By Phillip Reese
preese@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jan. 19, 2009 | Page 3B
Laura Garcia sat on a couch stacked with dresses from 1950s Cuba,
surrounded by makeup artists and fresh-faced dancers, waiting to
re-create the happy moment 51 years ago when she met her husband.
"It's exciting but a little bit crazy," she said Sunday in a midtown
Sacramento ballroom. "After so many years, who would have thought?"
Laura has her daughter Maria to thank. About a year ago, Maria Garcia
came to her parents with an idea: She wanted to make a movie about their
family's life in Cuba before the communist revolution, and their
struggles to leave after Fidel Castro took over.
Her parents were surprised – Maria Garcia works at Intel and has never
made a film before. But they agreed.
"What they went through to get here was amazing," Maria Garcia said
Sunday. "They are my heroes."
Laura and Agustin Garcia met in 1957, two years before Castro came to
power. They fell in love and started a family, but, after the 1959
revolution, the world they knew crumpled around them.
"The children at school – they were told God doesn't exist," Laura
Garcia said. "They were taken to the fields to pick cotton. My kids
weren't going to pick cotton for everyone."
So the Garcias decided to leave. Agustin's brother was already in the
United States, and they would join him. They filed a visa application.
It would cost the family dearly.
While waiting for the visa to be approved, the relationship between the
United States and Cuba soured, leading to the Cuban missile crisis.
The Garcias were ostracized, unable to find work because of their
pending application to leave the country. Agustin had to sell whatever
he could find on the black market to feed his family.
Another brother, Melchor Alonso, tried to leave, too, but was caught and
thrown in prison, where he would remain for seven years.
"It's a very violent scene," said Miguel Balladares, a local resident
who is playing Melchor Alonso in Maria Garcia's movie. "The police
confront him. His kids and wife try to keep him from getting arrested."
Around the same time, a close friend of the Garcias lost her father,
husband and son while escaping Cuba on a boat – a story also to be told
in the film.
Finally, after 4 1/2 years in limbo, the Garcias were allowed to board a
freedom flight and come to America.
Things are happier now. The Garcias live in Hollister near Melchor
Alonso – he got out of prison and also made it to the United States.
Which brings them to a ballroom at 28th and K streets. Through a
Craigslist ad, Maria Garcia recruited a Sacramento dance group called
Salsa Crazee to dress up in 1950s costumes and makeup and come recreate
the dance where the Garcias met. The dance scene will go into a trailer
for her film that she will send to producers, hoping to get money for a
full-length feature.
After all these years, Laura Garcia said she feels a lot like she did in
1957 when she and Agustin first danced – happy.
And in one key way, nothing has changed.
"I'll dance the same as I did that night," she said.
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