Cuba ~ dance, music and art

Our week in Cuba was a cultural tour with visits to the National Ballet of Cuba performance of the Nutcracker (in the Grand Teatro built in 1837) and visits to artists galleries. Our opportunity to watch this flamenco dance company rehearse was extra special. The room was very small and their passion for the dance huge. 



These three guys provided the music and beat for the rehearsal. The wooden box is a traditional percussion instrument for Cuban flamenco. We had dinner and a fabulous flamenco performance Meson de la Flota too.

We visited Taller de Grafica Experimental a printmaking cooperative with 130 artists, started in 1962 (above)
 
We saw a rousing musical "Besame Mucho" at the old Riviera Hotel. (The hotel was built in the 1950 by a mafia boss.)

We watched dance classes and rehearsals at Centro Pro Danza a school for 850 students founded in 1988.  

The rehearsal spaces are on the second floor.

This is the first floor of the dance studio...

Fabulous salsa dancing, with Buena Vista Social Club music at La Taberna. I was mesmerized by the dancing and hip swinging! Talk about sensual dancing...
   

 
Here's the group we traveled with. Fifteen delightful, congenial people! 

Our driver, Thomas and our guide Osmeen (in the red). They were so wonderful!
Osmeen was a wealth of knowledge and a darn good dancer.
They were both Cuban, of course, and had never traveled outside Cuba. 

Our trip was full of planned activities and meals and walking tours, as you'll see over the next few days. I felt we had total freedom, though, to skip the activities and go out on our own. To me, Cuba was very safe, and the people exceedingly welcoming.

Don't miss yesterday's photos of the buildings of Havana.
Tomorrow, a post on the interiors of some of the buildings and the infamous old American cars.

Havana, Cuba ~ the buildings

I've just returned from a week long trip to Cuba. It was fantastic and fascinating. I'll be doing a series of posts, highlighting different aspects of my trip. Today, I'm focusing on the buildings of Havana. 

One of the things I was most fascinated by was the architecture, particularly in Havana Vieja (Old Havana was declared a Unesco World Heritage site in 1982.). Havana is 500 years old, and the range of buildings is amazing. Unlike most cities, they haven't torn down many of the old building. And, sadly, have been unable to afford to rehabilitate soooo many of the gorgeous old structures. The city looks as it did 100 years ago...

The population of Cuba is 11 million, with about 2.5 million living in Havana. The island of Cuba is narrow and 740 miles long.



The Spanish ruled Cuba from 1519- 1898, when the US briefly took over. With the Cuban revolution of 1904, Cuba was ruled by it's own people. Throughout the years, Cuba has gone through huge economic booms and huge depressions.



The song lyrics of 'what a beautiful wreck' describe these old buildings...



There is an active restoration going on, in Havana, but the money and materials are VERY slim, so it will be a slow process with hundreds and hundreds of buildings to be restored.





Even though the outside of this building (above) looks beautifully restored, the apartments inside are not. The housing shortage for Cubans is one of their major problems, since soooo many of these structures are uninhabitable. 

There are some structures, in some areas that have been restored to their former glory.





The streets are uniformly clean with street sweepers and residents keeping them tidy. It's the case throughout Cuba.



Our group took a walking tour with respected Architect and historian Maria Elena Martin (above).

Cuba is a very poor country, even though education and healthcare are provided for free. There are extreme shortages for basic goods, ration cards, and the people are paid ~$24 a month, yet must pay high prices for non rationed goods. The countries income is number 1. tourism  and number 2. remittances (which means money and goods send from their family members who live outside the country)

You can find neighborhoods that look like this, but VERY few.

This is the view from the Malecon (the road and 5 mile walk way along the shore.) That's more of Havana in the distance.
Tomorrow, the dance studios and artists we visited. I'm posting for the next week on our trip..through January 20, 2012.

thank you dear readers!

Me. Teaching

Wow, dearest readers! thank you sooo much for all the generous and helpful and insightful comments on my post, when I asked you what makes a good teacher. I sooo appreciate your input and that you took the time to really share your opinions. All 294 comments were great. I'm going to compile and edit them into one document, that I promise to read before each and every class I teach! Seriously, because of you I really feel I will be prepared to step up into 2012! Thank you!!


The winner of the giveaway is Penny. 

Penny has left a new comment on your post "Happy New Year 2012!": 
I dont think I can add much to what has already been said.A good teacher is one who is passionate about what she teaches, knows it well, loves to find something new from her students and has a good relationship with her students,all of which I am sure you do.
OH how I would love that give away!!

Doodles in layers

Can you tell I had lots of fun with this!?
















Here's the layer below, inspired by The Sketchbook Challenge January theme of doodling:

I did the doodle drawing, straight to ink and watercolored it. Then I traced some images ink, on to vellum, from other pages in my sketchbook, that inspired the doodles. Then I attached the vellum to the page and colored some of the images with color pencil. I'll definitely do more of these! 
Don't forget to leave a comment on my January 1st post for a great giveaway! I'll announce the winner on January 12th.

walking and watercolors

I took a walk in my neighborhood, and picked up these bits of nature, a pod, an acorn and some round eucalyptus leaves. When I got home, I drew and painted them in my 9x12 journal.










Years ago, like in 1994? I did this watercolor painting (below). We were in Seattle for a few days, and everyday I'd walk around Greenlake and pick up a bit of nature. Then I'd come back and draw and paint it. The composition just developed and I think I added some bits of map and text. I look at this piece now (well, this lousy photo of the long ago sold piece) and am amazed at how my work is heading in the exact same direction...

Don't forget to leave a comment on my January 1st post for a great giveaway!

Arizona ~ monoprint on cloth

Don't forget to leave a comment on my January 1st post for a great giveaway!

Prayer Flag #19: Grounded

Prayer Flag #19: Grounded. Defined as: mentally and emotionally stable : admirably sensible, realistic, and unpretentious.  And I like the electrical definition too: A direct physical connection to the earth. 
Read about how I created this flag, over on the Prayer Flag Project blog. And while you there, check out How to Participate, and join me and others in making flags.


Don't forget to leave a comment on my January 1st post for a great giveaway!

Happy New Year 2012!

Me. Teaching.

Happy New Year, dear readers! 
"What you are is what you have been. What you will be is what you do now." Buddha.
I like the idea of selecting a word for 2012. A word to focus on. An affirmation or a goal. Last year, I chose 3 words (that was too many! I forgot the 3rd word by February.) 
This year I've chosen the word "preparation." Not a very exciting or ethereal-type word, but a good one for me. You see, I want to become a better teacher in 2012. Yes, I'm a good teacher now, and I do get lots of wonderful, positive feedback. But I want to be better. I want to step it up, really give my students their time and money's worth. I want to be more prepared. To be prepared for my classes, to have more hand-outs, more of a structure ( but still with lots of room for creative play!) to really think through each step of the process. Good solid preparation is what I plan to be physically doing for each and everyone of my classes and workshops. 

When I discussed this with my wise friend, Pamela Underwood, she clarified that my intention is to "step up" to new opportunities and be prepared.
And, I need your help to do this, in exchange for your help, you could win this pretty darn fabulous giveaway! done:  (The giveaway includes my DVD "From Art Journaling to Art", 5 large tubes of very fine Windsor Newton watercolors, a Pitt artist pen, a Tobow water soluble pen, a Strathmore Visual Journal for watercolor and a Sketchbook Challenge tote. This is great stuff, and all my fave products that I use regularly.) 

But I need your help. Please leave a comment regarding teaching. I want to know what you think makes a great teacher. What traits, handouts, preparation, structure or whatever, that makes you feel you've really had a great experience in the classroom or workshop.
Leave your comment by midnight January 11 and I'll choose a winner on January 12. Thanks in advance!