Arts / Culture

A Chat with the Authors of "Home to Havana"

WUSF | By Steve Newborn

Published July 17, 2014 at 10:11 AM EDT

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Francisco Serrano, 17, an aspiring ballet dancer from Sarasota, performs at Havana's National Theater during an international ballet competition in Cuba, the land of his parents' birth. Though he has been dancing only four years, Serrano recently won a fu

Elaine Litherland / Sarasota Herald-Tribune

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Ariel Serrano, who defected from Cuba in 1993, watches students playing soccer in the median outside the Cuban National Ballet School in Havana. "In my day, it was baseball," he recalled.

Elaine Litherland / Sarasota Herald-Tribune

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Studios at the Cuban National Ballet School have "floating" floors that ease wear and tear on dancers' legs; their wood surfaces have been dulled by thousands of practice steps and by rosin, the substance dancers on their shoes use to avoid slipping.

Elaine Litherland / Sarasota Herald-Tribune

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Ariel Serrano congratulates his son, Francisco

Elaine Litherland / Sarasota Herald-Tribune

A reporter and photographer from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune took their first trip to Cuba recently. Dance critic and arts writer Carrie Seidman and photographer-videographer Elaine Litherland covered a Sarasota ballet troupe taking part in an international dance competition.

They documented the life of Ariel Serrano, who defected to the U.S. in 1993 and found his way to Sarasota. His 17-year-old son, Francisco, the only American ever to dance in the April event, followed in his dad's footsteps, and danced his way to the gold medal.

Click HERE to read their series, "Home to Havana," and view a video on their trip to Cuba.