Since the 1950s, Cuba and its people have remained veiled to the American public. But beginning tonight, Cuban culture comes to life in the form of sounds, sights and taste during classes people can take individually or as a series through Colorado Mountain College.

Starting tonight, classes will reveal Cuba today, as well as its history, through music, dance, food, art, film and more. Two of the instructors include a Front Range photographer, Ellie Ludvigsen, who visited Havana in December 2010 and a Cuban-born and raised DJ who works at Denver's Jazz 89 KUVO.

“We tried to put together an exciting group of people who had the expertise and interest to talk about this,” Ludvigsen said.

She will discuss Cuba from an artistic perspective tonight, while people like Arturo Gomez will prepare a variety of down-home dishes from Cuba, such as picadillo, arroz con pollo, camarones enchiladas and carne con papas Feb. 11. CMC professor Cesar Munoz will show and discuss the highlights of Cuban cinema March 10.

In referring to the architecture, Ludvigsen said:

“Not being a spring chicken myself, I often liken Old Havana to an old lady, growing older gracefully but not having things working quite right — but the bones are still beautiful.”

Classes will include small-group discussions and first-person insights about what the travelers went through to get to Cuba and “how things are beginning to change fairly rapidly,” Ludvigsen said, adding that there is more tolerance on both the American and the Cuban sides.

“It's important for not just Summit County but for everyone to become aware of what's going on in various places, especially Cuba ... because of the virtual blackout of information that appears, except from a political standpoint,” Ludvigsen said. “Yes, it's a poor country, but in many ways, people are doing quite well, and the changes that are happening politically are very interesting.”

How it came about

A number of events took place to organize the classes, presented by KUVO, the Colorado Mountain College (CMC) Center for Lifelong Learning, Jon Yamamoto Photography and Summit Public Radio & TV.

In December 2010, Front Range professional photographers Jon Yamamoto and Ludvigsen gained permission to travel to Cuba under the United State's strict regulations (as “researchers”), along with a group of Jazz 89 KUVO radio supporters. When they returned, they assembled an exhibit of photographs displaying the International Jazz Fest in Havana and had “enthusiastic reviews,” so the president of KUVO, Alfredo Cruz, thought it “would be a great thing to bring to Breckenridge,” he said. KUVO is a National Public Radio Station that Summit Public Radio and TV brings into Summit County from Denver, hence the connection.

“(He) has been interested in finding an opportunity to collaborate with SPRTV here in Summit County,” explained SPRTV president Sue Greene. “These photographs from the December 2010 International Jazz festival in Havana, Cuba, became the catalytic agent for this collaboration.”