El Centro Iberoamericano Para El Estudio de la Décima
Pedro Acevedo and Barbarita Hernandez graciously welcomed meThe walls of the Centro's patio are covered with murals
The second day I was in Cuba, I made my way to El Centro Iberoamericano Para El Estudio de la Décima in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana. My goal for my trip was to visit with the educators who help promote the décima poetic form throughout the island. I was lucky enough to meet with Pedro Acevedo and Barbarita Hernández for the good part of the morning on August 2, 2011. They taught me about the different manifestations of the ten line form (usually 8 syllables per line) which can be recited, declaimed, improvised or sung. I was shown a video the Centro produced for UNESCO highlighting some of the youth décimistas and invited to a festival featuring the country’s best young women and girl décimistas to be held on Friday, August 5 at the Pavellóm Cuba en La Rampa for the Arte en La Rampa summertime cultural series. I am so grateful for the kindness shown to me and am indebted to them.
In my next post I’ll include photos from the patio behind the Centro. The walls of the patio are covered with beautiful murals.
It was great to see you last week, Cecilia! I’m glad I caught you in on my impromptu visit.
May your 2012 be filled with abundant creativity and rich insights.
(My favorite décimas are those by Martí:
Vela abajo, mozo arriba,
acá el roto, allá el peñasco,
ido el sol, recio el chubasco,
y el barco, no barco, criba:
gigante el viento derriba
los hombres de las escalas;
desatadas van las balas
rodando por la cubierta,
y yo, en medio a la obra muerta
vivo, de mi hijo en las alas.
Felix año nuevo! It was such a fun surprise to see you at my door last month. Hope you and yours have a wonderful new year.