Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Richard Skerritt, in taking the matter before the Cabinet, explained that the aim of the agreement is to derive mutual benefit for the two countries, particularly during this period of global economic downturn

BASSETERRE, St Kitts, Monday September 6, 2010 – The Government of St Kitts and Nevis has given the green light for the twin-island Federation to begin negotiations with the United States of America for an Open Skies Agreement.

Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Richard Skerritt, in taking the matter before the Cabinet, explained that the aim of the agreement is to derive mutual benefit for the two countries, particularly during this period of global economic downturn.

“A successful agreement, if reached, would help establish rules to facilitate growth of an efficient, market-based aviation system, enhancing potential for business, investment, exports and tourism; and the strengthening of bilateral ties with the USA,” a government statement said.

Open skies is an international policy concept which promotes the liberalization of rules and regulations for the international aviation industry, particularly commercial aviation, thereby opening up a free market for the airline industry. An Open Skies policy gives effect to the Convention on International Civil Aviation signed in Chicago in 1944.

Three US carriers – American Airlines, US Airways and Delta Airlines – operate scheduled service into St Kitts’ Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport. American Eagle also operates scheduled daily service to the Vance Amory International Airport in Nevis and the Bradshaw Airport in S. Kitts. Other US-based carriers, including Miami Air, also operate charter services to S. Kitts.

C.G. Dillon wants to turn Brantford into a little piece of home away from home.

Dillon moved to the city in 1995 from the Caribbean island of Tobago. Since arriving, he’s missed the island’s Caribbean flare.

That’s why he and his wife, Eni, decided to organize FestCaribbean, a local festival taking place Saturday that celebrates all Caribbean culture has to offer.

“I’ve been living here a while now and, really and truly, there’s nothing much that I’ve noticed over the years that goes on in this city in terms of annual events of this nature,” Dillon said.

For one night, the civic centre will host a Caribbean-style party, with food, dancing and plenty of music.

“This is my adopted land,” Dillon said. “I’ve adopted the Canadian way and culture, whatever it is, and I think it’s important that you don’t really forget where you came from. Not only that, it’s good to expose people to different cultures and to different ways of life.”

This is the inaugural year for the event, which Dillon describes as a “big party” that will run from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m.

Brantford’s Broaster Chicken will provide the food, which will include a Caribbean staple, jerk chicken.

Entertainment will include Chaotic Dance Crew and Toronto’s Dance Caribe, as well as local reggae and R&B band Colour Quest and Toronto Caribbean fusion-jazz band Kalabash.

“This will be the first time you will see something like this in Brantford,” Dillon said.

Vallen Roberts and Alex Hanscomb, members of Chaotic Dance Crew, were in Harmony Square on Monday practicing their routine, which includes a mixture of hip hop, crump, breakdance, freestyle, contemporary, jazz and tap.

“I think (the festival) will be an awesome experience for Brantford,” Roberts said.

Dillon hopes the festival will bring a greater understanding of Caribbean culture to the city, noting that he’s noticed a Caribbean influence growing steadily in Brantford during the past 15 years.

“It brings a more common understanding to us all,” he said. “At the end of the day, migration is a big thing and it’s never going to stop. The more understanding people are here, the better we will all get along.”

Dillon has even bigger plans for FestCaribbean next year.

“People should come out because this is going to be the greatest event,” he said. “I’m not speaking about just this event on Saturday, but the events we will hold in the future.”

Tickets to FestCaribbean are $10 in advance or $15 at the door and can be purchased by calling 519-757-0886, 519-758-9100 or 905-574-0845.

The organizers of the Mid-Atlantic Black Film Festival (MABFF) have announced a final call for submissions for the 2010 festival. The premiere African-American short film festival returns for its fourth year from October 7 – 9, 2010 with three days of screenings and workshops at the historic Crispus Attucks Theatre in Norfolk, Virginia. During the three-day festival, veteran TV and film stars Ted Lange (“The Love Boat”, “That’s My Mama”, and “Friday Foster” with Pam Grier), Judy Pace (“Cotton Comes To Harlem”, “Brian’s Song”, Spike Lee’s “Sucker Free City”) and Beverly Todd (“Crash”, “The Bucket List”, “Lean on Me”) will attend as celebrity guests and will each be honored with MABFF’s Living Legend Award.

As in previous years, the MABFF is accepting entries in the categories of Short Film, Animation, Documentary, Music Video, and Student Film. This year, the festival is also introducing exciting new categories, including a Screenplay Competition, an Original TV Pilot Competition, and a Web Series Competition. Submission forms and general requirements for all categories can be downloaded online at www.mabff.org or www.withoutabox.com.

The festival will kick off on Thursday, October 7th with a selection of opening day screenings and workshops followed by an Opening Night Ceremony Gala hosted by Beverly Todd and Judy Pace.

Beginning on Thursday, October 7th, Emmy-winning producer/LAWEBFEST founder Michael Ajakwe, Jr. will conduct a two-day Web Series Workshop with informative sessions on Writing, Producing, Marketing and Monetizing Your Web Series.

As part of the festival program, members from the Organization of Black Screenwriters (OBS) will join MABFF in hosting a three-day TV and screenwriting workshop and will also judge the festival’s screenplay and Original TV Pilot competitions. On Thursday, October 7th, OBS will conduct an Intensive half-day TV Writing Workshop followed by an Intensive half-day Screenwriting Workshop on Friday, October 8th. On Saturday, October 9th, the workshop will culminate with a special screening of “For Love of Amy”, veteran actor Ted Lange’s feature film directorial debut. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with both Lange and the film’s screenwriter/producer/star, Vincent Alston, who will share how he raised the money to complete his first feature film. During the award ceremony later that evening, the two filmmakers will be presented with MABFF’s inaugural Outstanding First Film Award for their achievement.

On Friday, October 8th, celebrity honorees Ted Lange, Judy Pace, and Beverly Todd will join award-winning filmmaker Monty Ross (Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X”, “Do the Right Thing”, “Mo’ Better Blues”, “School Daze”) and Michael Ajakwe, Jr. (“Martin”, “Soul Food”, “Sister, Sister”, “Eve”, “Love That Girl”, “Talk Soup”, “Entertainment Tonight”) for ”Black Hollywood Then and Now,” a blue ribbon panel of industry veterans discussing the state of Black Hollywood and how it has evolved over the last forty years.

Closing night festivities on October 9th will feature finalist screenings of the short film and web series competitions, culminating with the MABFF Award Ceremony at which winners for the various festival competitions will be announced along with the recognition and presentation of awards to this year’s distinguished VIP honorees.

About Mid-Atlantic Black Film Festival (MABFF)
October 7-9, 2010 at the Historic Attucks Theatre in Norfolk, VA. The Mid-Atlantic Black Film Festival (MABFF) is an annual juried competition showcasing independent films from some of the most talented, established and up-and-coming independent filmmakers of color from all over the world. The 2009 MABFF screened over 50 independent films from all across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, the Caribbean, Uganda and Zimbabwe, including 15 Virginia premieres. The MABFF is a core program of Crispus Attucks Cultural Center, a non-profit cultural arts organization dedicated to presenting artistic, educational and multicultural activities with an emphasis on the African-American and African Diaspora experience. The festival’s lineup highlights various categories of film competitions as well as premieres, international cinema, tributes, and workshops facilitated by leading figures in the film and entertainment industry.

For more information about MABFF, please visit www.mabff.org.

For press inquiries, please contact Ngozi Mba of MINC Media at 323.422.1450 or email info(at)mincmedia(dot)com

Media Contact:
Ngozi Mba
MINC Media for Mid Atlantic Black Film Festival
323.544.1450
info(at)mincmedia(dot)com

Festival Contact:
Gail Mathieu Easley
Executive Producer, Mid Atlantic Black Film Festival
757.622.4763
info(at)mabff(dot)org

By Sir Ronald Sanders
(The writer is a Consultant and former Caribbean diplomat)

The G20 should be the ‘T20’ – trustees not just of the 20 rich countries that sit at their meetings but also of the 172 nations that are denied a seat at their table.
This powerful statement has been advanced jointly by the Secretaries-General of the Commonwealth and La Francophonie, two organizations whose members are mostly developing states.
The custodians of the G20’s self-bestowed mandate to oversee the world economy justify their monopoly of global decision-making on the fact that they account for 90% of global GDP. But, while that is so, 90% of the world’s countries are excluded from their discussions.
As the two Secretaries General (Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth and Abdou Diouf, La Francophonie) have argued: “The simple fact of globalization dictates that all countries, the world over, have been affected by a tsunami of crises – of finance and food, of energy and the environment. Equally, all have an interest in what goes into the G20 meeting, and what comes out of it”.
Almost a year ago (October 2009) in a commentary entitled ‘Can the Caribbean depend on the G20?’, I made the argument that “Membership of the G20 has little to do with fair representation and much to do with self interest. Together, the G20 countries cover more than eighty-five percent of world economic activity. They can afford to ignore, or at least pay lip service to, the other nations who account for the remaining fifteen percent of global economic activity, even as Ban-ki-Moon, the UN secretary-General, reminds that eighty-five percent of the world’s countries are not represented at the G20. In the end it is power that matters and power in this instance is purchasing capacity and market size.”
I argued then that the Caribbean collectively should argue for a seat at the G20 table to advance its own interests which are neglected by the International Financial Institutions that continue to apply traditional prescriptions and criteria to Caribbean problems, many of which are caused by events in the world’s richest economies such as the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Japan.
No initiative has been pursued by the Caribbean in this regard as far as I know.
Three G20 meetings have now been held without representation by the small states in Africa, Oceania, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. I acknowledge that Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, as Chairman of the last G20 meeting in Toronto did have a meeting with the Secretaries-General of the Commonwealth and La Francophonie to get an understanding of the challenges faced by the member countries of their organizations that were not represented at the meeting. But, Prime Minister Harper’s generous concern for non-represented countries, while laudable, is not a substitute for a structured and predictable participation in the G20 deliberations by the world’s small countries.

The call that inspired the American Revolution, “No taxation without representation”, is relevant today in the international political economy. G20 countries consume the majority of the world’s resources; they are its biggest polluters; and their actions, across a variety of areas, materially affect the survival of smaller countries. They should at least listen to the valid problems of others.
The G20 cannot claim economic leadership but deny economic responsibility and obligations.
The G20 countries – even the large developing countries such as China, India and Brazil – prefer to limit the number of nations in their council, keeping it as a club for large nations that now aims to set the economic parameters for the world to fit their purpose. It also suits them to keep their relations with small economies at a bilateral level where enough can be done to maintain influence over them without overhauling the global apparatus, such as the International Financial Institutions and the World Trade Organization in which they are disadvantaged.
Given this reality, small sates should seek to institutionalize the initiative taken by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to invite the Secretaries-General of the Commonwealth and La Francophonie for consultations prior to the meeting. They should push to ensure that the Chair person of every G20 meeting seeks proposals from the two Secretaries-General on behalf of their disenfranchised members, and that such proposals are tabled and considered by the meeting .
In the case of the Commonwealth, 32 of its 54 members are small states and five of its larger members – Australia, Britain, Canada, India, and South Africa – are members of the G20. La Francophonie has 56 member states. Ten countries are members of both organizations, which together comprise 72 countries that are not represented at the G20.
Surely, proposals from two persons representing 72 countries and almost a billion people should be welcome by the G20 in a spirit of genuine regard not only for international democracy, but also for dealing with the plight of small countries that have been hit particularly hard by the effects of the international financial crisis and who are still suffering from its consequences.
The two Secretaries-General have publicly observed that, for 2010 alone, the World Bank has indicated that US$315 billion is required to meet the gap between what developing countries require and what is currently available if they are to meet the Millennium Development Goals set by all nations. They have proposed that “the G20 should endorse a serious action plan to identify innovative potential sources of non-sovereign financing, embracing widespread consultation with those not at their table”.

If the Caribbean cannot collectively push for a seat at the G20 table, the region should at least join other small countries in seeking to institutionalize Prime Minister Harper’s initiative that the Commonwealth Secretary-General presents our case to which we should contribute well researched and viable arguments.

We’ve just confirmed the iPhone 4 is launching June 24th on AT&T. Available in both black and white, the 16GB iPhone 4 will cost $199 while the 32GB model will go for $299. Both prices reflect 2-year contract prices with AT&T. The iPhone 3GS will replace the iPhone 3G. Unfortunately the storage capacity will drop to 8GB, but then again so will the price. It will go for $99 on contract.

But, speaking to a large crowed at Palmiste Park on Wednesday night, Persad-Bissessar was confident nothing would stop her party from forming the next Government of T&T. Persad-Bissessar said: “We know their tricks will not work this time. Our country today is united like never before.” She said Diego Martin West PNM candidate Dr Keith Rowley said publicly he was afraid the PNM was going to lose. She added: “On the platform of the other party the speakers are coming and making excuses for the current PM — you know that means project manager — and pleading and saying ‘never mind the project manager still vote for us.’

“You have a senior PNM candidate going on the platform telling the nation he is afraid of two things, one that they are going to lose and the other that the People’s Partnership will win.” Persad-Bissessar also pledged to keep her promises in the election just as she kept her promise to unite all opposition forces during her campaign for leadership of the United National Congress (UNC) four months ago.

“I promised that I will be the magnate of unity to bring all opposition forces together, that was only on January 24 when you gave me that mandate, you gave me your trust and confidence. Just three months later I have brought the opposition forces together,” she added. She said she was not boasting but pledging that a People’s Partnership Government would keep its promises. (SW)

With the theme, “Step, Strut, Stride,” the third installation of FWTT will focus on the industry’s staying power and continuous development that has created a signature identity for the destination, Trinbagonian style. This year’s event will also see the addition of daily seminars to promote the growth of the industry and a fashion & beauty expo to increase awareness. Designers include Michael Award Winner™ Francis Hendy, who has dressed artists such as Missy Elliot, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, and Trinidad’s own Machel Montano, fashion studio Millhouse, who has dressed artists such as Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild and Erykah Badu.

“Our focus for Fashion Week Trinidad & Tobago is to revitalize and develop the local fashion industry and bring about awareness of its lucrative socio-economic potential,” said Dianne Hunt, chairperson of the FWTT Board. “We recognize the tremendous creative and technical fashion talent present in our nation and strive to provide opportunities for the fashion industry’s consistent development – both locally and regionally – ultimately becoming a global fashion force.“

FWTT was created to include all aspects of the fashion industry ranging from hair stylists, make-up artists, models and photographers to cosmetic producers and accessory manufactures. The event will also include musical performances, art displays and a showcase of past prize-winning Carnival costumes. For more information, please visit www.fwtt.org.

About Trinidad & Tobago

Trinidad & Tobago is located in the southeastern region of the Caribbean. With its careful approach to tourism, the dual-island nation offers a distinct blend of culture, eclectic cuisine and an assortment of eco-adventure activities. Trinidad, the ‘cultural capital of the Caribbean,’ is home to the world famous Carnival, the birthplace of the steel pan drum and was the host destination for the 2009 Fifth Summit of the Americas and the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Tobago, sister island to Trinidad, is the quintessential Caribbean island with secluded beaches, quaint villages, private villas and award-winning eco-attractions that include the Main Ridge Rainforest, the oldest protected reserve in the western hemisphere and the five-time consecutive award winner for World’s Leading Ecotourism Destination by the World Travel Awards from 2003 to 2007. For more information on Trinidad & Tobago visit www.goTrinidadandTobago.com or www.visittobago.gov.tt or call 800-816-7541.

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About Fashion Week Trinidad & Tobago (FWTT)

Spearheaded by Dianne Hunt, developer of Radical Designs, and sponsored in part by the Tourism Development Company Limited of Trinidad & Tobago (TDC), FWTT is an event targeted at promoting the fashion identity of the entire region while helping to put existing and new and aspiring talent on display. FWTT will be vital in promoting the fashion identity of the entire region in helping to develop the fashion industry by putting existing and new talents on display. With T&T developing a design program at university level, those involved in the industry are supporting future graduates in the dynamic field of fashion. This pivotal week of fashion will play a major role in uplifting the Caribbean industry to international standards.

A 114-year-old French woman who this week became the world’s oldest person lives on a Caribbean island and still enjoys a glass of champagne every now and then, especially on her birthday.

Eugenie Blanchard, who lives on the French island of Saint Barths, won the title after Japan’s Kama Chinen died on Sunday, just a week short of her 115th birthday, the Gerontology Research Group said.

Blanchard was born on February 16, 1896, the group said.

For the past 20 years, she has been living at the Bruyn hospital in Saint Barts and her nephew Daniel Blanchard told AFP that the woman known as “La Douchy” — a Creole word for candy — still had a zest for life.

“Because of her age, she had to be hospitalised but she still loves having a glass of champagne, at least on her birthday,” Blanchard said in 2008.

France holds the European record for longevity, with an impressive number of centenarians including Jeanne Calment who lived to the ripe old age of 122 years and 164 days.

Chinen lived on Okinawa in Japan’s far south, a sub-tropical island whose inhabitants are well known for their robust health into advanced age.

“Though confined to a wheelchair in her later years, Chinen still enjoyed the wonders of nature and being outside,” Guinness World Records said in announcing her death earlier Tuesday.

Chinen’s reign as the oldest living person began on the death of US woman Gertrude Baines, who passed away in September 2009.

© 2010 AFP

How did you get into world of fashion?

“I don’t remember if it was Korda or Rafael de León who let me know they were looking for a model in the Salón de Embajadores of the Hotel Havana Libre. All the models from the upscale pre-revolutionary El Encanto department store were there: Norka Mendez, Adelfa… but there was not a single black woman. I received my first lessons from Norma Martinez just two hours before going out onto the catwalk. I was only 21.”

This happened in 1964. “It was a time when they were trying to integrate blacks into the Revolution and into all spheres of culture. Before that everything was separate: parks, clubs, beaches… There had even been divisions between blacks and mulattos. Cuba was possibly the most racist country in Latin America,” she told me.

Yet Luz Maria recalls other important events in her life that year: “I danced in the role of Eurídice in Orfeo Antillano, by Ramiro Guerra; I was a soloist in the play Octeto Amoroso, which was choreographed by Manuel Iran…”

Luz Maria Collazo Reyes was also a soloist with the Conjunto Nacional de Danza Moderna (now the Danza Contemporánea de Cuba company), founded by Ramiro Guerra in 1959.

So what you really wanted to be was a dancer?

“What I wanted was to be an actress. I went to the Teatro Nacional to try and study dramatic art, but they were already closed.”

Someone told her about tryouts to study dance, so she returned the next day for an audition.

“That was a time when there were few trained dancers, so Ramiro Guerra searched for them in the street, among ordinary people.”

In 1961, after months of effort in the company’s night school, Luz Maria debuted in “Suite Yoruba, one of Guerra’s most famous choreographies and a winner of international awards. Today it is no longer in the company’s repertoire.

“But in 1964 I was also on my first cover. The magazine was Soviet Cinema…”

So it turned out that I was seated in front of the face featured on posters for the first Cuban-Soviet co-production: the movie “Soy Cuba,” directed by Mikhail Kalatozov. This movie was included among the ten best films in the history of cinema thanks to US directors Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese, who discovered it in the United States after decades of being shelved. They were impressed by the photography of Urusheski. Luz Maria was the lead role in the first story in this movie.

How did you get that role?

“Well, by chance. It was in the 1962 or ‘63. I had gone to the Havana Libre Hotel to get my hair oiled. I was talking to someone in the restaurant —with the treatment still on— when a woman came up to me with a translator and asked me if I wanted to be in a movie. I told her yes, of course. The woman was the wife of Urusheski, the photographer.”

Before the end of the 1960s, Luz Maria was a soloist in several choreographies by Ramiro Guerra and by other company choreographers. She also participated in her first international tour of five socialist countries and appeared on the front and back covers of the magazine “Cuba.” In that periodical, in the section “La Ninfa Constante,” they reported on her as being a dancer. The photos were by Chino Lope, who photographed her dressed all in white, like someone going through the santeria initiation of Yabo.

“The theme of religion was taboo in those days, and after the magazine came out, the Ministry of Culture called me asking if I were a practitioner of the santería religion and questioning why they had photographed me like that.”

At that time Luz Maria didn’t have an answer, she didn’t practice any religion. In fact, it was only a short time ago that she ran into that same photographer again, who she hadn’t seen in many years. He explained to her that he had photographed her like that as a way of paying homage to his grandmother, who had indeed practiced the Yoruba religion.

In 1967 she was invited to Moscow’s 5th Festival of Cinema and subsequently traveled to Montreal, Canada, for Expo ‘67. “It was the first Cuban exhibition outside the country. There they received me with a great deal admiration and I even modeled clothes by designers from other countries.”

In 1970 she was a dance teacher at the National Theater’s night school and began working as a fashion model in exhibitions for the Ministry of Light Industry. However, the following year there occurred one of the most important moments in her life like dancer. The company put on “Súlkary,” with a dance routine by Eduardo Rivero, which would become one of the classics of Danza Contemporánea de Cuba.

“I entered the hall in which there would be two casts. But once inside, choreographer Eduardo Rivero said he wanted only one, so I ended up observing from a corner, and from there I memorized the whole dance routine. A week before the premiere, one of the dancers got sick and I had to substitute for her. The night of the premiere in the Grand Theater, I was really on edge, but I premiered for the first time and because of that it marked my life. The last time I danced that choreograph was in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1994.”

At that time, Luz Maria was then 50 years old. The company no longer dances that piece.

It caught my attention that during this whole time you alternated your work as a model and a dancer. Didn’t that create conflicts?

“Lots. Ramiro was always getting upset with me. He argued with me because I was going out to work with the photographers and fashion designers. At the Prague Expo I left without his permission. He asked me why I wanted to dance if I was so beautiful. One of the directors of “Soy Cuba” told me he didn’t understand why they’d chosen me if I wasn’t an actress. But now we’re great friends and I feel I owe him a lot. He encouraged us to go to exhibitions, the cinema, to read…”

Which of the two professions did you prefer?

Luz Maria responded to me without having to think, and also with a certain degree of nostalgia: “Dancing. It always interested me a lot.”

I’ve also observed that in a couple of pictures of your movements on the runway, these were sometimes more characteristic of dance.

“Yes. Those must have been photos from Expo ‘67. The artisans of the Fondo de Bienes Culturales liked us moving in a more artistic manner… that we perform elements of dance, techniques that came from classical modeling. However, in most professional runways —in Havana’s La Maison, for example— such things were criticized by the fashion designers. The truth is that I always felt a little like a dancer-model or a model-dancer.”

Another choreographic routine that Luz Maria remembers with great affection from her career as a dancer was “Dúo a Lam” —a tribute to Cuban painter Wifredo Lam— which she danced along with its own choreographer, Eduardo Rivero. When he saw it he was moved; he had never created a dance inspired by Lam’s work. In Luz Maria’s house is a drawing of her profile by the painter. “He said I reminded him of his childhood.” Nevertheless, that work is not presently in the company’s repertoire either.

n 1977, she traveled to several countries with the company and danced in Paris at the International Festival of Dance at the Champs Elysees Theater and in Saint Etienne. At that time the “Le Humanité” newspaper compared her to the turn-of-the-century-dancer Loie Fuller for her performance in “Okantomi,” another piece choreographed by Rivero.

During my second conversation with Luz Maria we were at the entrance of the Bertolt Brecht Theater, after she had just finished working with the El Círculo theater group, where she coaches actors in how to move. “I was an unconditional dancer; I didn’t have great extension or flexibility; I began at 18 with a tough body. What happened was that I worked a lot, I worked to project myself. I’m telling you this so you’ll know that I never thought of myself as great. I was always aware of my limitations.”

She recounted this to me with the greatest humility. Minutes before, someone had greeted her and presented her to other people as the primer ballerina of the Danza Contemporánea de Cuba company. During her career she danced more than thirty works and participated along with the company in several international tours and festivals, including the Havana Ballet Festival. In 1978 she received a certificate for her 17 years of uninterrupted work in the field of culture and in 1979 was awarded recognition from distinguished musician Sergio Vitier and a diploma for being a member of the first dance group born after the Revolution.

Throughout those decades Luz Maria Collazo was also one of the most photographed faces in our country. It was difficult for the photographer and for me to select photos from her file to accompany this interview, since there were so many – and all were gorgeous.

In 1970 she posed for posters and ads for Havana Club rum exports; the company won awards in Rumania. Her image appeared on covers of albums and on magazines such as “Bohemia” and “Mujeres,” where she was photographed by the renowned Osvaldo Salas, the photographer who won an award for pictures of her as the “Novia de Orfeo.” Luz Maria was also a model for acclaimed Cuban photographer Alberto Korda.

In 1980 she was the sole Cuban model in a fashion show of the Socialist Camp (CAME), in Prague, where stylists from East Germany and the Soviet Union requested her services as a model. In 1983 she participated in the International Tourism Fair in Madrid and then traveled to another fair in Paris, where she modeled for various fashion houses, including the Ives Saint Laurent.

In 1992, at the age of 49, she participated in the Annual Padova Fair in Italy, where she modeled the fashions of that country’s designers. But what most moved her was wearing of two wedding gowns, including one specially designed for her with the colors of the Cuban flag. This was because a black model had never before exhibited a wedding gown in Havana’s La Maison fashion house, at least not to her memory or that of any other models interviewed.

hough the call had gone out from the country’s leadership starting in 1959 for the integration of blacks into all spheres of culture, still by the middle of the 1990s a black woman had never paraded a wedding gown in the most important house of fashion in Cuba.

What do you think of the work of models today?

I believe the models of before were more exalted…they had more class. These aggressive steps they take on the catwalk these days do not excite me.

You’ve also made incursions as a choreographer…

In ‘95 I stopped dancing and became a rehearsal director with Danza Contemporánea. I also gave classes at Cubadanza. I put on my first choreography in 96, titled “Enjambre.” But it only ran three times in the Garcia Lorca Theater and was then shelved; no one ever explained to me why. Nor did I receive much help. I then began staging “Las Concubinas de Changó, but the things I needed didn’t appear; the scenery wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t like the way things were going so I never finished it. Perhaps I didn’t push hard enough… The times when I was a dancer were different from how it is today; we danced in another style, with more soul. What I see now moves me emotionally, but I don’t master it.

In any case, in 2000 she put on the choreography for a play titled “Bailando con Elvis.” Also that year, a fashion exhibit was organized in Saint Etienne, France, with designs by Mercy Nodarse. “But there were only young women, and it was necessary to exhibit men’s clothes, so I went to work and made myself up as a male-like model. I looked like Benny Moré, I even had a cane.”

That show won an award for both its choreography and its designs.

Luz Maria has taught several dance courses abroad and in Cuba. Since 1998 she has given modern dance classes with the Teatro Buendía theater group and is currently collaborating with the El Circulo troupe.

You told me on the telephone that you enjoy working with actors a lot…

Yes. It’s a job that forces me to be very connected to the work they’re doing. The actors sometimes get excited over a movement I show them, but the next day perhaps they won’t remember it or they’ve change it. It requires a lot of patience. I don’t teach them modern dance, but movements that have to do with dance.

Her husband, present during the interview, added something she didn’t tell me, perhaps out of modesty:

“I think she expands the possibilities of actors by showing them how to use their bodies.”

n this interview I’ve been able to reflect barely a part of the career of Luz Maria Collazo as a model and dancer. As for her involvement in theater, I’ll only mention “Yerma” and “La canción de Rachel,” directed by Roberto Blanco; and “La piedra de Elliot” and “La Celestina,” with the Rita Montaner company.

On the night of January 6, 2010, there took place in the La Maison house of fashions a show in which many retired models of different generations participated. Luz Maria Collazo was one of the models who could have participated in the event, but she decided not to. Instead she observed from the audience.

At the end of the show, the host mentioned a group of models who had worked at La Maison, but they failed to cite the name Luz Maria Collazo.

It’s difficult to know whether this was due to disorganization or simple ignorance.

The public left without knowing that among them was someone who could be considered Cuba’s first black model, in addition to being the face for the film “Soy Cuba,” a soloist with Danza Contemporánea —which was the very founder of La Maison— and even a teacher of models. That’s why it’s necessary that we refresh our memories every so often, so that the work of those who preceded us doesn’t pass into oblivion.

Live from the Cypress 2 Ballroom at the Marriott World Convention Center, BGR proudly presents the WES 2010 keynote. The lights are dimming as we speak and we’re all settled in for the show, so hit up the jump to check out our live blog of all the festivities!

8:46 AM: Here we go, lights down… Black Eyed Peas on the juke box.

8:46 AM: RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis has taken the stage.

8:47 AM: Customers bought 10.5 million BB’s last quarter, BB community is 41 million users strong.

8:48 AM: “What we do comes down to one thing, making the BlackBerry more usable and accessable to more people.

8:48 AM: “Today you’re going to see some amazing new software.

8:49 AM: “You’re goign to see some new deivces.” God, we hope so.

8:49 AM: Showing chart about the efficiency and cost effectiveness of BlackBerry platform.

8:50 AM: “Email was the original BlackBerry supeapp, now developers can take advantage of the BlackBerry platform to deliver there own super app.”

8:51 AM: Seeing video on “super apps”

8:52 AM: Super Apps are: an integrated, visual experience

8:53 AM: Talking up BBM: “BBM is all about delivering the best communication experience, right now.”

8:53 AM: BBM has over 20 million users

8:54 AM: BBM, “transforms the way people work and play.”

8:55 AM: We’re talking hardware now, high level stuff, not specific devices.

8:55 AM: “5 of top 10 best selling smartphones in the U.S. are BlackBerrys”

8:56 AM: “People want choice…”

8:56 AM: Talking about the Bold 9650

8:56 AM: “This is the ultimate global CDMA smartphone.”

8:57 AM: “The Bold family already includes some of the worlds most popular smartphones…we’re expanding that.”

8:57 AM: “We’re launching the white BlackBerry Bold 9700 in North America.”

8:58 AM: “Introducing the smallest, lightest, smartphone in our lineup: the Pearl 3G.”

8:59 AM: Basically Mike is doing a re-cap of yesterdays announcements.

8:59 AM: “Tons of power and performance into a small package, with no compromises.”

9:00 AM: Talking about: “The Next Step”

9:00 AM: “Today I’m proud to show you the biggest step forward…BlackBerry 6″

9:00 AM: Had to: “Feel fresh yet familiar, instantly recognizable, easy to use, powerful, fun, and approachable.”

9:01 AM: We’re seeing a video on BlackBerry 6

9:03 AM: Some of the screenshots in the video have already been seen on BGR, Mike

9:02 AM: Video is a lot of flash, includes Fergie. We are seeing a full touch screen demo with: multitouch in action, new menus, global search, redesigned calendar, multiple home screens, total redesign of UI

9:04 AM: “There are a lot of enhancements that will delight everyone.”

9:04 AM: “We’ve redesigned all the core applications”

9:04 AM: “We’ve got a new app for managing social networks and view RSS feeds.”

9:05 AM: “WebKit browser will be an integral part of BlackBerry 6.”

9:05 AM: “More rewarding, faster, and simpler to use.”

9:05 AM: “BlackBerry 6 will launch next calendar quarter.”

9:06 AM: Mike is wrapping up now.

9:07 AM: “Before I go I want to give you one last surprise.”

9:07 AM: Hip Hop artist Will.I.Am

9:08 AM: Mr. I.Am is talking about the value of BlackBerry

9:08 AM: “A tool I use to connect on an entertainment level, it allows me to delivery content and connect with fans.”

9:09 AM: “I’m here because I want to be here, I’m passionate about this device…trumpets connect people, so does this device, thank you guys.”

9:10 AM: Mike and Will.I.Am are both off stage, we’re seeing some vendor testimonials on video.

9:36 AM: We’ve been listening to HP talk for around 20 minutes, and, well, it’s not really our cup of tea.