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Cuban dancer finds meaning and work in the streets as the island's art scene fades
Juan Miguel Mas now teaches children and stages community performances as blackouts, canceled shows and budget cuts squeeze Cuba’s arts sector.
- On Saturday, May 9, Choreographer Juan Miguel Mas led a 90-minute outdoor performance in Havana's Marianao district with 30 children and their mothers, transforming a street corner into a dance stage.
- Cuba's worst economic crisis in decades has devastated the island's arts scene, with Mas facing persistent blackouts, water outages and soaring costs alongside cancelled shows and mass exodus from the cultural sector.
- Trained under Laura Alonso, renowned ballerina, and Ramiro Guerra, father of contemporary dance on the island, Mas founded Danza Voluminosa in 1996, which filled the 2,000-seat National Theater for nearly three decades.
- Recently notified his National Theater teaching contract was suspended, Mas supplements his modest income through home business leasing and weekend garage sales; since his sister relocated to Spain last year, he lives alone.
- Mas told The Associated Press on a recent Saturday he remains committed to staying in Cuba, saying his work is "about bringing the knowledge of art to these children and lifting them out of a reality defined by conflict.
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Total News Sources17
Leaning Left6Leaning Right1Center8Last UpdatedBias Distribution53% Center
Bias Distribution
- 53% of the sources are Center
53% Center
L 40%
C 53%
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