- by FJK
- The Guardian
- Issue #2132
Guardian editor interviewing Johanna.
Kurimakao is a music and performing arts school in Cuba’s Matanzas province. During the ‘special period,’ in 1992, when Cubans faced massive deprivation, Commander of the Revolution Fausino Perez and actor Manuel Porto started a school in a rural area with not much in the way of cultural activities.
The establishment was enthusiastically supported by then-President Fidel Castro.
Castro had noticed that improving literacy and removing obstacles to education was not enough to guarantee equality for Cubans. Some groups were still soaring ahead due to ‘cultural capital’ – family and social connections, and expectations. Just providing quality universal education wasn’t enough. It was decided that the answer was culture – all that intangible but important support that privileged people had long taken for granted.
Korimakao is a part of that. The school teaches performing arts and painting to young people from all over Cuba, as well as in the community of Palpite where the school is located. Korimakao also travels, bringing music and dance to remote communities all over Cuba via electrifying performances and workshops.
The school’s logo is a snail, because as Managing Director Yander M Roche Miralles says, “we bring our house with us.” Students are dedicated to this, practicing music and dance for hours every day. There is a performance every night, and the recent Southern Cross Brigade was privileged to see four phenomenal performances as well as being treated to a two-hour salsa workshop from Kevin Dany, the passionate (and very patient) choreographer.
The Guardian, the Workers Weekly had the chance to interview singer and musician Yoanita Callejo Estrada. Yoanita was a member of Cuba’s national basketball team for three years before retiring due to injury and turning to the Cuban music she had always loved.
“When I was injured, I realised my sports career was over,” said Yoanita, “but when I came to Korimakao, I started discovering other things. I discovered art from the inside.”
Originally from Havana, a long way away, she had come to Matanzas to audition for another role when she heard about the Korimakao project.
Life isn’t easy for the performers. Resources are scarce. “On some trips we had to sleep on the beach! But it’s really important work. For some remote areas, the Korimakao visit is the only live culture they see.”
For Yoanita, it’s worth it – “there are a lot of artists in Cuba, but to be here (at Korimakao), you really need to love serving others.”
People ask why she’s there. Yoanita says the school has “something that keeps us here.”
Asked what that special thing is, she answered “It’s Cubanness – the solidarity, the joy, the way we bring culture to communities.”
Asked about favourite musical genres, Yoanita said she has a soft spot for older forms of Cuban music, and wants to rescue culture which is being lost – “youth are losing culture,” due to the homogenising effect of music videos.
Asked how Guardian readers can support Cuba and Korimakao in particular, Yoanita simply suggested that people visit both!
Visits to the school can be arranged directly with the school, or through Armistur, Cuba’s state tourism agency.
