Breakfast is complimentary everyday from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

Morning: visit to theatre group Buendia, one of the most celebrated independent theater companies in Cuba. Directed by actress, teacher and artistic director Flora Lauten, the company was founded in 1986 with graduates from the Instituto Superior de Arte, with two basic approaches to its work: the production of plays that combine song, dance and acting; and the research into Latin American and Caribbean cultural traditions, the actor's means of expression and new stage languages.

Buendia Theatre Company
Address: Loma e/ 39 y Colón, Nuevo Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana.
Postal Code: 10400.
Telephone: +53 7 881 6689

This visit is a great opportunity for North American performing arts and theatre professionals, as well as faculty and students from US Colleges of Performing Arts to conduct professional research on Cuba’s performing arts and theatre industry and to attend professional meetings with Cuban counterparts.

Lunch: a new wave of paladares (privately-owned restaurants) has recently swept the Cuban dining scene offering excellent food and charming ambient. Today we’ll enjoy a welcome lunch at the stylish Paladar San Cristobal, one of Havana's top ten private restaurants.

Followed by guided walking tour of Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site dating back colonial times which is apparent in the its baroque and neoclassic architecture.

Next we will embark on a ferry boat ride across Havana harbour to the town of Regla. This Afrocuban community has a long, rich and still active tradition of African-inspired religions integral part of today's Cuba's Religions.

We'll visit Regla's church dedicated to the black "Virgen de Regla" Yemayá, the African goddess of the sea in the Yoruba religion and the patron saint of sailors.

We will enjoy a private Afrocuban religious dance presentation by Regla Folkloric Group. Supporting the work of independent Cuban nongovernmental organizations, community projects and independent dance teachers, instructors and assistants that promote independent business activity in Cuba by patronizing their private entrepreneurial activities is an integral part of our full-time schedule of professional research.

Free time in the famous handicraft market of Old Havana, located inside the Almacenes de Depósito San José, an old warehouse on the harbour side where you can purchase all sorts of crafts and souvenirs by local artisans.

Evening: attend a performance of one of Havana’s top performing arts and theatre groups such as Teatro Buendia, Teatro del Silencio, Teatro La Montaña, Teatro El Publico, Hubert de Blanck Theatre Company, Rita Montaner Theatre Company, Ballet Lizt Alfonso, Danza Teatro Retazos, National Ballet of Cuba and others at the numerous performing arts and theatre venues in the city (Optional – Not included in tour cost).

Morning: visit to the headquarters of Cuba’s La Colmenita Children Theater Company, directed by Carlos Alberto Cremata. Created in 1990, La Colmenita is the result of the voluntary work of Mr. Cremata and a troupe of young theater school graduates. Storing props and costumes in garages, and using bicycles for transportation, they took children’s plays throughout the island, eventually sparking the creation of grass-roots “colmenitas” across Cuba.

La Colmenita
Address: 9na Avenida No.605 e/ Av.41, Buenavista, Playa, La Habana.
Postal Code: 11300.
Telephone: +53 7 202 2887

This visit is another great opportunity for performing arts and theatre professionals, as well as faculty and students from colleges of performing arts from USA, Canada and all over the world to conduct professional research on Cuba’s performing arts and theatre industry and to learn about artistic education in Cuba. The theatre group, which started as a performing troupe that went into pediatric hospitals and then brought theater to the very rural areas of Cuba, has now toured more than 25 countries including the United States. Professional meetings with directors, teachers and children.

Followed by guided coach tour of the most important sites of Modern Havana such as the Capitol building, the Grand Theatre, Central Park, Prado promenade, Sevilla Hotel, Revolution Square, Malecón seawall, Monument to the Battleship Maine, Hotel Nacional, University of Havana, Cristóbal Colón Cemetery, and the Miramar, Central Havana and Vedado neighbourhoods.

Visit to Callejon de Hammel. An alley in which facades of all buildings display mural painting inspired on Afro- Cuban religions by late painter Salvador Gonzales. Here we will also enjoy a street Rumba performance!

Lunch hosted by Jose Fuster, one of the most important Cuban ceramists and painters today. In the small fishing town of Jaimanitas, Fuster have decorated more than 80 homes with unique and vibrant murals that celebrate the authenticity of those who live in the area.

Afternoon: visit to the headquarters of Conjunto Folklorico Nacional. The most outstanding performers of the National Folklore Group will show the secrets of Cuba folk dances, a mix of African and Spanis roots, and the magical sounds produced by the Cuban percussion instruments.

Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba
Address: Calle 4 No. 103 e/ Calzada y 5ta, Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana.
Postal Code: 10400.
Telephone: +53 7 830 3060

Evening: attend a performance of one of Havana’s top performing arts and theatre groups such as Teatro Buendia, Teatro del Silencio, Teatro La Montaña, Teatro El Publico, Hubert de Blanck Theatre Company, Rita Montaner Theatre Company, Ballet Lizt Alfonso, Danza Teatro Retazos, National Ballet of Cuba and others at the numerous performing arts and theatre venues in the city (Optional – Not included in tour cost).

Morning: visit to the Lizt Alfonso Ballet School founded in 1991. Lizt Alfonso’s choreographies are dance and music of a kind no one else creates: a seamless fusion of Spanish classical dance, ballet, flamenco and Afro-Cuban dance. Tour the school and exchange with choreographers, dancers, and others.

Lizt Alfonso Ballet ($5 - $20)
Address: Compostela No.659 e/ Luz y Acosta, Habana Vieja, La Habana.
Postal Code: 10100.
Telephone: +53 7 866 3680

This morning professional meeting with Cuban performing arts professionals (choreographers, dancers, and others) will particularly enhance the professional research of those travelers from USA, Canada and all over the world whose profession, professional background, or area of expertise (including area of graduate-level full-time study) relates to professional dancing, choreography and dance education.

A new wave of paladares (private family-run restaurants) has recently swept the Cuban dining scene offering excellent food and charming ambient. Today we’ll enjoy a welcome lunch at the stylish Paladar Cafe Laurent at the penthouse terrace of a small 1950s apartment building.

Morning: guided tour of Cuba's National Art Schools (ISA). ISA professors are all active visual artists, art curators or art critics. The faculty of visual arts provides a combination of theory and practice designed for students serious about pursuing artistic achievement through concentrated study.

Study at the Institute is comparable to conservatory work in the United States. This is a great opportunity to exchange with the new generation of Cuban visual artists. We will be holding professional meetings with students and professors.

Evening: attend a performance of one of Havana’s top performing arts and theatre groups such as Teatro Buendia, Teatro del Silencio, Teatro La Montaña, Teatro El Publico, Hubert de Blanck Theatre Company, Rita Montaner Theatre Company, Ballet Lizt Alfonso, Danza Teatro Retazos, National Ballet of Cuba and others at the numerous performing arts and theatre venues in the city (Optional – Not included in tour cost).

Morning departure to Trinidad, in Central Cuba.

As part of your full-time schedule of professional research into Cuba’s Performing Arts and Theatre industry, today we will visit Korimakao, a cultural community project founded by popular Cuban actor Manuel Porto in the 1990’s in Playa Larga, a very remote rural county in southern Cuba.

Korimakao Theatre Troupe & Cultural Project
Address: Pálpite, Cienaga de Zapata, Ciénaga de Zapata, Matanzas.
Postal Code: 43000.
Telephone: +53 4 591 5515

En route, we will visit Cienfuegos City, a city of neoclassical buildings with a European flair.

Lunch is included at Paladar Ache, one of Cienfuegos top ten private restaurants, serving local specialties in a pleasant courtyard.

Afternoon: visit to Centro Dramatico de Cienfuegos (Dramatic Centre of Cienfuegos) founded more than 60 years ago. Attend a professional meeting with actress and director Diana Padron to discuss the theatre techniques, playwright's creative writing of drama, stage management and stagecraft that have made possible the longevity and popularity among the young audience of the theatre group.

This visit is another great opportunity for North American performing arts and theatre professionals, as well as faculty and students from colleges of performing arts to conduct professional research on Cuba’s performing arts and theatre industry and to exchange with Cuban counterparts.

Followed by guided walking tour of Cienfuegos' Historical Center.

We will visit neoclassical buildings around Paseo del Prado and the main Square Jose Marti such as:

The Tomas Terry Theatre, completed in 1895 and named after a sugar baron from Venezuela who arrived in Cuba with no money and made his fortune by buying sick slaves for a low price, to later nurse them back to health and reselling them. This money was invested in a sugar estate that brought him the wealth to build several outstanding buildings in Cienfuegos, including this theatre, with materials specially brought over from Europe.

The Casa de la Cultura, home of another wealthy sugar baron, stunning mansion in neoclassical style.

The Cathedral built with the donation of wealthy families like the Lebrancs, the Albis, the Terrys. Inside you find the reproductions of the 12 Apostles in stained glass imported from Paris. Also the original machinery of the clock tower was built in France. Still in place and working.

We'll also visit the elegant art gallery Galería de Arte Maroya and review its impressively displayed collection of paintings, sculptures and antiques.

Now we journey on to the historic city of Trinidad and check in at your Luxury Casa Particular. You'll have time for dinner and a swim in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea.

Morning: private tour to the recently restored Teatro La Caridad (Charity's Theater) (1885). Declared a National Monument of Cuba in 1981, it is one of the eight Grand Theaters of Cuba’s colonial period. The building showcases a sober exterior but it is the engineering of its angled rooftop, the amount of windows and doors (for better acoustics and air flow), and the interior decorations by Cuban masters that shows off. The auditorium holds 440 people and it hosts the theater group Teatro La Trinidad today.

As part of your full-time schedule of professional research into Cuba’s performing arts, today we will hold a professional meeting with Cuban actress and director Yanny Gonzales as well as choreographers, dancers, and other staff of Teatro La Trinidad.

Lunch at Solananda Paladar.

Afternoon: guided walking tour of UNESCO World Heritage Site, Trinidad’s Historical Center, a perfect relic of the early days of the Spanish colony with beautifully preserved streets and buildings with hardly a trace of the 20th century anywhere.

We will stop at a mirador (lookout) over the Sugar Mill Valley, where the sugar barons used to have their countryside mansions and mills. This site is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Trinidad is well known for its pottery makers. We meet with a family that has been passing the tradition for generations: the Santanders.

Evening is free to enjoy the beach, hotel amenities, and the lively streets of Trinidad. How about live Cuban popular music on steps of Casa de la Música – a great opportunity to dance with Cubans and your tour companions.

Morning: visit to group theatre, Teatro Escambray, based in La Macagua, in the heart of the Escambray Mountains. Topes de Collantes, which is both the name of the natural reserve and the village here, is one of the best places to enjoy the Cuba's natural beauty. 'Theatre Group Escambray was founded in 1968 by actors Sergio Corrieri and Gilda Hernández. In its early years, its repertoire drew from the dynamics between the actors and the peasant community of the Escambray Mountains.

Teatro Escambray
Address: La Macagua, La Campana, Manicaragua, Villa Clara.
Postal Code: 53200.
Telephone: +53 4 249 9193

Afternoon: transfer back to Havana City.

Check in at your hotel Valentin Quinta Avenida (Valentin 5th Avenue) or Luxury Casa Particular located at the cultural center of Havana City.

Early morning departure to Havana City International Airport for departure.