Up with the People: We Come to Share Traditions and Know Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 17 (acn) Making friends, sharing traditions and knowing the country are the purposes with which the more than 80 youngsters of 15 countries making up the multicultural artistic project Viva la gente, (Up with the people), on a visit to the island for the first time, arrived in Cuba on Wednesday.Paul Whitaker, coordinator of this initiative, which will celebrate half a century of existence next year, asserted that they had been preparing this trip for two years, because although they had been to 64 nations, the Caribbean island was missing.

Young artists of the United States, Mexico, Japan, Belgium, Holland, China, Finland and Sweden, among other countries, make up the delegation of this second semester of Up with the People, created in 1965 to unite the world by way of community work and music, and based in the U.S. city of Denver.

Santa Clara will be the first place where these amateur artists will hold exchanges with students and will offer live presentations at La Caridad Theater on October 17 and at the Leoncio Vidal park on October 19, from where they will travel to Havana to perform on October 23 and 24 at the Miramar Movie Theater and the Salon Rosado de la Tropical.

We’re much more than a show; we believe that providing the community with services changes your life and makes you grow in stature, that is why we tour the world educating new generations in tolerance, peace and coexistence through knowledge, concluded Whitaker.