Saturday, February 25, 2017

 

If arriving by plane, the Miami Airport Marriott has a complimentary shuttle to bring you to the hotel.

 

6:00 pm - Starting our trip together - Meet in Miami at the Miami Airport Marriott lobby (1201 NW LeJeune Rd.) where we will go to dinner together at La Rosa Restaurant.

 

Dinner Theme: Getting to know each other - - briefly. And how we will be together.

            Where you were born and one word to describe yourself as a leader.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cuba Day 1. Sunday, February 26, 2017

 

5:00 am - Meet in the lobby and leave hotel for Miami airport via shuttle.

 

8:30 am - Arrival at Havana International Airport: Meet our guide Mirelys at airport.

     Look for the How Women Lead sign.

 

10:00 am - We’ll enjoy a panoramic visit to the Revolution Square (Plaza de la Revolucion)

Conceived by French urbanist Jean Claude Forestier in the 1920s, the gigantic square today is the base of the Cuban government and a place where large-scale political rallies are held. It is here where Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis celebrated an open-air Mass during their visits to Cuba in January 1998, March 2012 and September 2015 respectively. The Square was also visited by US President Barack Obama during his historic visit to Cuba in March 2016.

 

11:00 am - Walk around Havana

 

12:00 pm -  Lunch at open-air paladar with live music

Question: What is your story?

Paladares are privately owned restaurants often run by women entrepreneurs with unique take Cuban cuisine. “There are two types of restaurants in Cuba: those that pretty much only serve monumental piles of meat/rice/beans, and those that... um, don’t. Traditional Cuban food is inescapable in Havana’s restaurant scene, but with the emergence of paladares -- privately owned restaurants (as opposed to the traditional Government-run eateries of the past) -- and enterprising young chefs putting fresh spins on classic dishes, Havana dining is getting hotter than Tony Montana at a K-9 convention.”

 

2:30 pm -  Private check-in and welcome cocktail upon arrival to the Hotel Nacional. Take some time to rest and freshen for dinner.

The hotel’s long list of famous guests includes Rita Hayworth, Fred Astaire, Ernest Hemingway, Walt Disney, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Errol Flynn, Winston Churchill, Ava Gardner, Lucky Luciano, Harry Belafonte, Robert de Niro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jimmy Carter, Francis Ford Coppola, Muhammad Ali, Danny Glover, Naomi Campbell, Kevin Costner, Jodie Foster, Oliver Stone, Steven Spielberg....

 

7:00 pm - Official Kickoff Dinner: There’s a new wave of private restaurants that has swept the Cuban capital offering exciting cuisine in atmospheric surroundings. This evening we’ll enjoy a welcome dinner at ‘Cafe Laurent’, a family-run restaurant located in the penthouse atop a small 1950s apartment building.

Question: Your Story: Who? What? When? Why?

 

After Dinner - Dance the night away

 

 

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Cuba Day 2. Monday, February 27, 2017

 

7:30 am - Walk the Malecon, go for a run, exercise, swim, yoga (optional)

 

8:45 am - Breakfast at the hotel

 

9:00 am - Visit the Cigar Factory to purchase the cigars enjoyed by Fidel Castro and President Obama.

 

10:00 am - Private studio visit with Karlos Perez.

Since 2006, Perez's work has been exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions, including the 11th Havana Biennale. Perez is a good example of how recent contemporary Cuban painting has been shaping its own space. With a background in photography, video, and installation, Perez’s paintings have blurred the order of the traditional discourse of art. His works are not “portraits” in the traditional sense, but rather the power of the images comes from their existential character. Perez’s works have been highly sought after and are in notable private collections in the United States as well as Belgium, Canada, England, Germany, Mexico, and Switzerland.

 

11:00 am - Visit to Square of Arms, ancient military parade ground for Spanish soldiers and surrounded by impressive buildings such as:

 

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, the former official residence of the governors (Captains General) of Havana, Cuba. It is home to the Museum of the City of Havana.

 

Palacio del Segundo Cabo. The seat of the second authority of the island. Today it houses important publishing houses.

 

Continue walking tour onto San Francisco Square, named after the Convent of San Francisco, this square was conceived in 1628, with the objective of supplying water to the ships trading with the metropolis.

 

Lunch at ‘El Templete’ restaurant. El Templete Bar & Restaurant derives its name from its proximity to a monument, which, erected in 1828, evokes the founding of the city of Havana in 1519. Question: How does your history influence your leadership?

 

Afternoon - Shop in the famous handicraft market of Old Havana, located inside the Almacenes de Depósito San José, an old warehouse on the harbor; crafts and souvenirs by local artisans.

 

Dinner - Enjoy a performance of the world famous “Buena Vista Social Club” at the classy

Habana Cafe cabaret.

The Buena Vista Social Club was a members-only club located in the populous Marianao neighborhood, in Cuba's capital Havana. Buena Vista means "good view" in Spanish. The club was run along the lines of a Cabildo, a community cofradía (fraternity or guild) dating back to Spanish colonialism. Cabildos in Cuba developed into Sociedades de Color, social clubs whose membership was determined by ethnicity, at a time when slavery and racial discrimination against Afro-Cubans was institutionalized.  Sociedades de Negros (Black Societies) existed throughout Cuba, and Havana boasted a number of closely linked organizations including the Marianao Social Club, Union Fraternal, Club Atenas—whose members included doctors and engineers—and the Buena Vista Social Club.

 

Prominent musicians who performed at the club during the 1930s and 1940s include bassist Cachao López and bandleader Arsenio Rodríguez. Rodríguez's pianist Rubén González, who played piano on the 1990s recordings, described the 1940s as "an era of real musical life in Cuba, when there was very little money to earn, but everyone played because they really wanted to". The era saw the birth of the jazz-influenced mambo, the charanga, and dance forms such as the pachanga and the cha-cha-cha, as well as the continued development of traditional Afro-Cuban musical styles such as rumba and son, the latter transformed with the use of additional instruments by Arsenio Rodríguez to become son montuno. Son, described as "the bedrock of Cuban music", has shaped much of twentieth-century Latin music, and had a strong impact on popular music, not only in Latin America, but also in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

 

 

 

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Cuba Day 3. Tuesday, February 28, 2017

 

8:00 am - Breakfast at the hotel.

 

9:00 am - Visit to the Cathedral Square, named after the masterpiece of Cuban baroque architecture: the Cathedral of Havana built by the Jesuit order.

 

The Cathedral's baroque facade is simultaneously intimate and imposing, and one of the two towers is visibly larger, creating a pleasing asymmetry.

 

Visit to Plaza Vieja, the only civic square of colonial times.

 

9:30 am - Visit to the Scale Model of Old Havana for a private meeting with renowned Architect and Preservationist Isabel Rigol.Arch. Isabel Rigol, PhD is a Senior Professor at Faculty of Architecture at Higher Institute for Polytechnic Studies “Jose Antonio Echeverria” (CUJAE). She is also the former head of ICOMOS Cuba.

 

The model serves as an excellent introduction to the layout of the city. It is color-coded by age with the historic buildings painted in crimson, pre-Revolution buildings in yellow and the post-revolutionary buildings in ivory. You'll learn how each part of the city has developed historically, and the tough challenges each district faces today.

 

12:00 pm - Lunch hosted by Jose Fuster, one of the most important Cuban ceramists and painters today.

Fuster has turned an entire neighborhood in western Havana into a giant art installation that involves locals and their actual homes as part of the exhibit. He's engaged and trained many neighborhood residents as artisans, especially youth. This is art for and by the people on an epic scale!

 

Afternoon - Visit to the studio of artists Yamilis and Jacqueline Brito.

The two sisters have worked together in their separate art worlds since grade school. Their art can be found in many important collections including the Arizona State University Art Museum, the Antonio Pérez Foundation in Spain, the Akron Art Museum in Ohio, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the Jablonka Gallery in Cologne, Germany, among others.

 

Followed by visit to the studio of Alicia Leal, one of Cuba's most important and influential artists since the 1980's.

 

In Alicia Leal’s work women play a central role. Throughout time, her work has been moving in four essential directions that in many cases intertwine and nourish reciprocally: the memory of nature, femininity, fables and the ups and downs of daily life.

 

The work of this famous Cuban painter can be seen in murals and public art throughout Havana. Her work is part of the permanent collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, the Center for Cuban Studies in New York , the Spanish Embassy at the United Nations in New York , Las Americas Museum in Nicaragua, Museum der Bildende Kunst in Germany, the National Gallery of Jamaica, The Guayasamin Foundation in Ecuador, among other.

 

Dinner - Group Dinner at La Moraleja

Guided conversation as a group: What would you do if fear did not exist? What is your ask of the group?

 

Dinner Guest: Camilo Garcia Lopez Trigo, Political Sciences and International Relations Professor at the University of Havana. Previously a diplomat (posted in the US, Canada and Europe) Professor Camilo will speak with us about Cuba in general (on political, economic and social issues).

 

 

 

 

Cuba Day 4. Wednesday, March 1

 

9:00 am - Breakfast at hotel

 

10:00 am - Get your dancing shoes ready as we take the stage for salsa dancing lessons

 

Lunch - at one of Havana's most popular restaurants: El Aljibe. This eatery serves the best Creole food in Cuba!

 

2:00 pm - Visit Martin Luther King Center in the community of Poggoloti, a predominantly black and mostly needed neighborhood in Havana.

The Center operates on the principles of Christian Liberation theology offering a range of social programs and services such as the distribution of medicines, HIV prevention programs, and housing projects.

 

Pogolotti, which contains three slum areas, has a population of 26,800 and covers a total area of just over five square kilometres. Eighty percent of the residents, most of whom are black, are labourers.

 

We’ll learn about the Center’s social work in the area, tour the neighborhood, and meet with members of the Taller de Transformación (Transformation Workshop). With few resources, the Taller was created to improve the material, social and cultural conditions in the neighbourhood in 1990, a task that at the time seemed like an impossible dream.

 

The Taller, whose members are all women, mainly social workers, focuses on issues like the prevention of social problems, sanitation, environmental education, urban planning, and culture.

 

3:30 pm - Holocaust Museum - The Shame of the St. Louis

938 Jews fled Europe in 1939 aboard the St. Louis, a transatlantic ocean liner. Cuban authorities allowed 28 to stay, but turned away the rest -- as did the United States. Eventually, 288 were granted entry to Great Britain; all but one survived the war. Of the 620 passengers forced to return to the continent, 87 managed to emigrate before Germany conquered Europe in 1940. Of the remaining 532, half survived; 254 died in the concentration camps.

The Templo Sefaradi exhibit ties Cuba -- and the U.S. -- directly to the Holocaust. The St. Louis sailed from Havana and passed close enough to Florida that its passengers could see the lights of Miami. Their pleas for refuge in the U.S. were again denied. The ship sailed for Europe on June 6, 1939 -- five years to the day before the allied forces invaded Europe at Normandy on "D-Day."

 

7:00 pm - Take a drive through Havana in old-fashioned convertibles. 

 

Dinner - Break into groups for dinner at 3 different restaurants.

 

 

 

 

 

Cuba Day 5. Thursday, March 2, 2017

 

9:00 am - Departure to Las Terrazas eco-community, located in UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Sierra del Rosario in the western province of Pinar del Rio.

 

We'll tour its rural village called Rancho Curujey and enjoy a welcome cocktail while hearing about this self-sustaining community's goals of reforestation, historical preservation, environmental balance and a good life.

 

10:30 am - We'll walk the incredible ruins of a French Coffee Plantation built in 1801 worked by African slaves.

 

Next you'll have free time to swim in the fresh waters of the San Juan River cascades and pools, and explore the surroundings of this lush tropical paradise. Don't forget your swimming suit.

 

Lunch at an open-air restaurant specializing in traditional country cuisine! Reflective period among discussion groups.

 

Late afternoon return to Havana City.

 

Dinner - Dinner at Barraca with Guest Poet, Yanelys Nuñez Leyva.

“Writing is to expose oneself, undress before the inquisitive eyes of all. I like to write, not because I have developed a real fondness for nudity, but because I love composing words, thinking of stories, phrases that touch, images that provoke different feelings. Here I have a place to talk about art, life, me. In the end, feeling good about what you do is what matters; either with or without clothing.”

 

9:00 pm - Attend one of the most traditional and popular ceremonies in Cuba, the Fire of the Cannon of 9 o’clock at the Fortress of San Carlos de La Cabana where Che Guevara established his headquarters after the Revolution came to power in 1959.

 

 

 

 

 

Cuba Day 6. Friday, March 3, 2017

 

Morning: Visit the Museum of Fine Arts Cuban Collection where we see the evolution of Cuba's visual arts over the last 300 years. The collection accounts for the richness of the island's Spanish, French, Chinese, and African cultural roots.

 

Lunch at the family-run restaurant paladar ‘El Cha Cha Cha’.

 

Afternoon: Visit to Finca Vigia, a hilltop villa 20 kilometers east of Havana, where famed author Ernest Hemingway lived from 1939 to 1960. It is here where the writer completed some of his greatest works, including The Old Man and the Sea, Across the River and into the Trees, and Islands in the Stream.

 

The villa has been maintained as a museum for the past 49 years. It contains original book and short story manuscripts, letters, over 3000 photographs, Hemingway’s fishing tackle and gun collections, furniture, priceless art collection, and a 9000 volume library that contains rare first editions of his books and those of other famous writers. Finca Vigía has made both the World Monuments Fund List of 100 Most Endangered sites and The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 Most Endangered Places.

 

7:00 pm - Enjoy Karlos Perez’s Opening Night exhibition at the National Ballet Theater.

 

8:00 pm - Group dinner

 

10:00 pm - Salsa dancing at Club 1831 with famed Cuban choreographer Roclan Gonzalez Chavez.

Born in Cuba, Roclan Gonzalez Chavez studied at the prestigious Escuela Nacionales the Arte in Havana, graduating in 1996 with distinction in both contemporary and folkloric dance and was the only person in his year to be awarded a post graduate scholarship to study choreography. Since then, he has worked with most of Cuba‘s best known music and dance groups, including Omar Portuanda, Company Segundo, salsa big band Los Van Van and the world renowned Tropicana Cabaret. He is the main Choreographer for Cuban television ballet, which perform regularly on TV and state events. For the last five years, he has choreographed the national Cuban music awards, Cuba disco and many music videos for top Cuban bands.

 

 

 

 

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Cuba Day 7. Saturday, March 4, 2017

 

We will curate Saturday based on the group’s interest and could include:

            Shopping for art

            Perfumeria

            Chocolate factory

            Lunch at the famed Sloppy Joe’s

            Eating at ice cream at Coppelia’s

 

 

Evening: Farewell dinner at one of Havana's very best paladares: Atelier.

The “Atelier” is currently one of the most representative and iconic locations of Havana where the art of cooking is celebrated. The excellent gastronomy, which is presented in several distinctive areas inside and outside the house, is the main reason that guests come back time and time again. Being specialists in a fusion of gourmet and French cuisine, the kitchen has earned a reputation for its amazing culinary experimentation. Guests are encouraged to participate in the preparation of dishes, propose ideas for their creation or even take over the creation itself! The “Atelier” is situated in the magical setting of an old mansion that was built during the colonial period and is highly valued by a wide range of guests which includes many personalities of politics and the international cultural scene. The restaurant rightly boasts that the personal attention and care given to their guests makes a visit an unforgettable experience.

Questions: What is one word that describes your gratitude for the trip? What surprised you this week, by Cuba or yourself?

 

Optional - FABRICA DE ARTE

The Factory of Art (F.A.C.) is an artistic project that is driven by the need to rescue, support and promote the work of thousands of Cuban artists of all art branches such as: cinema, music, dance, theater, visual arts, literature, photography, fashion, graphic design and architecture; that, through its integration, art/artist promote exchange and direct approach to the public and the creator at mass level.

 

 

Day 8. Sunday 5 March 2017. Good Bye Cuba!

 

8:00 am Meet in Hotel and Transfer to Havana International Airport for departure.

 

12:55 pm Arrival in Miami - Farewell and departures to your own destination.