Did You Know?

• that for 40 years Cuba has made it a priority to create and strengthen a national cultural identity, through the education of thousands of musicians, dancers, actors, visual artists and writers?

• that all aspects of Cuba's cultural roots - including the contributions of Africa - are celebrated through publicly supported and promoted cultural expression?

• that Cuban music and dance forms go far beyond salsa-style music and dance?

If you answered "no" to any of these questions,

then you are in the right place.

There is an increasing amount of information in the United States and the U.S. and international press on Cuban culture. Most of it is interpretative, reflecting the viewpoints of journalists, arts writers and occasional travelers. But what of the voices of those who have created the modern cultural landscape of Cuba? These are generally absent from the dialogue on Cuban culture.

¡Cubanía! provides space for Cuban performing artists - especially those lesser known outside their homeland - to share their diverse perspectives and provide a context for their work. ¡Cubanía! does not seek out explicit political viewpoints, although these are often expressed by the artists who have contributed their time, thoughts and words to this project.

¡Cubanía! is an ongoing project of the Cuba Research and Analysis Group initiated in October, 1997. ¡Cubanía! was conceived and is being developed by Louis Head of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who began traveling to Cuba in 1979. Head is an on-air programmer of Afro-Latin music at KUNM-FM in Albuquerque and an independent producer. He also reviews Afro-Latin and jazz music for SalsaWeb, on-line at http://www.salsaweb.com

Acknowledgements

Are due:

For advice and insight, sometimes unexpected but always welcome - to Barbara Dane, Diana Cohn, Nelson Valdés, Charmagne Andrews, George Rivera, Andrea Panaritis, and Tony Quiñones.

For ongoing support - to Listener Supported Public Radio KUNM 89.9 FM, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

For partial funding assistance - to the Christopher Reynolds Foundation and the Arca Foundation, and for administrative support to the Institute for Regional Education.

For site design - to Jerry "Eeyo" Thompson of JET Creative.

For important help in Cuba - to Tomás Misas and Victoria Peñalver of the Cuban Music Institute, Jesus Gómez Cairo and the Staff of the National Music Museum, Fernando García and the Department of International Relations of the Communist Party of Cuba, Susan Jackson, Victoria Caridad Martínez and the staff of La Casa de La Trova "Pepe Sánchez," Ana María Barrera and César Castellanos of the Centro Provincial de la Música "Miguel Matamoros," Jorge Ruiz Miyares of Radio Habana Cuba, Eva, Élio and the Gómez family, to Alina Afón Correoso for her dedication to her art and her love of bolero, to Pablo Menéndez, Adria Santana, Osamu, Maurito and his pet dog Lucky for putting me up and putting up with me, to Manuel Ortíz and family, and to Deborah Figueredo.

For participating directly in this project - to Rafael Quiñones, Luis de la Cruz, Frank Delgado, Lourdes Tamayo, Jorge Ruiz Miyares, Ele Valdés, Pablo Herrera, Octavio Rodríguez, Roberto Sánchez Vigñot and El Ballet Folklórico Cutumba, Zoe Fuentes, Roberto Carcassés, Roberto Carcassés, Jr., Carlos Alfonso, Ruso, Nicolás Corrales Larduet and Quinteto Oriente, Obsesión and Mezcla.

And finally, to those who introduced me to Cuba in the first place and were helpful with various aspects of this project - Teresa Walsh, Richard Moore, Eduardo Aguiar, Michele Frank and Juan Vera. Thank you!

All materials found on the ¡Cubanía! web site are © 1998, 1999 by Louis Head.

Site design by JET Creative