• Submitted by: admin
• Arts and Culture
• 02 / 18 / 2007

---

By María del Carmen Vasallo

During the month of September, 1963 a nice dream came true under the Revolutionary Cuba, when instructors of dance, music, plastic art, theatre were assigned to start working in the countrys remote rural areas with the purpose of taking culture close to peasants for the first time in their life. The experience covered factories, educational institutions and agricultural cooperatives. This is how then just-graduates of art first stepped into teaching tasks.

Scattered throughout the island, those youngsters contributed to develop Cuban peoples knowledge and skills in art and literature thus giving the first push ahead toward the integral general culture.

Four decades later, the role that instructors played is revitalized with a new generation of instructor members of the Brigada José Martí, who replaying the work of their predecessors come to work at local cultural institutions Casa de Cultural, communities, educational centres in this way completing a social practice together with some 2 500 of previous graduations still at work.

Those are the ones who will be honoured on the Day of the Art Instructor, February 18, marking the birthday of Olga Alonso, a female art instructor that pioneered the movement and found death during her working mission in the province of Sancti Spíritus.

Also on that day the National Museum of Fine Arts will host Olga Alonso 2007 Prize warning ceremony in the auspices of the Consejo Nacional de Casas de Cultura. The recognition established to honour lifelong works is granted this year to eight notable art instructors selected from different parts of the country.

They are René Castillo Herrera (Matanzas) with 39 years of experience in plastic arts; Digna Fabré (Havana) and 39 years of experience in theatre ; writer/ literature specialist/ workshop creator Rosa María García Garzón (Sancti Spíritus); Elsy Ruiz Sáez with 33 years of experience in dance (Cienfuegos)

While Olga Alonso 2007 Prize goes to Gonzalina Balleaux Mulens with 28 years of experience (Havana); Ana Manuel Diéguez Hernández (Granma); Sonia Díaz Rodríguez expert in dance and director of Casa de Cultura de Cárdenas, Matanzas for over a decade and Raúl Santos Serpa, founder member of the Casa de Culture and of the National Fair of Popular Art.

Source: CubaSi