Britain's Royal Ballet is making its first appearance in Cuba. On Tuesday it began five days of performances that star dancer Carlos Acosta, described as the "event of a lifetime" for his native Cuba.
Ninety-six dancers and band members are taking to the stage in Havana. Performers from Cuban National Ballet will join them for three of the shows. Tickets are priced at 20 Cuban pesos, just under one US dollar and have sold out quickly. Some of the performances will be shown on giant outdoor television screens for free public viewing.
I took interest in this news not because I am a fan but because the interview with the principal dancer Carlos Acosta on the John Humphries show this morning got me thinking about the costs involved in attending such cultural experiences in the UK. During the interview Carlos said “ballet is so important to Cuba and this event is of such historic importance, and it is so cheap in Cuba that anyone can afford to see it”.
In fact the event sold out in minutes so the Cuban Government has ordered that giant screens be placed around the city of Havana to ensure that every citizen has the chance to see the performances and guess what, no brands involved and no fee to see!
This got me thinking about what this exercise must achieve for the cities and perhaps the nations morale and how nice it must be to experience something of such cultural enormity for free and then it got me thinking about the amount of events that the Mayor has been canceling especially in times of such depression for many Londoners.
Wouldn’t it be great to see more events of this type in London and the UK, I had a meeting at the GLA recently were I was informed that they had a serious challenge with taking live immersive experiences that would introduce arts and culture to the more deprived areas of London. An example used was “we could never get a Hackney teenager to attend an event similar to that of the innocent village fete”, “and thus introduce them to healthy living and low tech family entertainment”.
Events like the Thames Festival achieve this so I don’t see why this should be such a challenge for the GLA, perhaps some pop up events that screen empowering and inspirational cultural events to areas of London that are “deprived” and that no doubt have communities that would enjoy such opportunities.
Any comments?
