Improvisation is a tradition and cultural musical expression of the Cuban countryside that has been recently declared intangible cultural heritage during the International Music Fair Cubadisco 2012, held in the island.

Cuba has 94 athletes from 14 disciplines qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games, an official with Cuba's National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER) said Wednesday.

Norge Marrero, director of High Performance at INDER, said that 51 days before the beginning of London 2012, track and field is the discipline with the largest number of participants (33), followed by wrestling (12), judo (9), boxing (8), rowing (6), boating (6), cycling (4 ), shooting (4), weightlifting (4), taekwondo (3), diving (2), swimming (1), table tennis (1) and archery (1).

New film on UK cinema release from 6 July – structured as 7 days in the life of the capital city, presented in 7 short films, written, directed and acted by Cubans and non-Cubans – overall scripting by Cuban crime writer Leonardo Padura.

Classical choir Camerata de Música Aúrea from Santiago de Cuba will be touring the UK in June-July. More details at http://www.cuba50.org/?page=Whats_On_Page&link=500

In 2002 the Cuban filmmaker Fernando Pérez made a compelling documentary called Suite Habana which portrayed the melancholic mood of the Cuban capital at the start of the 21st century. Ten years later the mood is rather different, as I discovered on my first visit to Cuba for three years, for a Seminar on Cuban Cinema in the department of history at the University of Havana.
Read more by Prof Michael Chanan at Putney Debater http://wp.me/p1oYul-hT

Don't miss out on the hottest Cuban Salsa party in town at the E4 Udderbelly Festival this June!

HAVANA RUMBA Direct from Havana. An intoxicating cocktail of Rumba, Salsa, Rum and Reggaeton. Get up close and personal in a sensational evening of Cuban Salsa with the coolest, sensual dancers in town and see dazzling, eye-popping mind-blowing performances from the Kings of CubanDance and Cuba's sexiest divas of the dancefloor. Bump and Grind the night away. It's Irresistible, Insatiable, Unmissable!

Cuban musician Chucho Valdes and his band The Afro-Cuban Messengers won the Extraordinary Award of the International Festival Cubadisco 2012 for the CD Chucho´s Steps, of the record label Colibri.

Also distinguished in 2011 with a Latin Grammy for best Latin jazz album, the record is composed by eight songs, including Zawinul's Mambo, Danzon and another dedicated to the city of New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz.

Cuba art festival brings works onto Havana's streets

Thanks to Sadlers Wells, Cuba50 have a pair of tickets to give away to see the amazing Danza Contemporánea de Cuba at Sadlers Wells Theatre in London on 29 May 2012.

"My work is basically about the relationship between individuals and a particular social group – how the individual keeps trying to have his own identity even though he can't escape his social group and society in general," Peña says. "We all have our institutions – family, religious, athletic, whatever – and they carry their own ideologies with them. We can't escape them. We're all institutionalised but we all think we're individuals. This duality is what motivates my work."

Cuban artists Kcho (Alexis Leyva Machado) and Juan Roberto Diago who are particpating in the 11th Havana Biennial in May, have also contributed to the UK show Beyond the Frame: Contemporary Cuban Art – which opens in London Monday 25th April until 28 April and Glasgow Monday 7th May until 13th May. See www.cubabeyondtheframe.com

Dedicated to the guitar as accompanying instrument, the 2012 edition of CUBADISCO -Havana's annual International Record Fair and Contest- is getting ready to show the island's latest record works and pay tribute to Compay Segundo (1907-2003).

Thanks to Sadlers Wells, Cuba50 have a pair of tickets to give away to see the amazing Ballet Revolución at Peacock Theatre in London on 25 April 2012.

To enter the competition – send an email to office@cuba50.org with 'Ballet Revolucion comp' in the subject line, with your full name and a contact tel number to arrive by 16 April 2012.

Havana Bienal Preview: "Detrás del muro", Part One

The high level of Church-State relations favors the freedom of religion established in the Cuban Constitution, religious leaders and of fraternal associations agreed in conversation with Prensa Latina.

According to the moderator (president) of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Cuba, Daniel Izquierdo, the current relationship has contributed to rapprochement and exchange.