Washington is invaded by Cuban artists
It was already been announced, Cuba would invade the capital of the United States from the May 8 to 20. A large and sophisticated artistic arsenal has been used by the Mayor of the Antilles to take Americans by surprise. The best of jazz music, performing arts and ballet have been the main weapons with which the island has drawn the attention of the American public attending the Kennedy Center in Washington. The assistants have already had to surrender to the music of the Cubans performers like Miguel Failde who made an entire audience dance with the rhythms of Cuba’s cultural heritage.
More than 400 Cuban artists arrived to American lands without caring about ideological differences or political obstacles to offer the best of their talent. Almost 60 years of iced relationships has made impossible for Cubans to share the cultural development achieved after the Cuban Revolution. Many of the artists who have invaded the halls of the Kennedy Center are graduates of post-Cuban Revolution art schools.
The Artes de Cuba: From the Island to the World with a wide and varied cultural program is carried out as an incentive to the renewed tensions between Cuba and the United States. While Barack Obama and Raúl Castro began a process of rapprochement where once again the Cuban artists were the paladins, now they are again the ambassadors of the Island in front of the American audience.
Cubans have appealed to the policy of delivering art to the American public in response to the restrictions imposed by Donald Trump. The Cuban movement is very clear, to delight Americans with their culture so that American citizens crest pressure on the government and dissuade the travel regulations that are currently imposed on them.
On the repercussions of the Festival, one of the organizers, Deborah F. Rutter, president of the Kennedy Center, commented to the press: “Cuba is a cultural power, and to present a diverse list of Cuban and Cuban-American artists in a for two weeks is unprecedented.”
"Talent, virtuosity and high professionalism have been given by the "invaders", who from music, dance and performing arts, as well as cinema have shown that culture can break any ideological disagreement and be a common language for Nations with political and ideological dissension.
However, Florida politicians tried to block the attack of the Cuban art. Some Cuban-American lawmakers such as Carlos Curbelo, Mario Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Albio Sires of New Jersey, asked Mike Pompeo months ago to reconsider the permission of the Caribbean performers to go to the United States. Among the reasons of weight there was that in the delegation there were "too many" artists in favor of the Castro regime.
Curator Alicia Adams, vice president of the International Dance Program at the Kennedy Center, denies that the Festival has any political-ideological connotation. Adams told AP that "it is important that the people of this country witness the extraordinary talent that exists in Cuba."
According to the directive board of the Kennedy Center, they are the main responsible for what is presented in their showrooms and no one can intervene in the curatorship they perform as experts. "Neither the Cuban government nor the US imposed on us who the artists should be", Adams said.
But the Cuban-American legislators are right. The best thing was not to let them in since after this cultural invasion to the American capital, without a doubt, a greater percentage of the population of the United States will want to know the Island personally, something that would favor the Castros’ economy and that rages against the obsolete Cuban-American politicians.
Since 2014 with the softening of the tensions between the two nations initiated by Barack Obama, artists from both countries have started building a cultural bridge. Celebrities like Rihana, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Usher, Natalie Portman and many others were encouraged to travel to Cuba. Some even played in Cuban nightclubs for free as another way of entertainment within the island. On the other hand, Cuba sent comedians and important Cuban bands that heated the stages of Florida and other states.
But as the saying goes, nothing lasts forever and the United States, that is, "Donny Trump", invented sonic attacks on its diplomats to start a defamatory campaign against the island that has reduced the number of visitors. With this pretext they imposed measures against the greatest of Antilles’ islands and restrict the opportunities to visit Cuba to its citizens.
Which were the results of the false attacks? The United States withdrew more than half of its diplomats and stopped the visa process, citing mysterious "health attacks".
Despite the political attempts to boycott the Artes de Cuba: From the Island to the World, Cubans continue their invasion from deep inside the hearts of the Americans. Alicia Alonso, Los Van Van, Argos Teatro theater group along with the screening of a wide range of Cuban films such as Fresa y Chocolate, and Lucía will be part of the "eclectic representation of what Cuban culture is" that will continue to captivate the audience of the Kennedy Center.