Definitely Different Cuba

Havana´s Birthday Issue

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi8BpdvFVEI)

6 Days Salsa Total in Havana

If you enjoy dancing and listening to salsa music, this is the moment to decide a visit to Havana. Around 70 salsa musicians from 45 countries will get together in the capital of Cuba from November 20 through 26 at the Baila en Cuba Festival. 

This year, the bands performing outdoors at the night shows in the Salón Rosado de la Tropical will be  Adalberto Álvarez y su Son, Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor, Charanga Habanera, Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco, Havana D’ Primera, and Pupy y los que Son Son.

There will be 22 hours of dance lessons by instructors- graduates from the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA).

To date, there have been over five thousand visitors from 45 countries. On this occasion, the festival will pay tribute to Danzón, a very important dance genre in the history of Cuban music and dancing.

When you visit Santiago, you must meet a very popular figure, barber and hairdresser Zenón Bizarro San Miguel. At the age of 17, his parents took him to New York. There he studied the profession he has followed all his life. His prestige and professionalism have brought him a reputation and respect, and in 1982 he was involved in the restorations to the Virgen of Charity at El Cobre, Cuba´s Patron Saint. Zenón did her hair.

Bizarro San Miguel has a great reputation. Even people from other provinces come to have their hairs done by this professional of the scissors. He is 72 now, but he´s always willing to improve his techniques and be informed about the latest trends.

If you want to meet him, you just have to go to Sueño neighborhood in Santiago and ask for Zenón. You will also have a chance to hear many anecdotes about his life.

We know that he learnt this peculiar art in Manhattan, where he graduated as a barber and hairdresser. He then came back to his origins in 1959. His neighbors will tell you that he has never bragged about living in New York, he helps everybody and he always gives advice to those new to the profession. This is why Zenón can say that “the customers came all by themselves”.

In 2004, he received the Premio Juan Gómez (the first surgeon-barber appointed by the Cabildo de la Villa de La Habana in 1552), an award created to honor the best specialists for the life work, and supported by the ArteCorte Project in the Old Havana.

Zenón Bizarro San Miguel doesn´t like to talk about his merits, but he has been a stylist and instructor in Quisqueya and Prague, and he also teaches at the Escuela de Peluquería de La Habana (hairdressing school).

One anecdote that he likes to share is that in 1982 Monsignor Pedro Meurice knocked at his door to ask him to take part in the restoration to the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, Our Lady of Charity. (for further information about Cuba´s Patron Saint, check out here)

The image in question has united Cubans at all times in all life and social projects. Believers visit the Virgen in El Cobre village to get her blessing. US writer Ernest Hemingway offered to her the medal he got for his Nobel Prize in 1954.

When referring to the moments when he was restoring the image, he said: “I was really impressed to see such a beloved image in front of me, small, beautiful, with some rods from the waist down”.

There are eighteen centimeters in the circumference. The strands were plaited in the form of a curtain. The new wig was made very carefully, the one you can see if you visit the sanctuary.

Holguín is a lively and cultural city. It’s also known as the City of Parks. You can visit the Children’s Park, San José Park, San Isidoro Park, Martí Park, Flowers Park, and many more.

The main park is known as Calixto García and serves as a meeting point for all the city’s residents. It’s surrounded by the most important historic buildings of Holguín that now serve as cinemas, theaters, museums, galleries, artistic centers and more. The park is also used as a backdrop for all types of local activities, fairs, carnivals, and worker and student gatherings.

We suggest visitors climb the 468 steps to the Loma de La Cruz (Hill of the Cross) just to the north of the city where amazing views can be enjoyed. The wooden cross — erected in Holguín in 1790 - acts as a symbol of protection: a place of promises and reconciliation.

The cigar roller who makes the world´s longest cigar lives in Cuba. He´s 71 and still has confidence in his skills and shows loves for his work. José Castelar (Cueto), a five-time winner of the Guinness Record, beat his own 2011 world mark of 81.80 meters. It took him about eight working sessions.

Cueto really reached the 100 meters in the length of his cigar. This is his sixth world record in the Premium (hand rolled) type, and he used some 80 kg of raw materials for this record (a mixture of different types of tobacco leaves). In order to give a good finish to his big cigar, Cueto selected leaves with special texture and sheen. 

José Castelar, who learnt to make cigars when he was 5, is proud to belong to the family of Cuban cigar rollers. In Cuba, cigar rollers have always enjoyed prestige and recognition by the population, as many of them engaged in the wars for national liberation. In fact, cigars were used to hide within them secret messages that were supposed to travel long distances to reach their destination.

Cueto has an assistant, René Valdés Miller, who prepares the leaves for him, as they should be stretched and tied to make the final outer layer of cigars.

One of the most prestigious events organized every year in Cuba is the Havana International Ballet Festival. This year, the festival will be October 28 through November 5, in the 25th anniversary of its first edition. It is considered one of the oldest of its type in the world.

Many outstanding ballet personalities have taken part in the festival, and many famous ballet companies too. Dancer Julio Bocca and his company; the Soloists from the Berlin Komische Opera and the Great Dessau Theater (Germany); the Diástasis Ensemble (Cyprus); Compañía Danza Teatro from Turín (Italy); Introdans Ensemble Voor der Jeugd (The Netherlands); the Ballet from alla Scala de Milán Theater; the American Ballet Theater and the New York City Ballet; the Bolshoi Ballet from Moscow, among others, have performed in Havana theaters. 

The top dancers from Cuba´s National Ballet will be the protagonists in most of the shows, together with important stars and guest ensembles from other countries. New choreographies by Cuban and foreign authors will also be part of the programs.

The Dance Americana Company, Martha Graham Company and the Buenos Aires Ballet Company will be presenting new ballets. Additionally, Cuba´s National Ballet will delight the audience once more with classic works such as “Swan Lake” and “Don Quixote”.

The Festival, held every two years, will have one of the main venues at the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso, the Teatro Nacional (Avellaneda and Covarrubias Halls) and Teatro Mella.