2007 – February 5 to 10  Maida Wither was in Cuba for five days when Fidel Castro was in power.  During that time she captured life and culture in Cuba on her video camera.  This informal film short reveals Maida’s brief engagement with the people and culture in Cuba. Sensual dance, jazz music, voodoo, religion, and revolution are part of the Haitian-Afro-Cuban culture of Santiago.

Maida visited Cuba to study the dance/text/ritual through/with Cutumba Ballet Folklorico Santiago de Cuba, a professional dance organization in Santiago de Cuba.  Jim Lepore, American dancer/choreographer/professor, George Mason University, took a small American group to Cuba annually.  His connections made this trip possible.  Most Americans were not allowed to go to Cuba at that time due to the unsettled dispute between America and Cuba (Cuban missile crisis).