The Dallas Morning News
Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Cuba restraining entertainers
 
Officials threaten to bar performers from playing Vegas show


By TRACEY EATON / The Dallas Morning News

HAVANA – Cuban officials are threatening to block what would be the biggest Cuban music and dance extravaganza to journey to the United States in more than a half-century, leaders of the production said Wednesday.

Members of Havana Night Club, a lively Tropicana-style show, have performed before more than 2 million people in 16 countries since 1999. But when the legendary illusionists Siegfried & Roy wanted them to make their U.S. debut in Las Vegas, Cuban officials said they couldn't go.

Instead of accepting that, group members did the unthinkable Tuesday, walking out of a meeting with Cuban officials.

"My cast is saying: 'You've let us go so many times, and we've always returned. Why aren't you letting us leave now?' " said Nicole "N.D." Durr, the group's German-born founder, creator and artistic director. Ministry of Culture officials had no comment Wednesday. One official denied last week that Cuban authorities had tried to discourage cast members from performing in the United States, Reuters reported.

Since November 2003, the Bush administration has denied visas to Cuban musicians and dancers, saying they are "employees and agents" of the socialist government and earn money that helps prop up Fidel Castro's government. But U.S. officials are treating Havana Night Club differently because the group is not connected to the Cuban government. The group's promoters say the Department of Homeland Security has approved travel for all 53 cast members to go to Las Vegas. The dancers are now going through final U.S. security checks.

"The Cuban government stands the most to lose because they are now blocking cultural groups when they were saying that only the U.S. has blocked them," said Margaret Baroncelli, one of the group's promoters.

Members of the cast say they never wanted to become embroiled in the 45-year-old dispute between the United States and Cuba. They just want to perform.

And they will return to the island, Ms. Durr said in a phone interview from Las Vegas.

"They've all got families in Cuba. They love their culture, their country."

But some analysts say that because the performers have defied the Cuban government, they're taking the risk that authorities – who now hold their passports – will never let them leave.

No matter, they're paving new ground, said Pamela Falk, a Cuba expert and law professor at City University of New York.

"They are the Rosa Parks of Cuba," she said. They're "the first nonpolitical, just-say-no types in Cuba, ... a true threat to Cuba because they are nongovernmental."

Ms. Durr, a former costume designer and now theater producer, said the dancers have performed in Australia, Japan, Germany and other nations.

"We worked hard for this," she said. "We became a major cultural ambassador for Cuba around the world. All we want to do is show people the Cuban culture."

The political trouble began last week when cast members applied for travel permits to the United States. On Monday, Cuban authorities locked cast members out of their offices. On Tuesday, the group met with Ministry of Culture officials and others. Ms. Durr said they were told the Cuban government was assuming control of the group.

"The vice minister of culture was standing there trying to give them a speech, and they all walked out," she said. "We are independent. That's what makes them so mad."

The walkout was "a rare case of civil protest," said Ms. Baroncelli, the promoter. "This is the little mouse that roared."