Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Performers file for asylum

Cast members of Stardust's `Havana Night Club' fear reprisals if they return to Cuba

"Havana Night Club" entertainers perform at the Stardust Monday night. It was the first performance since 43 of the Cuban dancers, singers and musicians filed for asylum earlier in the day at the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse in Las Vegas. Photo by Craig L. Moran. "Havana Night Club" cast members cheer at a news conference Monday on the steps of the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse. Forty-three members of the troupe filed for asylum in the United States. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

Forty-three Cuban dancers, singers and musicians marched up the steps of the federal courthouse and filed for asylum in the United States on Monday.

Cast members of "Havana Night Club," a revue that returned Monday to the Stardust, said they want to stay in the United States because they fear reprisals from Cuban authorities upon their return.

If granted asylum, as immigration experts expect, they hope to make Las Vegas their home.

The entertainers said Cuba's communist government had tried to prevent them from performing in the United States, denying them permission to leave as a group and requiring them to file for travel abroad individually.

"They told us that if we left, we should know we'd never be able to return and be artists," Ivan Ramos, a 30-year-old dancer and singer with the troupe, said later in Spanish while taking a break from rehearsals. "They didn't really give us much choice."

Lala Montes, a 28-year-old singer and dancer, said most of the members of the group had been with the National Ballet of Cuba or the National Folkloric Group of Cuba before joining "Havana Night Club." Montes said she danced for a state-sponsored cabaret.

"I don't think they thought we'd actually all do this for our dance company," Montes said of their decision to file for asylum. "We want to continue with the show."

The revue showcases the musical and cultural richness of Cuba through music and elaborately choreographed singing and dance performances.

Nicole "N.D." Durr, the German producer and director of the show, said the dancers made their decision to ask for asylum "with sorrow but with firm resolve."

She called the move a historic effort by the performers who range in age from 19 to 32.

"They want to have a future and they know that when they go back to Cuba, they won't have a future," she said.

The group had permission from the Cuban government to perform abroad, and had taken the show to 16 other countries, Durr said.

When the group returned to Cuba to seek permission for performing in the United States, Durr said she was kicked out of the country and the troupe had a "major struggle" to get permission to travel to the United States. The members slowly entered the country as they received permission to leave one by one.

"They (Cuban officials) said `Havana Night Club' no longer existed and that if the dancers left, they'd have to pay the consequences, basically that when they came back, their life as artists will not be the same," Durr said.

Seven other cast members now in Germany filed for asylum in the United States in September and learned Monday it had been granted, Durr said. They are expected to arrive in Las Vegas today.

Pamela Falk, a City University of New York professor who advises the troupe on immigration matters, said at least two cast members have decided to return to Cuba because they have dependent children, and one had not made up his mind.

Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto told The Associated Press last summer that there was a problem in the group's break from its previous working relationship with the Cuban government writers and artists union known as UNEAC.

Cuban officials didn't return late calls for comment.

Durr said the group had become like family in the six years since she founded the show, and that the defection had its roots in her banishment from Cuba last year. Several performers said the dispute was over the group's independence from the government.

Etiel Sereno, 28, said the Cuban government seized the group's musical instruments and sound equipment, all of which had been bought by Durr.

"Here we were, promoting our Cuban culture across the globe, and not even a thank you," Sereno said.

David Thronson, co-director of the immigration law clinic at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said the asylum applications will be sent to the Asylum Office in Anaheim, Calif. The U.S. government will have 180 days to give the applicants individual interviews.

He said the Cubans also qualify for permanent residency status when they've been in the country one year, under the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966.

"Because they're Cuban, they have pretty good prospects of staying in the United States," he said.

Ariel Machado, the 33-year-old manager of the troupe who delivered the 43 asylum applications to the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse, said he likely would face incarceration if he returned to Cuba for his participation with the troupe. He said he might be accused of inciting the group of young performers to seek asylum.

"But this was very much a personal and individual decision for each one of us," he said, adding that all the performers have family members in Cuba.

"We hope nothing happens against our families," said Lala Montes. "We have been able to talk with our families and they understand."

Although the performers are certain of the show's success, it is unclear what its future will be in Las Vegas.

The show has no commitment from the Stardust or any other Las Vegas casino beyond Jan. 11.

Stardust officials said the showroom's scheduling is still up in the air because of negotiations with primary headliner Wayne Newton. Other dates are held until Newton's schedule for the year is set.

The revue had moderate ticket sales during its first two engagements, Stardust officials said. But the first run was hampered by confusion about if and when the show would open, and a return date last month came with little lead time for advertising and publicity.

Elsewhere in the resort corridor, only the Sahara and Las Vegas Hilton are openly seeking a show for next year. Officials with both casinos on Monday said they had no serious negotiations for the revue.

Review-Journal writer Mike Weatherford contributed to this report.