With the purpose of founding a ballet company on the island, prominent Cuban leading dancer Carlos Acosta carried out auditions at the Fernando Alonso National Ballet School of this capital for the selection of its members.

Specialists at the Benny More Art Centre, located in Cienfuegos Central-Southern province, are to celebrate the 96th birth anniversary of the renowned worldwide artist Benny More, known as El Bárbaro del Ritmo (August 24, 1919-February 19, 1963).

The Havana Cultura project has now clocked up over 5 years of exciting and inspiring musical discoveries, with British DJ Gilles Peterson introducing Cuban musicians and singers to those unfamiliar with the latest trends and emerging talents in Cuba.

On 20 July Santiago de Cuba welcomed the first parade of comparsas (music and dance groups) and floats for carnival 2015.

Irakere may be Grammy-winning legends of Cuban music, but they don't bring on genial gents in white flat caps just to sing serenades of old Havana. Now celebrating their 40th anniversary under the brilliant pianist Chucho Valdes's continuing leadership, Irakere are a hurricane where the Buena Vistas were a summer breeze. They launched a week's residency at Ronnie Scott's club on Monday with the elated parade of big-band jazz, funk, rock, classical music, and African-rooted ritual percussion and vocals that have been their trademark from the start.

The sound of young Havana here for you this summer. Fresh new video of Cuban group Interactivo's track Baila con mi Rumba.

As part of its 500 years celebrations this July, Santiago de Cuba held a competition for a new song dedicated to the city – watch this video of the winning entry by José de Jesus Llanes Alvarez. The visuals show just how much of the city has been renovated in recent years. Watch listen dance and go and visit! Felicidades, Santiago! Congratulations, Santiago!

Fabulous dance routine by female dance students at Cuba's university of the arts (ISA) to Los Van Van's hit song Somos Cubanos

"We have to tell Cuba's story from the perspective of the people here so that this culture does not get lost," said Chaplin.

As relations between Cuba and the US thaw, the United States is belatedly discovering that Havana is and has always been one of the world's great music capitals. Cuban musicians, meanwhile, have a personal stake in this new development, and they're hopeful that things will continue to improve.

Papo Angarica, a rumba legend in Cuba, died yesterday of respiratory failure caused by the chronic renal failure he had been suffering from, reported the Cuban Music Institute.

Chucho Valdés, has decided to record an album of emblematic Irakere tracks, offering up an explosive mixture of jazz, rock, classical and a wide range of traditional Cuban music.

With the participation of almost half a million people the Ministry of Culture (MINCULT) celebrated last weekend with an evening dedlicated especially especially to the visual artists, curators, promoters and organisers of the 12th Havana Biennial, an event which for the last month occupied various parts of the Cuban capital with a wide display of artworks and artistic projects.
Julián González, head of MINCULT, expressed his gratitude and thanks to the artists and volunteers in the Biennial for their commitment and dedication to an event which surpassed all expectations.
"It has achieved in converting an artistic expression that elsewhere in the world is limited to a minority here has become a popular event with notable quality, where people have asked about and discussed the works presented."
The young artist Rachel Valdés participated for the second time with three works "As in the last Biennial I have had the chance to put work in public spaces, that has been for me one of the best achievements. Both have been enriching, they have offered me the opportunity to interact with the public in a direct manner in unique spaces like the Malecon for example.
"Cubans walking by interpret the artwork in a special way, they offer you visions of your creation which you had not thought of when you made it because they encounter it in a different way to the author."
For the Camagueyan artist Joel Jover, whose work was shown in the Zona Franca, in the San Carlos de la Cabana fortress, this Biennial is distuinguished by its popularity. In past years he had not seen so much attendance by the general public in an event of this type, the visual arts are not known for having massive audiences, while at the same time they were quality art works, well developed, with a rigorous selection on the part of the organising committee.
Manuel López Oliva, well known artist and visual arts critic, considered the Biennial an event in transit with many possibilities from which emerge other phenomena. "Logically it must vary because the circumstances are different to those of the early years. This one has been a Biennial fiesta, hybrid, poclicentric and plural. If one studies it carefully, from this can be derived new projects, including a Cuban art fair. I think that it must be a creative laboratory integrating other experts from the sciences and culture to produce this effect."

A new space for electronic music will open 3 and 4 July in the university beach area (Balneario Universitario) ‘El Coral' in Havana, with the objective of promoting national knowledge and skills in this artistic form.

Expecting to be declared National Cultural Heritage, Santiago de Cuba's carnival this year will celebrate the 500 years since the founding of the city and will be confirmed as the most popular one in Cuba.