Inspired by the story of Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution in 1959, UK academic Denise Baden has written 'Fidel the Musical' with the help of school students around the UK. The very first 90 minute performances of the show will be premiered at Iris Theatre in Covent Garden on 16 November.

Theatre, society, resistance … These are the conceptual pillars of the next edition of one of the most important events of the performing arts in Cuba: The 17th International Theatre Festival of Havana.
It opens 20-29 October, in Havana and brings together almost 50 artists and groups from more than 12 countries in America and Europe.
The official selection has been recently announced: it aims to offer an integrative panorama of the art of representation, from more or less conventional works of theatre, to bold stage experiments, works for the street and squares and dance works …
A note from the National Council of Performing Arts (CNAE), the organizer of the festival, explains the backbone of the show:
"Today, as we perceive a world in constant mutation, whose impacts transform the civilizing order and the notions of art and culture, in the theatre reinventions connected to its ancestral resistance are imposed."
That is what it is about: theatre as an invitation to thought and social transformation, beyond mere entertainment.
The international participants sign up to "the intrinsic striving that involves making theatre from the rigor of the artifice," adds the note published on the website CubaEscena.

"There is only one style, which is making art"

Last Days in Havana / 'Ultimas dias en la Habana' – new Cuban feature film screened for the first time in the UK:

More than 30 artists from ten countries will participate in the first international electronic music festival Eyeife, which will take place in Havana September 26 to 30.

First of all I confess that I am not a specialist in the subject of computer games. My first encounter with video games made in Cuba was summer 2015 in Havana when the Music Publishing Company (Egrem) launched ‘La chivichana' and ‘La Superclaria', as a result of an agreement Of collaboration between the ICAIC Animation Studio and the University of Computer Science (UCI) in Havana.

1 August 2017 – 31 August 2017

Awarded throughout her career with hundreds of international awards, the legendary Cuban ballet dancer Alicia Alonso was named this week while visiting Segovia in Spain, World Ambassador of Dance by UNESCO.

During the 38th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema held in December last year, the Cuban film El Techo (The Roof), by local filmmaker Patricia Ramos, was nominated in the fiercely contested debut fiction film category.

The Cuban Cinematheque has received the certificate of registration of the Cuban film posters collection at the National Registry of UNESCO's 'Memory of the World' Programme.

We have two tickets to see Cuban salsa/timba superstar Issac Delgado and his group in London on Saturday 22 July to give away, courtesy of Marco and HavanatoLondres!

Carlos Alberto Masvidal Saavedra wasrecently awarded the National Design Award in Cuba. He talked to La Jiribilla about his artistic concerns, the importance of the award, and the current state of design in Cuba.

Vamos Cuba! will be at the Peacock Theatre, London 24 October – 11 November 2017