Clásica imagen del
encuentro entre Fidel y el GTE en 1971.
Here is a newspaper article
regarding rural theater programs
in Cuba which appeared in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
newspaper on December 5, 2004, and a correction letter
which I received, and which was copied to the author and
her editors and to their letters to the editor column. The
original column is reproduced below.
Walter Lippmann.
From: Ricardo Flavio Potts [mailto:flavio@enet.cu]
Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 8:26 PM
To: wlx-owner@yahoogroups.com
Cc: vmbauza1@yahoo.com; gbulfin@sun-sentinel.com; alambiet@sun-sentinel.com;
letters@sun-sentinel.com
Subject: Re: [wlx] THEATER - About report by Vanessa Bauza
Hi
Walter,
I kindly
want to call your attention to this:
I respect Vanessa
Bauza writings, but this one has a flaw. The player she interviewed saids that
"There was no permanent program to bring
activities to the countryside," Reyes, 59, recalled.
The time for the founding of the
group was 1992 -Bauzá saids "Actor Rene Reyes
Blazquez founded the ensemble in 1992..."
unfortunately, Reyes and/or Bauzá apparently don´t knows
that since early sixties, actor Sergio Corrieri founded in the Escambray
Hills (Sancti Spíritus, center part of Cuba) the "Escambray
Theater".
They not
only performed in the countryside, they LIVED there, and founded a theater
school that gave lots of good actors to this country, worked there for around 15
years and the school still goes on, being active for 36. They did the same
thing Reyes is doing now in other part of the country, bringing a mobile theater
to the communities of the area, where it was watched for the first time in Cuban
history. In fact, what Reyes said "There
were people who did not understand what we were doing. I thought I was
struggling for something impossible", those
were the same comments Corrieri got at his time, togheter with Gilda Hernández,
Albio Paz, Roberto Orihuela, Rafael González and many other artists and
writers. But they endured and demonstrated it was possible. They not only took
theater to the hills, they did lots of research in the area, to find out
the problems of the inhabitants and include it into their plays, opening a new
space to communication and participation. I think there´s even a Cuban film
which action is located on the group.
I
understand that a resident correspondent, can´t know all the facts from
the country he is reporting, but it´s also generally admited that you can´t
take for granted everything people said, and you must do some research of
your own. Corrieri´s history is very well-known in Cuba, because he
was one of our leading actors. Of course, I´m not against the efforts
of any culture group that contributes to improve the spiritual life of the
peasants everywhere - not only in Cuba-, but to said that "there
was no permanent program to bring activities to the contryside", not
mentioning at all the Escambray Theater, that single phrase obliterates in
one stroke all their effort during decades. Besides, at 1992, there
were lots of amateurs and professional groups at many locations in Cuba.
I send
just some of the first 619 hits found at Google, searching for "Teatro
Escambray", and a couple of hits. One of them has the story of
the group with some nice historical pics.
Thanks a
lot for your attention,
Ricardo
CUBA.
Teatro y Nación en el Escambray.- 10/12/03
... edición del evento Teatro y Nación, esta vez con un carácter
internacional, concluyó
aquí con un merecido homenaje al Grupo Teatro Escambray (GTE), en
su ...
www.paginadigital.com.ar/articulos/ 2003/2003oct/teatro/celc10-12.asp
- 41k -
Campesinos
exigen defender el derecho a la tierra. - 20/09/03 ...
... El XI Festival, entre otros muchos por mencionar, también invitó al
premiado humor
de La Divina Moneda y Gente en blanco y negro, al Teatro Escambray
con sus ...
www.paginadigital.com.ar/articulos/ 2003/2003sept/teatro/celc21bbb-9.asp
- 43k - 3 Dic 2004 -
[ Más
resultados de www.paginadigital.com.ar ]
CUBA
-LA JIRIBILLA
... TEATRO ESCAMBRAY: MEMORIA Y PRESENTE (I) Omar Valiño |
La Habana Fotos cortesía
de Teatro Escambray • GALERÍA DE FOTOS DEL GRUPO TEATRO ESCAMBRAY
Se ...
www.lajiribilla.cu/2003/n134_11/proscenio.html - 32k -
CUBA
-LA JIRIBILLA
... ORÍGENES DE UN LEGADO TEATRO ESCAMBRAY: MEMORIA Y
PRESENTE (II) Omar Valiño | La
Habana Fotos cortesía de Teatro Escambray • GALERÍA DE FOTOS
DEL GRUPO ...
www.lajiribilla.cu/2003/n135_12/proscenio.html - 29k -
[ Más
resultados de www.lajiribilla.cu ]
CentroArte
- Biografía de la agrupación artística Grupo Teatro ...
Villa Clara · CUBA · Jueves, 2 de Diciembre de 2004 | 11:33 AM, Grupo Teatro
Escambray.
Grupo Teatro Escambray. Datos Generales. Se integra: En 1968. ...
www.cenit.cult.cu/artbyid.php?what=g&id=12 - 36k -
CentroArte
- Actuación del Grupo Teatro Escambray en El Mejunje
... Interiores de El Mejunje. Actuación del Grupo Teatro Escambray
en El Mejunje.
por Raúl Cabrera. El Grupo Teatro Escambray realizó ...
www.cenit.cult.cu/pageshower.php?id=194 - 32k -
[ Más
resultados de www.cenit.cult.cu ]
Bibliografia
Breve, Teatro Cubano, Curso 2001-2002, Ernst Rudin ...
... 943-1039. leal, rine, comp. teatro escambray. prólogo
de graziella pogolotti. ...
comp. teatro escambray. prólogo de graziella pogolotti. ...
www.elneto.com/hispa/friburgo/fctbiblio2.htm - 24k -
rteatro
... En la década del '60, recién terminada la lucha contra bandidos,
surge el Teatro
Escambray, otro emprendimiento experimentador que llevó el teatro a los ...
www.nnc.cubaweb.cu/cultura/rteatro.htm - 17k -
http://www.lajiribilla.cu/2003/n134_11/proscenio.html
TEATRO ESCAMBRAY:
MEMORIA Y PRESENTE (I)
Omar
Valiño |
La
Habana
Fotos cortesía de Teatro Escambray
• GALERÍA
DE FOTOS DEL GRUPO TEATRO ESCAMBRAY
Se
cumplen treinta y cinco años de la fundación del Grupo Teatro Escambray, una
de las experiencias más importantes de la tradición teatral cubana. Como
indica su nombre, me ocuparé en esta serie del pasado y la actualidad del
emblemático colectivo. Para comenzar propongo las palabras que como «Liminar», encabezan
las páginas de la edición corregida y ampliada de mi libro La
aventura del Escambray. Notas sobre teatro y sociedad, de próxima
aparición.
|
|
Hace cinco años, en ocasión del aniversario treinta de Teatro
Escambray, fui comisionado por la Asociación Hermanos Saíz para entregar al
grupo, como obsequio, dos obras de arte. Firmadas por José Ángel Toirac y José
Ramón González, estas obras plasmaban, tal vez sin imaginarlo con exactitud
sus autores, las esencias del momento atravesado entonces por el colectivo.
El pequeño lienzo de Toirac recrea esa foto ya clásica donde se ve a
Fidel Castro conversando con los integrantes del Escambray histórico y se
distingue a Graziella Pogolotti, Sergio Corrieri y Nicolás Chaos, el entonces máximo
dirigente del Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) en el Regional Escambray. El
testimonio guardado por la cámara es visto por Toirac a través de trazos y
tonos que, de manera un tanto impresionista aquellos y un tanto expresionista
estos, desdibujan los rostros, mas no las actitudes. Al parecer, la pintura
invita a un reconocimiento, aunque también «distancia»
gracias al tratamiento de la imagen mediante otro material.
|
|
Por su parte, González coloca encima de su rústico banco de cerámica
—tan
parecido a módulos usados por el propio grupo o por sus espectadores—,
un embrión, una criatura fetal que ¿descansa? frente a un revólver. Una parábola,
desde esta perspectiva, sobre la tradición, los nuevos creadores y el peso de
la historia.
Ambas intentan, siguiendo mi proposición, una revalorización del
pasado. Sin embargo, no presuponen un abandono de la herencia y, al mismo tiempo,
sitúan las coordenadas presentes de esta. El desafío queda, pues, planteado
hacia el porvenir.
|
|
Este libro, imaginado en aquel momento como ahora aparece, se reconoce
en aquellas metáforas, o mejor, en la actitud que de ellas se desprende. Brinda,
en la forma que le es posible a la crítica, una lectura, nunca totalitaria ni
cerrada, de la trayectoria del Escambray hasta las puertas mismas de sus treinta
y cinco años de labor. Al ensayo contenido en la primera edición del libro homónimo,
ahora corregido en términos de estilo, se suman textos de diferente naturaleza
a través de los cuales, de manera fragmentaria pero sostenida, he proseguido
mis indagaciones sobre el Escambray, básicamente desde el punto de vista
inscrito en aquel ensayo inicial. Escritos a lo largo de los diez años
transcurridos desde la publicación de la edición príncipe, pocos
acontecimientos artísticos y sus respectivos contextos no han tenido reflejo y
análisis en ellos. Finalmente, reúno como apéndices cuatro notas aparecidas
en torno a la primera edición de La aventura... Ajeno por completo a la
pedantería del autobombo, me interesó darlas a conocer porque, más allá de
señalar valores o limitaciones de mi trabajo, sus autores lo toman como
pretexto para alumbrar y desarrollar contradicciones y virtudes del espacio
ganado por el Escambray y su legado a la tradición teatral cubana. Es decir que,
de hecho, aportan nuevos y útiles elementos complementarios.
|
|
En su totalidad persiguen, mis ideas y las de otros, más que enjuiciar,
activar un siempre beneficioso diálogo interno del Escambray acerca de su
derrotero hasta hoy, en particular sobre su presente. Ofrecer, pues, el
testimonio de la crítica, ahora inocultable participante, como sencillo
instrumento de trabajo.
Este es, según entiendo, el más útil homenaje a los treinta y cinco
años del grupo que me enseñó a ver el teatro.
|
|
|
|
CUBA. Teatro y Nación en el Escambray.-
10/12/03
|
|
|
|
|
|
CUBA. Teatro y
Nación en el Escambray La sexta edición del
evento Teatro y Nación, esta vez con un carácter internacional, concluyó
aquí con un merecido homenaje al Grupo Teatro Escambray (GTE), en su
aniversario 35 de vida artística en interrelación directa y constante
con la población rural y urbana del país. |
From: Walter
Lippmann
Sent:
Sunday, December 05, 2004 8:18 PM
Subject:
[wlx] THEATER
THEATER
by Vanessa Bauza
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted December 5 2004
LOS HORNEROS, Cuba -- The old Soviet Ural truck bumps along narrow mountain roads, passing homesteads and weaving through farmlands dotted with blossoming jacaranda trees, like orange starbursts on a lush green canvas.
With each twist and turn of the unpaved road the actors and musicians of the "Guerrilla Theater" troupe are jostled in their seats along with the musical instruments, costumes, props, tents and lighting equipment piled from floor to ceiling.
Still, they don't miss a beat of the improvised rumba they are thumping on pots and bongos to drown out the groaning engine.
The truck stops briefly and the driver refills the radiator with water from a stream where women are beating their clothes clean with a cedar paddle.
"The guerrilla group is here!" announces a young man, who is watering his oxen in the stream. "Where are you going to act?"
"Los Horneros!" the actors shout from the truck's windows.
>From Cuba's wars of independence in the 1800s to the 1959 revolution, the villages nestled in the fertile folds of the Sierra Maestra mountains have spawned more insurrections than any other region on the island. More than 500 miles east of Havana, this is also the poorest, most underdeveloped corner of Cuba. And it is here that a troupe of two dozen young actors and musicians known as the "Guerrilla Theater" is waging its own modest experiment, bringing art, dance, and theater to remote villages.
A LINK TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD
Actor Rene Reyes Blazquez founded the ensemble in 1992, at a time of grueling shortages and poverty, as a way to bring a little levity and entertainment to people struggling to get by high in the hills.
"There was no permanent program to bring activities to the countryside," Reyes, 59, recalled. "In the first few years we would use a tractor or mules to get around. There were people who did not understand what we were doing. I thought I was struggling for something impossible."
Like the golden age of the traveling circus on the American frontier, the "Guerrilla Theater" offers a rare treat in towns where battery powered radios can provide the most reliable link to the outside world.
Despite a shoestring budget of $8,000 a year, little public recognition and years when government support was almost nonexistent, the "Guerrilla Theater" continues today, a traveling circus with a social purpose.
"To stop now would be inexcusable," Reyes said. "To give it up would be to betray the people, to abandon something we know they need."
In villages like La Aplastada and El Bon Bon, where thatched roofs, dirt floors and horse-drawn wagons are common, but electricity and running water are not, the arrival of the old Ural truck is an event similar to a carnival or a holiday celebration.
"It's marvelous. These artists bring art to the Sierra. Nobody had done that," said Los Horneros resident Carlos Arias Reyes, who like others in town gathered at a small square to welcome the actors. "That means every once in a while we get to enjoy something nice. At the moment you are enjoying the guerrillas you forget about your problems."
PERFORMANCES THAT FEED
Made up mostly of young, untrained actors in their 20s, the troupe harkens back to Cuban initiatives of the early 1960s when students from cities ventured into rural communities to teach literacy and filmmakers screened movies for countryside farmers who had never seen them.
The actors are paid only about $5 a month, a meager salary even by Cuban standards, but they say they take valuable lessons from the camaraderie of the group and the gratitude of people in the villages they visit.
"All of us who are here are struggling for something. The guerrilla group is like a school, the best school to become a better actor, a better person," said Yaneisis Leandro, an 18-year-old actress who wears her baseball cap askew over cropped, bleached hair.
"You have to be a little crazy to do what we do," said actor Ladismir Guerra, 30, as the group gathered for lunch in a thatched-roof kitchen. "We are crazy by profession."
The troupe performs in the searing heat under mango trees or under the stars on basketball courts with the audience gathered in a semicircle around them.
The actors sleep in musty tents or dorm rooms in ramshackle countryside schools. They take turns cooking over wood burning stoves. On the road, bathrooms are rare luxuries often replaced by outhouses and baths are sometimes taken in streams and rivers. Some settlements are so small the troupe performs for a handful of children by the light of kerosene lanterns.
"What motivates me is how useful I feel," said Ariel Hernandez, 32, whose popular clown act with his wife, Yamisleydis Reyes, never fails to get the audience warmed up. "I sacrifice a lot but it's not in vain. There is an audience with a hunger for culture."
The troupe's routine includes puppet shows and children's skits with colorful costumes and makeup. Their plays are lighthearted, often featuring quaint characters caught in humorous or compromising situations. But they also touch on social problems like alcoholism, machismo, teen marriages and the growing migration of young adults to surrounding cities.
"We want to tell them how important it is for them to live here," Hernandez said. "A lot of them say they want to leave, thinking the truth is in the city."
Despite the Sierra Maestra's role in transforming modern Cuban history by serving as the backdrop for Fidel Castro's revolutionaries, progress has been slow and uneven over the past half century.
There are now schools with solar powered television sets and doctors stationed in remote towns, but men still carry water to their homes in buckets balanced on a pole across their shoulders and families survive on what they grow on their land.
Far from Havana's shopping malls, there are no tempting shops offering consumer goods here. Austere stores sell government subsidized foods, cigarettes and a small assortment of household items.
Unlike larger cities, where self-employed Cubans or those who receive money from relatives abroad attain a measure of independence, life in the Sierra is inextricably bound to the government. Coffee and other crops are generally sold exclusively to the government and the people depend on it to provide most everything, from transportation to housing materials.
For many, subsistence is a way of life.
"We have work when there is a harvest, when the harvest ends there is no factory," said Alberto Zaldivar, 35, a farmer and coffee planter who lives in a wooden home with a thatched roof.
"When people say the guerrilla group is coming it makes us happy," said Robert Sanchez, 49, a farmer in La Aplastada who gathered for a small party after the troupe's arrival. "We get up early, we work in the fields. When we get a party like this we feel content."
Vanessa Bauza can be reached at vmbauza1@yahoo.com
Copyright C 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
