OCT WHAT’S ON 2013 HAVANA ! Praise be to Our Virgen de la Caridad BY Victoria Alcala Just when you think you know Cubans BY Conner Gorry D'DISEGNO. V Festival Leo Havana Guide Respuesta Brouwer de to the Best cubana! Música de Places to eat, Cámara Bars, Clubs Through Sep 24 – Oct 13 & Museums October p 13 p 32 p 49 PRODUCED BY .COM .COM Cuba Absolutely is an independent platform, which seeks to showcase the best in Cuba culture, life-style, sport, travel and much more... we seek to explore Cuba through the eyes of the best writers, photographers and filmmakers, both Cuban and international, who live work, travel and play in Cuba. Beautiful pictures, great videos, opinionated reviews, insightful articles and inside tips. ALL ABOUT CUBA, ALL THE TIME HIGHLIGHTS HAVANA RESTAURANT GUIDE We have reviewed over 150 places to eat in Havana from the coolest new paladar to the old favorites. Check out. The Ultimate Guide to Dining out in Havana. 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We have added a number of featured articles this month including a profile of Havana’s Horse Whisperer - Miguel Ginarte, a piece on Cubans devotion to Our Lady of Charity (La Virgen de la Caridad), Conner Gorry’s always insightful ‘Just when you think you know Cubans’ as well as detailed profiles and reviews of Maria Cienfuegos, Sue Herrod and Danza Combinatoria’s Tributo a El monte. The V Festival Leo Brouwer de Música de Cámara is this month’s highlighted event with a program that has managed to combine in an innovative and daring way the traditional with the contemporary. Don’t miss Paco de Lucía en vivo (he is the soul of flamenco); De Vivaldi al minimalismo and the more ‘classical’, De sonatas, conciertos y fantasias. Elsewhere the Museo de Bellas Artes continues its centenary program with exhibitions by Mario Carreño. If you like design you will love D’DISEGNO. Respuesta cubana! curated by Concha Fontenla at Factoría Habana and featuring Cuba’s best young designers. If dance is your thing, highlights include the Ballet Nacional de Cuba (Teatro Mella, Oct 9th), the premiere of Coincidencias produced by the Irene Rodríguez’s Spanish dance com- pany at the Teatro Nacional (Oct 18-19th) and Retazos’s Momentos produced by Isabel Bustos (Oct 16th). In Havana’s theatre scene if you missed the brilliant Las lágrimas no hacen ruido al caer last month now’s you chance for it has an extended run at the Café Teatro Bertolt Brecht. The always audaciously good, (and not a little controversial), Teatro El Público, is performing Antigonón at the Teatro Trianón. October is Brazilian cultural month with a varied program including a series of feature films, shorts and documentaries dedicated to the Leon Hirszman (Oct 7-13 at the Cine Chaplin). Finally, October 20th (which is Cuban National Culture Day) marks the 145th Anniversary of the Cuban National Anthem, La Bayamesa, which was heard for the first time when rebel troops led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes freed the city of Bayamo in 1868. Viva Cuba! Miguel Ginarte – Havana’s Horse Whisperer BY Margaret Atkins p 6 Just when you think you know Cubans BY Conner Gorry p 8 Praise be to Our Lady of Charity! BY Lucia Lamadrid p 11 María Cienfuegos: using photography to overthrow the tedium CONTENTS BY Ricardo Alberto Pérez p 18 Rosario Cárdenas & Danza Combina- toria’s Tributo a El monte OCTOBER 2013 BY Victoria Alcala p 21 V Festival Leo Brouwer de Música de Cámara BY Victoria Alcala p 32 Up Into the Silence Interview WITH Sue Herrod p 36 Caldosa & rum for the fiesta del barrio ContentsBY Victoria Alcala p 46 The birth of the Cuban National Anthem BY Lucia Lamadrid p 47 Plastic arts p 12 HAVANA Photography p 16 Dance p 19 CULTURE / Ballet / Modern dance THIS MONTH Music p 23 / Classical music / Jazz / Trova & bolero / Salsa/timba HAVANA GUIDE / Heavy metal concerts The best places to eat in Havana p 49 / Contemporary fusion Theatre p 39 The best bars & clubs in Havana p 52 Other events in Havana p 43 Havana’s best museums p 55 For Kids p 44 Other events p 45 .COM With a passion for Cuba PAGE 3 Miguel Ginarte – Havana's Horse Whisperer by Margaret Atkins Drive down 5th Ave in Havana's Miramar neighborhood, his mother was in labor, his dad took his mom on and when you reach the road to Pabexpo on 146th Street, horseback to see the doctor and on horseback they turn left and just ask the locals to guide you to Miguel brought him home after his birth. That's his explanation Ginarte's Finca. Don't worry, you won't get lost; everybody for his love of horses and why he is able to communicate knows where the finca is and how to get there. with these animals so easily. So much so that he is dubbed “The Horse Whisperer.” As a kid, he would ride any horse Look for the dirt road that takes you to the entrance. On that crossed his way, even the ones that would only allow one side, you'll see a paddock; on the other, a long line of their owners to come near them. In his teens, he would bet carriages like the ones used in colonial days. Park your car 100 pesos that he could break in even the wildest horses. and walk up to the door of the modest wooden building. And he always won. He is now 73 years old and continues When we arrived, a sheep lying next to the entrance lifts to be an exceptional horseman. Every day, he rides his his head and stares at us. magnificent white Arabian horse around the ranch that fills his entire existence. Ask any of the people who are coming and going for Miguel Ginarte. If it's morning, they'll probably tell you that he's Speaking of the ranch, this is not your old every day, run- having breakfast (the only meal of the day he doesn't skip). of-the-mill rancho. The branches of many trees hold old They'll take you to the living room where you will walk past vehicle bodies, which Ginarte has placed there with the a n a s s o r t m e n t o f p r i z e s , d i p l o m a s , a n d help of a crane. You'll also find safes, carriage wheels, acknowledgements. typewriters, furniture, earthenware, and anything that you can name. Miguel and his people rescue these objects, While you wait, take time out to observe the decor. The restore them and keep them for use in a film or TV show. living room, like the rest of the house, looks more like a The ranch is attached to the Department of Scenography museum and warehouse than a dwelling. Family pictures of Cuban Television and provides animals, plants, and vie for space with pictures of important Cuban political vehicles for shows. I recall at least three “telenovelas” set and entertainment figures. Antique clocks, sewing in the countryside, which have been shot there. machines, a wide collection of ties, kerosene lamps, saddles, hats and even an antique washbowl with running But perhaps, the most outstanding part of the finca and water clutter the room. But let me give you some Ginarte is that it has become a sort of “rehabilitation” information on the man before you meet with him. center for teenagers with behavioral issues. Under Ginarte's guidance, these kids become hardworking men, Miguel Ginarte was born in the eastern part of Cuba, the who will take on any chore on the ranch and act as extras son of Dora Ginarte and Adriano Ricardo González. When and even stuntmen for film and television.