EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT!

How Cubans Entertain Themselves

 

 

This Module Contains:

  • General DVD with 2.15 hours of digital footage of life in Cuba.

  • Topic-specific DVD with 3.40 hours of digital footage of entertainment in Cuba and how it reflects Cuba's unique culture and values.

  • Transcripts of all interviews.

  • Comprehensive background information and summary materials (sample) of the footage, including flowcharts (sample)

  • Cutting-edge curriculum: teaching unit supporting social science standards complete with class activities, grading rubrics, four Power Point presentations, lecture materials, graphic organizers, homework assignments, a video on how to use the footage, and student briefing materials. 

                                                                                                                                          

Rock On! The Cubans joke that sex is free and rum is cheap, so they make the best of both – but Cuban entertainment really revolves around friendship and community.  A game of dominoes on the street corner, an evening with friends on Havana’s sea front, or a goat-cart ride in the park – what do these events say about Cuban values?  In Cuba, all newspapers, television, the internet, and large public events are controlled by the government.  Does this increase or decrease the influence of mass media on the general population? How does their focus on low-cost, community-centered entertainment compare with the USA?

 

 

 

Teaching Unit Overview:  It’s all fun and games – but you really can learn an enormous amount about a society from how its citizens choose to amuse themselves.  Cuba lies just ninety miles off the coast of Florida and yet is largely insulated from the American entertainment behemoth.  What effect has this isolation had on the development of Cuban entertainment?  

The Romans called it Bread and Circuses.  The Spanish, Bread and Bullfights.  The Russians, Bread and Spectacle.  It means the use of government-sponsored entertainment as a means to divert or distract the public. How does the Cuban government use entertainment (national control of television, rock concerts, etc.) to influence Cuban values and beliefs? How important is it that most Cubans have so little spending money? How will it all change if Cuba and the United States reconcile? Does entertainment reflect or shape culture, values, and beliefs?

 

Footage Highlights:

  • Government-Sponsored Rock Concert

  • Malecon Street Party

  • Stilt Dancers and Goat Cart Rides

  • Local Cuban Music/Dance Show

  • Street Sports

  • Food - Street Vendors and Pizza Stands        

Licensing Fees

One-year, single classroom educational license: $250. Introductory price: $95.

Site license: contact Take 2

District license: contact Take 2