Calor y amistad

Alguna vez Danny Glover pidió convertirse en una suerte de embajador de La Colmenita en Estados Unidos.

Happy end

Mucho se habla por estos días de Habanastation, mucho y bien. Elogiar el guión, su puesta a partir de todos los recursos audiovisuales, incluso la actuación del elenco infantil, como le llama Tin, sería redundar; pero hoy comprendí que la grandeza de la sencillez, con que Ian Padrón nos regaló su historia, se la debe, una y otra vez a sus actores más jóvenes.

Carlos Alberto Cremata

Tim says his inspiration for La Colmenita was his father,  who was killed in the 1976 bombing of Cuba Airlines.  His father was enthusiastically involved in the community, and loved music and theater. It took 14 years, from 1976 to 1990, to develop La Colmenita into a fully functioning children’s theater.  During that time, the project gestated in his mother’s home where the children came to practice their scenes and music
numbers.

Successful Presentation of Cuban Children Theater Company in Washington

RADIO CADENA AGRAMONTE

Havana, Cuba, Oct 17.- The presentation of Cuba’s La Colmenita children theater company, directed by Carlos Alberto Cremata, at the Kay Church of the University of the Americas, in Washington DC, was a resounding success.

Cuban Children’s Troupe’s Performance in Washington a Success

Highlights from La Colmenita’s Washington Visit (Photos by Bill Hackwell)

La Colmenita Members Speak with Anti-terrorist Cuban by phone in the US

By Damian Donestevez / redaccion@ahora.cu / Monday, 17 October 2011 12:56

Members of La Colmenita children’s theater company, currently on a tour of the United States, received a sudden phone call by Cuban anti terrorist Gerardo Hernandez from Victorville top security jail in Califormia.

Cuban Children Begin Their Tour To US To Talk About “The Five”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

October 7, 2011

By Claudia Torrens

Grupo teatral aboga en Washington por la libertad de los cinco espías

Por REDACCION CAFEFUERTE

- El grupo teatral infantil La Colmenita, que comienza este sábado sus actuaciones en Estados Unidos, fue recibido en el Congreso en Washington por las legisladoras Barbara Lee y Laura Richardson.

Cuba’s Youngest Cultural Ambassadors Make Rare U.S. Appearance

For Immediate Release

October 4, 2011

La Colmenita, an internationally acclaimed Cuban children’s theater group and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, is bringing its high-energy mix of theatrics and song to Washington, San Francisco and New York, with a private performance at the United Nations Oct. 24.

The Oct. 15-29 tour, which is sponsored by the New York-based Brownstone Foundation, gives American audiences a unique opportunity to meet some of Cuba’s most talented young people, a generation that has been raised in the shadow of a U.S. embargo that has divided the two countries for more than five decades.

Since its formation in 1990, La Colmenita, which translates to “The Little Beehive,” has charmed audiences in more than 25 countries.  Fans of the group include actors Susan Sarandon and Mike Farrell, singers Jackson Browne and Harry Belafonte and British actress Vanessa Redgrave, who called them “The Soul of Cuba.”  After seeing the group perform in Havana recently, actor Danny Glover said “La Colmenita is an amazing, human, noble project, which I would like to see repeated and repeated all over the world. . . I want to be an ambassador of La Colmenita.”

During its two-week visit, the cast of La Colmenita hopes to begin forging friendships with young Americans whose knowledge of Cuba has been limited to U.S. history books. Their visit comes at an important moment in U.S.-Cuba relations, with leaders in both countries acknowledging the important role that cultural diplomacy can play in reducing conflicts and improving understanding.

“All of the world’s children belong to La Colmenita,” said founder and director Carlos Alberto Cremata Malberti, known as Papa Tim to his theatrical family. Cremata comes from a famous Cuban artistic family. His mother, Iraida Malberti, directed children’s TV programs, and his brother, Juan Carlos Cremata, is a noted film director. His father, an airline worker, was killed in the 1976 bombing of a Cubana Airlines flight by anti-Castro Cuban exiles.

La Colmenita productions are often based on familiar fairy tales and music, but with a creative Cuban twist. La Cucarachita Martina tells the story of Martina, a beautiful cockroach in search of a suitor who can capture her heart with his music. Abracadabra, which was written by children, touches on the U.S.-Cuba relationship. In the play, a teacher takes her students on a journey in search of truth and justice.

This is La Colmenita’s second visit to the United States.  The tour begins in Washington with performances at the Kay Chapel at American University Oct. 15 and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Oct. 19. In New York, they will perform at Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture Oct. 21 and PS 154 – The Harriet Tubman Learning Center Oct. 22. In northern California, they will be at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts Oct. 26 and Fort Mason Center in San Francisco Oct. 28 and 29.  They will also visit several schools. Plays will be performed in Spanish with English supertitles.

For show times and ticket information visit: www.lacolmenitacuba.com.  Media contacts: Karen Lowe, 818-521-0310, karen@lacolmenitacuba.com in Los Angeles, Gretchen Cook, 202-265-2637, gretchen@lacolmenitacuba.com in Washington, and Juliana Mojica, 415-225-3725, juliana@lacolmenitacuba.com in San Francisco.

Calor y amistad

Alguna vez Danny Glover pidió convertirse en una suerte de embajador de La Colmenita en Estados Unidos.

Happy end

Mucho se habla por estos días de Habanastation, mucho y bien. Elogiar el guión, su puesta a partir de todos los recursos audiovisuales, incluso la actuación del elenco infantil, como le llama Tin, sería redundar; pero hoy comprendí que la grandeza de la sencillez, con que Ian Padrón nos regaló su historia, se la debe, una y otra vez a sus actores más jóvenes.

Carlos Alberto Cremata

Tim says his inspiration for La Colmenita was his father,  who was killed in the 1976 bombing of Cuba Airlines.  His father was enthusiastically involved in the community, and loved music and theater. It took 14 years, from 1976 to 1990, to develop La Colmenita into a fully functioning children’s theater.  During that time, the project gestated in his mother’s home where the children came to practice their scenes and music
numbers.

Successful Presentation of Cuban Children Theater Company in Washington

RADIO CADENA AGRAMONTE

Havana, Cuba, Oct 17.- The presentation of Cuba’s La Colmenita children theater company, directed by Carlos Alberto Cremata, at the Kay Church of the University of the Americas, in Washington DC, was a resounding success.

Cuban Children’s Troupe’s Performance in Washington a Success

Highlights from La Colmenita’s Washington Visit (Photos by Bill Hackwell)

La Colmenita Members Speak with Anti-terrorist Cuban by phone in the US

By Damian Donestevez / redaccion@ahora.cu / Monday, 17 October 2011 12:56

Members of La Colmenita children’s theater company, currently on a tour of the United States, received a sudden phone call by Cuban anti terrorist Gerardo Hernandez from Victorville top security jail in Califormia.

Cuban Children Begin Their Tour To US To Talk About “The Five”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

October 7, 2011

By Claudia Torrens

Grupo teatral aboga en Washington por la libertad de los cinco espías

Por REDACCION CAFEFUERTE

- El grupo teatral infantil La Colmenita, que comienza este sábado sus actuaciones en Estados Unidos, fue recibido en el Congreso en Washington por las legisladoras Barbara Lee y Laura Richardson.

Cuba’s Youngest Cultural Ambassadors Make Rare U.S. Appearance

For Immediate Release

October 4, 2011

La Colmenita, an internationally acclaimed Cuban children’s theater group and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, is bringing its high-energy mix of theatrics and song to Washington, San Francisco and New York, with a private performance at the United Nations Oct. 24.

The Oct. 15-29 tour, which is sponsored by the New York-based Brownstone Foundation, gives American audiences a unique opportunity to meet some of Cuba’s most talented young people, a generation that has been raised in the shadow of a U.S. embargo that has divided the two countries for more than five decades.

Since its formation in 1990, La Colmenita, which translates to “The Little Beehive,” has charmed audiences in more than 25 countries.  Fans of the group include actors Susan Sarandon and Mike Farrell, singers Jackson Browne and Harry Belafonte and British actress Vanessa Redgrave, who called them “The Soul of Cuba.”  After seeing the group perform in Havana recently, actor Danny Glover said “La Colmenita is an amazing, human, noble project, which I would like to see repeated and repeated all over the world. . . I want to be an ambassador of La Colmenita.”

During its two-week visit, the cast of La Colmenita hopes to begin forging friendships with young Americans whose knowledge of Cuba has been limited to U.S. history books. Their visit comes at an important moment in U.S.-Cuba relations, with leaders in both countries acknowledging the important role that cultural diplomacy can play in reducing conflicts and improving understanding.

“All of the world’s children belong to La Colmenita,” said founder and director Carlos Alberto Cremata Malberti, known as Papa Tim to his theatrical family. Cremata comes from a famous Cuban artistic family. His mother, Iraida Malberti, directed children’s TV programs, and his brother, Juan Carlos Cremata, is a noted film director. His father, an airline worker, was killed in the 1976 bombing of a Cubana Airlines flight by anti-Castro Cuban exiles.

La Colmenita productions are often based on familiar fairy tales and music, but with a creative Cuban twist. La Cucarachita Martina tells the story of Martina, a beautiful cockroach in search of a suitor who can capture her heart with his music. Abracadabra, which was written by children, touches on the U.S.-Cuba relationship. In the play, a teacher takes her students on a journey in search of truth and justice.

This is La Colmenita’s second visit to the United States.  The tour begins in Washington with performances at the Kay Chapel at American University Oct. 15 and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Oct. 19. In New York, they will perform at Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture Oct. 21 and PS 154 – The Harriet Tubman Learning Center Oct. 22. In northern California, they will be at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts Oct. 26 and Fort Mason Center in San Francisco Oct. 28 and 29.  They will also visit several schools. Plays will be performed in Spanish with English supertitles.

For show times and ticket information visit: www.lacolmenitacuba.com.  Media contacts: Karen Lowe, 818-521-0310, karen@lacolmenitacuba.com in Los Angeles, Gretchen Cook, 202-265-2637, gretchen@lacolmenitacuba.com in Washington, and Juliana Mojica, 415-225-3725, juliana@lacolmenitacuba.com in San Francisco.