Join us for the Havana Bienal. Attend these opera events May 21-25, 2015
Meet the people of Cuba and learn about art from the Americas and the World.
CUBANACAN is the first new Cuban opera in fifty years. This ground-breaking collaboration will take place on May 22-24, 2015 during the Havana Bienal. You will attend the opening show.
This site-specific performance utilizes the wonderful acoustics created by the arches at the entrance to the School of Plastic Arts — a Hollywood Bowl-type structure.
Along with the special events related to CUBANACAN, your visit will be devoted to meeting and sharing ideas with Cuban artists, curators and the everyday people of Havana. Contemporary art of Cuba, Latin America, Asia and Africa will be fully displayed throughout the city, making this curated event the only place on the globe where you can see all of this work together in one place. For American art experts and aficionados alike, the Havana Bienal is a good way to stay in touch with developments in the visual arts of these regions.
A new opera set in Havana
CUBANACAN: A Revolution of Forms is based on the real people and actual events surrounding the creation of Escuela Nacional de Arte (now ISA) the Cuban National Art Schools. This story is a political, cultural, and personal drama of classic proportions with an epic arc, passionate characters and intense conflicts.
Architect Ricardo Porro was commissioned in 1961 by Fidel Castro to build "the finest art schools in all the world" on the site of the Havana Country Club on the outskirts of Havana.
The schools were never fully completed due to shifting economic and political priorities. However, they did open in 1965 and are used to this day. Turning out some of the world's most accomplished artists, musicians, and dancers.
The opera consists of a Prologue, Three Acts, and an Epilogue. It is performed in Spanish with English subtitles.
The music blends traditional Cuban rhythms and song forms with contemporary-classical modes. The music is lyrical and accessible so as to support the characters and the narrative.
Roberto Valera-Composer
Zenaida Romeu-Music Director
Charles Koppelman-Producer/Librettist
John Loomis will join us, and his landmark book is included!
Prior to the publication of Revolution of Forms in 1999, few were aware that the most outstanding architectural achievement of the Cuban Revolution, the Escuelas Nacionales de Arte (National Art School), stood neglected just outside Havana. Three architects who aimed to reinvent architecture just as the revolution hoped to reinvent society were commissioned. However, before construction was completed, the school was subjected to an ideological attack that branded it as not in keeping with anti-revolutionary ideals. The organic complex of brick and terra-cotta Catalan-vaulted structures was abandoned, until the original publication of Revolution of Forms brought it to the attention of the world and swayed the Cuban government to commit to its restoration. This updated edition of the classic book adds a new preface, epilogue, and a revised chronology to the first edition's numerous photographs, drawings, and interviews.
John A. Loomis is an architect, author, and educator at San Jose State University. His writings have appeared in Design Book Review, Casabella, and Progressive Architecture, among others. Loomis holds a Bachelor of Arts in art history from Stanford University and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University. (Princeton Architectural Press)
Cuba Tours and Travel has over fifteen years of experience offering expert-driven cultural travel to Cuba. Our management and program-design team, working together with a team of superb Cuban travel associates in both Havana and Miami, are uniquely suited to offer you the finest in-depth travel program to the island. We are licensed by the US Treasury Department and are fully insured. Most importantly, we have an abiding love for Cuban art and culture and have strong connections to the cultural institutions on the island.
Cuba Tours and travel is a full-service agency licensed by the U.S. Government
TSP# CU-077926-b. CST number 2073790-40
We are located at
320 Pine Avenue, Suite 503.
Long Beach, California. 90802
For more information please write to bienal@cubatoursandtravel.com
or call us at 888 225-6439
