The event will probably be held from August 8-12, organized by the cultural projects RolleX and Oralitura Habana.
HAVANA TIMES – The primary intensive improvisation workshop for kids in Cuba will happen between August 8-12, on the Morales Children’s Library, on Reina Street, between Lealtad and Escobar Streets, in Central Havana.
After a few years of providing training for adults, the RolleX project (specializing within the improvised 10-line spoken poem, linked to other artistic expressions) will teach poetic improvisation to children this 12 months, for the primary time ever.
Also organized by Oralitura Habana (a platform for spreading the normal and contemporary 10-line poetry), with the slogan: “Journey to the middle of poetic improvisation”, this free training project will probably be held again in December, this 12 months, in line with its organizers.
Alexis Diaz, considered one of the leaders of Oralitura Habana, says that the workshop is designed for kids aged between 6-12 years old.
“The fear of working with children, since it’s completely different to how we work with adults, in that it requires greater dedication and preparation, without losing the fun aspect, had kept us from holding these gatherings,” the young improviser and poet said.
Along with holding this children’s workshop in Havana, the event’s organizers also hope to develop similar experiences in several Cuban provinces.
Nevertheless, he says “we were at all times very fascinated about teaching very young ages, and with none gender discrimination, after all.”
He mentions RolleX Project (made up of Roly Avalos and himself) as a precedent, who’ve been holding workships to defend the essence of the 10-line poem and improvisation, that are very well-known in Cuban traditional music, since 2018.
“Ever since then, we’ve seen an increasing number of women join us, while historically, it’s an art form defended by men,” Diaz points out.
He believes that these experiences and inclusivity as a mission are the pillar of the youngsters’s workshop this August.
In keeping with experts, actions reminiscent of this one encourage a robust movement of kid improvisers, performers, singers and researchers within the country today.
Learning to play with words
Research about poetic creation, developing a 10-line poem and improvisation indicate that the potential for this art is identical for each ladies and men.
Bearing this in mind, the organizers have said that the primary improvisation workshop for kids is open to all and follows the logic that play is the muse of learning at a young age.
Diaz has said that “it should be a completely fun workshop, with word games, synonyms and antonyms, with semantics, octosyllables and constant rhyme. It has been organized in a way for kids to rejoice, without it being a factory of improvisation.
Plus, he points out that it should teach children about verse for the primary time, and in the event that they have an interest on developing their improvisation and 10-line poem skills, they are going to have further opportunities.
“Here, we’re laying down the foundations, a set of lessons that may teach them a few genre that hasn’t at all times received the merit it deserves. Here at Oralitura Habana we would like to explore it, and what may very well be higher than doing this with the youngest hands in society,” he weighs in.
The event’s organizers would love to increase special because of the Havana City Historian’s Office for joining them in organizing the workshop and allowing them to make use of the Children’s Library.
They hope to carry more events like this within the provinces, with a view to rope in an increasing number of children to the art of poetic improvisation.
Read more from Cuba here on Havana Times.
