|
Cuba restraining entertainers
By Tracey Eaton / The
Dallas Morning News. Wednesday, July
14, 2004.
HAVANA - Cuban officials are threatening
to block what would be the biggest Cuban
music and dance extravaganza to journey
to the United States in more than a half-century,
leaders of the production said Wednesday.
Members of Havana Night Club, a lively
Tropicana-style show, have performed before
more than 2 million people in 16 countries
since 1999. But when the legendary illusionists
Siegfried & Roy wanted them to make
their U.S. debut in Las Vegas, Cuban officials
said they couldn't go.
Instead of accepting that, group members
did the unthinkable Tuesday, walking out
of a meeting with Cuban officials.
"My cast is saying: 'You've let us
go so many times, and we've always returned.
Why aren't you letting us leave now?' "
said Nicole "N.D." Durr, the group's
German-born founder, creator and artistic
director. Ministry of Culture officials
had no comment Wednesday. One official denied
last week that Cuban authorities had tried
to discourage cast members from performing
in the United States, Reuters reported.
Since November 2003, the Bush administration
has denied visas to Cuban musicians and
dancers, saying they are "employees
and agents" of the socialist government
and earn money that helps prop up Fidel
Castro's government. But U.S. officials
are treating Havana Night Club differently
because the group is not connected to the
Cuban government. The group's promoters
say the Department of Homeland Security
has approved travel for all 53 cast members
to go to Las Vegas. The dancers are now
going through final U.S. security checks.
"The Cuban government stands the most
to lose because they are now blocking cultural
groups when they were saying that only the
U.S. has blocked them," said Margaret
Baroncelli, one of the group's promoters.
Members of the cast say they never wanted
to become embroiled in the 45-year-old dispute
between the United States and Cuba. They
just want to perform.
And they will return to the island, Ms.
Durr said in a phone interview from Las
Vegas.
"They've all got families in Cuba.
They love their culture, their country."
But some analysts say that because the
performers have defied the Cuban government,
they're taking the risk that authorities
- who now hold their passports - will never
let them leave.
No matter, they're paving new ground, said
Pamela Falk, a Cuba expert and law professor
at City University of New York.
"They are the Rosa Parks of Cuba,"
she said. They're "the first nonpolitical,
just-say-no types in Cuba, ... a true threat
to Cuba because they are nongovernmental."
Ms. Durr, a former costume designer and
now theater producer, said the dancers have
performed in Australia, Japan, Germany and
other nations.
"We worked hard for this," she
said. "We became a major cultural ambassador
for Cuba around the world. All we want to
do is show people the Cuban culture."
The political trouble began last week when
cast members applied for travel permits
to the United States. On Monday, Cuban authorities
locked cast members out of their offices.
On Tuesday, the group met with Ministry
of Culture officials and others. Ms. Durr
said they were told the Cuban government
was assuming control of the group.
"The vice minister of culture was
standing there trying to give them a speech,
and they all walked out," she said.
"We are independent. That's what makes
them so mad."
The walkout was "a rare case of civil
protest," said Ms. Baroncelli, the
promoter. "This is the little mouse
that roared."
E-mail traceyeaton2004@yahoo.com
|
