Cuba Closes ‘Street Opera’ Project
July 27, 2012
Fernando Ravsberg*
“La Opera de la Calle” (The Opera of the Street) combined a cultural
program with a restaurant, the proceeds of which went to pay the
salaries of all the personnel and other expenses. Photo: Raquel Perez
HAVANA TIMES — One-hundred and thirty Cuban families have lost their
source of income due to the closing of the “El Cabildo” cultural
project, where they had worked putting on a regular musical show that
mixed opera, zarzuela (Spanish musical comedy), rock, pop and Cuban
rhythms – including those of African religions.
Known nationally and internationally as “La Opera de la Calle” (The
Opera of the Street), the company cleaned up a vacant lot, and built a
stage and a restaurant on it. From the sales of food and beverages they
financed the salaries of the musicians, singers, dancers, cooks and waiters.
An article that appeared in the foreign press triggered the alarm of the
Ideological Department of the Communist Party. Ulises Aquino, the
director of the cultural initiative, told us that he was called to that
department for questioning, and “El Cabildo” was shut down a few days later.
The group was accused of “enriquecimiento” (enrichment) for the members
earning monthly salaries of around 2,000 pesos (equivalent to about $80
USD). Such a figure is higher than those paid by the government but —
according to Cuban economists — it corresponds to the cost of the
average family food staples here on the island.
A Cuban ajiaco (*)
A week before its closing, we visited “El Cabildo” (The Council) to do a
story. We were interested in this cultural program that — availing
itself of fewer economic restrictions these days — had created a
restaurant that operated in parallel so as to achieve self-funding.
Ulises Aquino is an important Cuban lyrical singer who tries to promote
that art form among his fellow citizens through the Street Opera
cultural program by incorporating “archetypes and folklore that are
identified with our society.” Photo: Raquel Perez
Its director, Ulises Aquino, explained that “the effort is called ‘opera
of the street’ because we are trying to bring the lyrical art form
closer to everyday people, which is why we add those archetypes and
folkloric elements that are identified with our society; it’s a new form
of lyrical expression.”
The show lasts about an hour and in it “we merge everything from lyrical
theater, opera, musical comedy, Cuban folk music, rumba, rock and pop –
everything; it’s the melting pot of Cuba,” said Ulises, who is also an
important opera singer.
Economically too it was a melting pot. As Ulises went on to explain,
“We’re part of the Ministry of Culture but we’re a new type of structure
that has served to promote changes in the country. We believe that there
must be a convergence between each cultural program and their funding.”
“My life project”
Samila Lacosta is twenty-four years old – of which six she has spent
working with “la Opera de la Calle” as a second soprano. As she
explained: “This is a totally different company; in my case, I trained
as a singer and a dancer. This was my school, it’s a comprehensive
professional approach.”
“I came here not knowing what opera was, I didn’t even know what a stage
was,” explained Samila, adding that for her “this is very special; it’s
the project of my life.” At that time, though, she didn’t know that just
days later she would lose her job and her livelihood.
Sulay Hernandez had been unemployed but she found work in the cultural
project, which “[gave] us much from the cultural and social standpoint.”
Photo: Raquel Perez
Sulay Hernandez, 34, had been the chief waitress in the restaurant since
this past December; prior to that she had studied social communication.
“I was unemployed until I was offered this position; I’m not going to
get rich off the salary but at least I can survive,” she said at the
time of our interview.
Sulay lost more than a job. As she put it: “This is a family. The
project gives us a lot from the standpoint of culture and society. As
artists and workers, we maintain very good relations, with many common
activities among everyone. There’s no class relationship.”
The fifth column
However, nothing could prevent their locale from being shut down. For
Ulises this was the work of “a hidden fifth column that is attempting to
stop the unstoppable movement that’s being promoted by President Raul
Castro (…), it’s those of the bureaucratic class who are trying to
preserve their power from a position of obscurantism.”
“They came in at 10 o’clock at night, interrupted the show and created
confusion among the audience. It was a fascist approach that had nothing
to do with the principles that I, the general population of Cuba and the
president believe in. Just three days before he had argued for the need
for a change in people’s mentality.”
130 people worked at “El Cabildo,” including artists, musicians,
dancers, waiters and cooks. Photo: Raquel Perez
Aquino told us that the problem arose when the “Reuters news agency
reported our story, which led to me being called in by the Central
Committee of the Party to explain our program to functionaries of the
Ideological Department. I thought they were satisfied with my
explanation – but apparently they weren’t.”
Ulises added that, “Based on that meeting, a whole series of incidents
were triggered. They accused me of ‘enrichment’ and took away my
self-employment license.”
He concluded by stating, “It hurts most because I’m a revolutionary and
I believe deeply in the humanistic work of the revolution.”
—
(*) A Cuban stew made up of many varied ingredients; a melting pot.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=75265
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