Cuba Now: Heroes, Musica Y Mas.
- 9 years ago
Note: Two days before President Obama declared his intention to improve relations with Cuba we booked our February 2015 Cuba Face –To- Face Cultural Tour. Since then we’ve seen that after 50+ years of no direct relations with that island nation the situation suddenly has become very dynamic. Accordingly we have made the production of our Cuba trip videos a top priority.
This video covers our busy second full day in Cuba. We finish breakfast at our hotel in Ciencfuegos and bus to the memorial just outside of Santa Clara that honors Ernesto Ché Guevara and some of the other revolutionaries who fought and died with him. Afterwards we go into Santa Clara and are guided through the Museo de Artes Decorativas, a 18th century mansion with furnishings from that era. At the museum the Catedra Studio a family trio plays traditional (from the colonial period) Spanish music just for us. At the nearby Alegria de Vivir Senior Center we meet, talk (with the help of our Cuban guide Andy), play and dance with some of our age contemporary members of the Senior Center. Following lunch we walk over to the Park Vidal, and sample Sunday afternoon in Santa Clara’s beautiful old square. Next we visit the memorial site on the outskirts of the city where a small group of revolutionaries directed by Che Guevara in late December 1958 administered the coup de grace to the Batista regime by defeating 350 well armed soldiers sent from Havana in a tren blindado (armored Train) to put down the revolution. Though we’ve seen a lot already our busy day is not done. We bus back to Cienfuegos and join strollers in that city’s very impressive old square, Park Jose Marti, named for an especially well known and revered Cuban martyr killed in the struggle to free Cuba from Spanish colonial rule. When Cienfuegos’ outstanding Orquesta de Cámara, Concierto Sur is ready to play for us, we go inside for our second private concert of the day; later some of us get up and dance when we’re invited.
All video and event music was “captured” on site and with permission. Of course most pictures and video was by tony and Hessie Guida, but tour members Mary Jane Kilian and Abe Spergel kindly contributed as noted.
This video covers our busy second full day in Cuba. We finish breakfast at our hotel in Ciencfuegos and bus to the memorial just outside of Santa Clara that honors Ernesto Ché Guevara and some of the other revolutionaries who fought and died with him. Afterwards we go into Santa Clara and are guided through the Museo de Artes Decorativas, a 18th century mansion with furnishings from that era. At the museum the Catedra Studio a family trio plays traditional (from the colonial period) Spanish music just for us. At the nearby Alegria de Vivir Senior Center we meet, talk (with the help of our Cuban guide Andy), play and dance with some of our age contemporary members of the Senior Center. Following lunch we walk over to the Park Vidal, and sample Sunday afternoon in Santa Clara’s beautiful old square. Next we visit the memorial site on the outskirts of the city where a small group of revolutionaries directed by Che Guevara in late December 1958 administered the coup de grace to the Batista regime by defeating 350 well armed soldiers sent from Havana in a tren blindado (armored Train) to put down the revolution. Though we’ve seen a lot already our busy day is not done. We bus back to Cienfuegos and join strollers in that city’s very impressive old square, Park Jose Marti, named for an especially well known and revered Cuban martyr killed in the struggle to free Cuba from Spanish colonial rule. When Cienfuegos’ outstanding Orquesta de Cámara, Concierto Sur is ready to play for us, we go inside for our second private concert of the day; later some of us get up and dance when we’re invited.
All video and event music was “captured” on site and with permission. Of course most pictures and video was by tony and Hessie Guida, but tour members Mary Jane Kilian and Abe Spergel kindly contributed as noted.