Miramar Theatre goes from strength to strength
MFFC news
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by Natasha Hickman
on: Thursday, 10 December 2015
Dance school students rehearsing before a gala performance at the Miramar Theatre
The Miramar Theatre has developed into a cherished cultural centre for both the surrounding community and students of the nearby national music and arts schools since reopening with Music Fund funding in 2012. Twenty permanent workers including a director, artistic advisor, programmer, cleaners, ushers and administrative staff oversee a busy mixed programme of community performances, touring shows by national and international artists, cinema, and graduation performances by students. The space is rarely empty and performances have risen from 90 in 2012 to 339 in 2014.
Rafael Peréz Malo, Vice president of the National Council of Performing Arts says that students from the schools use the space to rehearse and perform, providing them invaluable experience in front of live audiences. Subsidised ticket sales help to raise funds for the theatre’s general maintenance, however, Cuba’s cultural policy of ensuring affordable access to quality arts events means that the theatre receives 70 per cent of its funding directly from government, and all projects with the arts schools are fully funded.
“It is not our ethos to make money out of the arts” says Rafael, “Cuba’s cultural policy is to focus on the provision of free arts education to those who have talent, not money.”