Our speaker for January 5 - Bill Hendricks

Bill Hendricks and Shaena Singer gave a delightful presentation regarding a project they are working on that will take place in Cuba.  Bill has been a professor of photography for 21 years and is currently working at Ventura College.  He also does a variety of projects for the advertising industry and shows some of his work in galleries. Bill has made approximately 46 trips to Cuba.  Shaena is a senior at Foothill Technology School.  She intends to study pre-med in college.  Shaena is a ballerina who has loved dancing since she was four years old.

Bill, Shaena, Bill’s daughter Madison, and another teenager, Savannah, have developed a project in which the three girls will travel to Cuba for four weeks and train at one of the highly respected dance schools, ProDanza, in Havana.  The girls will study for approximately 40 hours per week.  During this time, they will share an apartment in the Havana neighborhood of Kohly.  A chef will be available to prepare meals for the girls.

This entire cultural project will be video taped and eventually turned into a documentary.  The Cuban government has already approved the project and the girls are set to leave on June 20, 2012.  Bill will travel with the girls to oversee the project and ensure their safety.  It is anticipated that the documentary will eventually be available for viewing on the internet at www.cubadanceproject.com.  In the meantime, you can find information about the project at that website. 

The cost to send the girls to Cuba to participate in this project is approximately $12,000.  Bill and the girls have already raised $7,000 and are hoping to raise an additional $5,000 by April 15, 2012.  If you are interested in donating to this project, you may contact Bill by e-mail through the above-referenced website. 

We thank Bill and Shaena for sharing this project with us and wish them great success.

Deborah A. Perkins