decorated with colonial-era
lamps, tiles and Louis XV
furniture
Vedado.
(+53) 5-370-5559
.com
Artedel Luxury
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
3 Bedroom penthouse
Facilities
Rooms
Ambience
Value
Best for Stylish and contemporary furniture
along with a beautiful 360-degree view over
Havana
Don’t Miss Ydalgo – an impeccable host,
discreet or gregarious, as you prefer
Calle I #260, e/ 15 and 17, Vedado
(+53) 7-830-8727
Bohemia Hostal
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Gorgeous 1 bedroom apartment
Facilities
Rooms
Ambience
Value
Best for Independent beautifully decorated
apartment overlooking Plaza Vieja.
Don’t Miss Spending time in Havana’s most
atmospheric Plaza.
San Ignacio #364 e/ Muralla y Teniente Rey, Plaza
Vieja, Habana Vieja
bohemia.plazavieja@gmail.com
(+53) 5 4031 568: (53) 7 8366 567
www.havanabohemia.com
Maison Cuba
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
3 Bedroom apartment
Facilities
Rooms
Ambience
Value
Best for The terrace with a view of Havana
and its people.
Don’t Miss Getting in touch with the
architecture and splendor of a Cuban
colonial home.
Cienfuegos #207 altos e/ Misión y Arsenal,
Habana Vieja.
(+53) 5-412-0166
www.lamaisoncuba.com
Rosa D’Ortega
CA 5+
CA TOP PICK
Boutique Villa
Facilities
Rooms
Ambience
Value
Best for Large elegant villa away from the
bustle of downtown Havana. Gracious hosts,
beautiful rooms.
Don’t Miss Exploring the off-the-beaten
track neighbourhood.
Patrocinio #252 esq. a Juan Bruno Zayas, 10 de
Octubre
(+53) 7-641-43-29 / (+53) 5-263-3302
http://www.larosadeortega.com
You’ve
waited Long Enough
page 73
Produced by
.com

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