lunes, 16 de noviembre de 2009

Lyrical Company turns 47 Years Today

By Amauris Betancourt.

The Lirical Company Rodrigo Prats has paved its own way for 47 years today. Its artistic quality has been acknowledged internationally. The company, with a very young staff, benefits from the legacy left behind by Rodrigo Prats and Raul Camayd. They proved it over the last weekend with the Zarzuela María La O staged in the Ismaelillo movie-theater.

Yinet Cruz y Yunior Galano en María la O
Conchita Casals has directed the company for 15 years.

Loyola Can Draw the Melody

By Amauris Betancourt.

Edelis Loyola likes better to "Dibujar la melodía (Drawing the Melody)" accompanied by a special public: children and those adults who still feel so.

Loyola arrived in Holguín city from Moa, the easternmost province municipality, bringing her guitar, compositions and singings along with. She has met with children every Sunday for a year now at the Faustino Oramas Trouba House.

Dibujar la melodía turned this Nov. 15th its first anniversary. The children, able to sing her songs by heart, sttepped in to join the anniversary with her through the different games where infantile trouba music plays the leading role.

Loyola is thanked her devotion to children.

sábado, 31 de octubre de 2009

Seventh Iberian-American Festival Holguín 2009

By Amauris Betancourt.

Some pictures of the development and closing day of the 7th Festival of the Iberian-Amaerican Culture in the city of Holguín, 750 Km. east from Havanna City.

Iberian-American House in San José park.
Inaguration street parade.
Santiago de Cuba's Steel Band concert.
Iberian-American Thought Congress.
Cuban trouvador Eduardo Sosa at the Holguín Touva House.
Guajira Party.
Iberian-American audiovisual playings.
Closing day at Cayo Bariay Key.

lunes, 26 de octubre de 2009

Iberian-American Festival: Soul Maps Have no Borders

By Amauris Betancourt.

The 17th Iberian-American Festival started off in Holguín with an inauguration gala where the interesting melting pot binding our Iberian peoples' culture stuck out.

Music and dance made it into a gala honoring Eduardo Galeano, Mercedes Sosa, Mario Benedetti and Cubans Cintio Vitier and José Martí.

Cuban guajira dancers and singers
Trouba, Spanish and Mexican dance, and contemporary dance
Tatiana Zúniga, House of Iberia-American president welcomed participants
Flag parade

martes, 6 de octubre de 2009

Co-danza, Seventeen Years Dancing

By Amauris Betancourt / ambego@gmail.com
Co-danza, a Holguín contemporary dance company broadly recognized all over Cuba, turned 17 years old last September 25, 1992. But between Octuber 14 and 20 the company will celebrated it the way they know better: dancing. Pasajera la lluvia (1999 Villanueva Critic National Award), among other works, will be brought back to stage while Everything about me, its latest production, a coreography by Tangin Fong, dealing with the topic of sharing and communicating among people, will be premiered. Maricel Godoy has directed Codanza since its beginnings, and led it to international succes: Spain, Mexico, Venezuela and the United States.

Yényere Gumá, premiered in 2007 During the opening of the Iberian-American Party
In the Holguín 2009 Carnivals

viernes, 25 de septiembre de 2009

Holguín’s Photography Exhibition: Profits and Longings

By Amauris Betancourt.

Translation: Juan Carlos Dominguez.


(August 15) "The Holguín 2009 Contest Photography Exhibition embraces marked technical and conceptual differences," asserted Rene Silveira, a Santiago de Cuba born photographer and jury president in the eighth edition, "but its importance relies on the fact of keeping many of the works presented here as a good example of what it is being done for the sake of art photography in Holguin." Yoxi Velazquez, a graduate from the “El Alba” professional academy of visual arts, was awarded the first prize for the second time in a row. Her work makes the difference in the exhibition.

Her images seduce bidirectionally. Firstly they achieve aesthetic empathy deployed in the right use of the grey scales in a beautiful and interesting way for whoever looks for beauty in a photo. Secondly, because she handles very well polysemantic resources that awake many folded interpretations. The simple thing and the complex one, creatively, come together with fondness and call the eye of those demanding either extreme.

Maikel Dominguez and Ernesto Blanco Sanciprian got the second and third prizes for the works “El hombre que intenta hacer uso de sus necesidades primarias” and “Untitled,” respectively.

On the other hand, Maikel and Ernesto based their images on technical fusions. They transfer painting expressive resources to photography and record through the use of light scenes anchored in enunciated social and conceptual aesthetics. The former interact from the theme; the latter, from a much more complex scope, adds ontological metatexts to a subtle photographic visual practice in optics and planes.

Photographer Amauris Betancourt received Mention for a group of works he presented. Alexander Sanchez with “Nina sin muneca” (Girl without dolls) which is framed within the documental picture, and Carlos Ferra with "Performance" showing a balanced composition in rhythm and contrast got mentions too.

The 8th Picture Exhibition showed some 32 works belonging to 16 artists of the lens, and in spite of the poor participation, it was rich in its diversity of themes and technique which came from the most traditional practices to the most modern ones. Just a few creators from the municipalities of Banes and Gibara participated in the annual and provincial competition, what must lead to reconsideration for future events.

The larger presence of photographers in the jury must be praised, what was longed by experts since the event’s start.

The Holguin Picture Contest is about to turn a decade, and a good way of enriching it would be reconsidering new approaches. It may embrace a central theme along with another free one, or achieve as well the presentation of several photographic exhibitions. We could dream of an international event if we take into account the number photographers that usually take part in different cultural events in Holguin province.

The Salon means lectures, talks, but peoples’ little attendance, that is why, promotion should be on the spot, not to mention more organization and material support.

The Holguin Photography Contest appointment will come back next year and we must work harder in order to make it turn into the creative event that many Cuban provinces yearn.

sábado, 8 de agosto de 2009

Photography Salon in Holguin

By Amauris betancourt.

Translated by J.C. Dominguez.

The eighth Photography

Salon in Holguín province, favored by the Provincial Art Center (CPA) and the Photographers Club of Holguín (CFH), began sessions with a lecture on the history of art photography.

Photography, introduced in Holguín in 1860 by the British Mr. Charles Fox, according to Juan Albanés Martinez in his book Historia breve de la ciudad de Holguin (Brief History of Holguin City), made way in the exhibition rooms in this city since the 80’s of the 20th century.

Arnoldo Martinez, who passed away in 2001, and Roy Gonzalez, current CFH president, stood out starting that moment and became forerunners of this art that has been present in the province’s most important exhibition rooms since then on.

The peak of photography in the 20th century went on till the current 21rst century with the introduction of the digital technology which, in spite of being expensive, has brought the photography art to a larger number of people.

The CFH, with the support of the CPA, managed to keep an annual meeting held so far eight times.

This Saturday the official inauguration of the Photography Salon will take place after the jury’s deliberation headed by photographer Rene Silveira (Santiago de Cuba), including also Roy Gonzalez and Ramón Legón.

Besides the opening lecture, González talked about the history of the pre and post-1959 photography in Holguín till the present time, in which stood out the reflections on Arnoldo Martinez’s work, one of the top exponents of the lens around here.

According to sources closed to the Salon’s organizing committee, more than 15 artists of the lens will participate this year with some 20 works on different topics.

The salon, however, will have to be vindicated in order to wipe out some problems that negatively hit the celebration of the most important event on image in Holguín.

martes, 4 de agosto de 2009

Rebel Day National Rally in Holguín

Cuban President of the Councils of state and ministry, army general Raul Castro Ruz, addressed Cuban people in a rally held in Holguín this july 26th.
More than 200 thousand holguineros got together in the Calixto García Revolution Square where Raul Castro spoke of food production, water reservoirs, and saving as national security topics.
People crowded the square very early in the morning.
Raul Castro greeted American religious Lucious Walker.
High officials from the government and the party led the rally.


Jorge Cuevas Ramos, first secretary of the Communist Party in Holguín and Miguel Diaz-Canel, former one, held the certificate acknowledging Holguín as the Host province of the Revolution Day in 2009.
Raul Castro greets Moncada garrison attackers, the people and the press at the end of the speech.

Cultural Gala on Revolution Day's Eve

Holguín city played host to the Revolution Day national rally cultural Gala staged the eve to honor the historic date when young people led by Fidel Castro attacked the Moncada garrison in Santiago de Cuba.
It was starred by local artist from the province bearing out that Holguín is strong plaza when it comes to culture.

Jose Ramón Machado Ventura, first Cuban vicepresident, and Jorge Cuevas Ramos, first secretary of Cuban Communist Party in Holguín, attended the Gala.
The Gala took place in front of the National Monument La Periquera History Museum
The Calixto García central park got crowded by Holguín people.
A segment of the zarzuela Cecilia Valdés was interpreted by the Holguín Rodrigo Prats Lyrical Company.
The Holguín Symphony Orchestra played life all the musical background.
Cuban vicepresident made compliments to the artist.