2007 – February 5 to 10 Maida visited Cuba for ten days to study the dance/text/ritual with the Cutumba Ballet Folklorico Santiago de Cuba. Jim Lepore, dancer/choreographer/professor, George Mason University, made this trip possible.

In the evenings, beloved and revered trumpeter, Inaudis Paisan Mallet, plays and sings jazz at Casa de la Trova Club in Santiago de Cuba.  Inaudis approved of my shooting video during the evening while “club” patrons danced to his legendary trumpet club music.  This was during the reign of Fidel Castro…leader of the Communist government there.  Americans, in general, were not allowed go to Cuba at that time.  The music and the dancing were astonishing.  Mallet would come and talk to me during his breaks from playing and singing in the club. Such a great cultural atmosphere in Cuba regardless of the hard life.