# Miriam Muñoz Benítez **Date of birth:** January 29, 1947 **Categories:** theater, Society An actress with a long and prolific career, she has obtained seven national awards for best female performance. She is evaluated as a first-rate dramatic actress and currently works as an actress and artistic director of the Icarón Theater Group, Matanzas. She has participated in different national and international events as an actress, professor, and jury member. Among the multiple recognitions acquired, it is worth highlighting the Distinction for National Culture and she has maintained the condition of National Vanguard for 13 consecutive years, in addition she has been awarded the Medal for the Tercentenary of the City, the Nicolás Guillén Diploma and the Provincial Prize for Community Culture. She has received on two occasions Grand Prize and Prize for stage production at national theater events. Native of Matanzas Province. Of self-taught training, since childhood she participates in various artistic activities, always receiving the support of her maternal grandmother Otilia Fernández. During the course of her artistic career she has received acting workshops with teachers such as Patricia Ariza, Santiago García, Miguel Gutiérrez, Franklin Gaicedo, Flora Lauten, Albio Paz. She has taken classes with Israel Moliner, Nelson Dorr and Daniel Marcos on other topics related to theater and music. Her professional debut in theater occurred in 1967 at the Guiñol de Matanzas, performing theater for children and adults. During this period, she also worked in the Professional Choir of Matanzas, in the musical groups Los Miki and Los Noctámbulos, in the children's program Carrusel, of the Provincial Radio Station Radio 26, under the direction of Roberto Tápanes. In 1998, after working for some time in the Dramatic Ensemble, current El Mirón Cubano, she returned to the Papalote project again under the direction of René Fernández Santana. Since her beginning in theater she has played various characters for adult and children audiences with works by Cuban and universal authors including: René Fernández Santana, Federico García Lorca, José Jacinto Milanés, José Ramón Brene, Nicolás Dorr, Alonso Alegría, Albio Paz, Gilberto Subiaurt, José Ignacio Cabrujas, Abel González Melo and Ulises Rodríguez Febles. For her acting work for adults she has received the most important awards of the performing arts in Cuba. In the early nineties she founded an Acting Workshop that was attended by numerous children and young people, a source for arts schools and for Matanzas professional groups and with which she conducted outstanding community work, especially in the La Marina neighborhood and in the rescue of the Teatro Principal de Matanzas, the oldest Matanzas theatrical institution. Currently she has expanded said Acting Workshop to all neighborhoods and municipalities of Matanzas at the current headquarters of the old Cine Moderno with the Theater Wings Project, sponsored by UNEAC and the Center for Exchange and Reference on Community Initiatives (CIERIC) with outstanding and recognized participation in regional and national competitions. From 2002 onwards she formalizes her Icarón Theater Project, headquartered at the Teatro Principal de Matanzas. Currently this headquarters is located in the old Cine Moderno of Matanzas. Distinctions, Medals and Recognitions • She is an Honorary Member of the Hermanos Saíz Association. • She belongs to the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. • She has obtained more than 50 diplomas from different institutions for her contributions to national culture. • She possesses the Seal of the Laureates and the Teatro Sauto Distinction. • She possesses the distinctions Tercentenary of the City, the Raúl Gómez García and 20 years of the creation of the Houses of Culture. • In 1993 she obtains the Order for National Culture and in a solemn ceremony she was presented with the Symbol of the City of Matanzas. • She has been delivered the Quinqué from Ediciones Vigía for unconditional aid and constant collaboration with Ediciones Vigía. • She has obtained special recognitions for her recent collaboration in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Internationalist Missions and Participation in International Events In 1993 she teaches an Acting workshop for three months at the Itzamná school, Cancún, Mexico. That same year she was at Las Romerías de Santiago de Compostela, Spain. In 1986 she visited Berlin, Germany. In 1993 she participated in the Festival of Performing Arts of Cancún. From 1993 to 1997 she participated in the María Pita Festivals, Spain. She participated in the Monologue Festival of Cancún, Mexico. She was at the Theater Festival of the East, Venezuela, in 1995 and in Colombia, 1997. In the year 2000 she participated in the Children's Theater Festival of Mexico. In 2006 she is invited to the Festival of Small Theaters of southern Germany, where she also taught classes for two months. In 2009 she participates in the Culture Deep in the Heart mission in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, conducting multidisciplinary creative workshops that ended in children's show productions. In 2011 she participates representing Cuba in the XII edition of Otoño Azul, International Theater Encounter Argentina 2011, with the work "Las Penas que a mí me matan" Stage Productions She has carried out more than 100 stage productions, among which the following stand out: La Divina Tragedia, 1974 Petición de mano, 1975 "Los Soldaditos de la Salud", 1978 Ha Llegado un Inspector, 1978 A danzonar, 1979 Luzgarda explotó, 1980 El Huerto Escolar, 1981 La Emboscada, 1981 La Leyenda Arará Afra, 1982 Santa Juana de las América, 1982 Mi onda es la de David, 1982 Cordelia de Pueblo en Pueblo, 1983 Un cuento de Allá, 1984 El Cruce sobre el Niágara, 1984 Trece Locos de Películas, 1985 El Gato de Chinchila o la Locura a Caballo, 1987 Una Historia de Amor, 1990 El Circo de los Pasos, 1990 Las Penas a Mí me Matan, 1991 El Sexo y yo, 1992 Pasos Callejeros, 1993 Chúo Gil y las Tejedoras, 1994 Variedades, 1994 El Año que Viene, 1995 El Gato Manchado y la Golondrina Siñá, 1996 Llegaron los Zancudos, 1996 Edith, 1997 Bromibromeando, 1997 Feo, 1999 Los Amores de Don Perlimplín y Belisa en su jardín, 1999 Los Ibeyes y el Diablo, 2000 Circo de Sueños, 2000 Flores de Papel, 2001 Charlot, 2002 Caliente, caliente que te quemas, 2003 La Ventana Tejida, 2004 Sueño de una noche a lo Cubano El Vuelo del Gato El día que me quieras She also acted in different works such as: Little Red Riding Hood The Old Yellow Locomotive The Pied Piper of Hamelin Friendship and Peace The Happy Whim Three Stories of Animals Petición de mano Las Pericas The Agony of the Deceased El Run Run Noah's Ark El Conde Alarcos El Mirón Cubano Fragata On the Strange and Anachronistic Adventure of Don Quixote in a Caribbean Isle, in addition to having ventured into the artistic direction of her Project. Awards Obtained Prize as a distinguished theater artist. Ministry of Culture and Communist Party of Cuba, 1985 Segismundo Prize for best female performance at the IV National Monologue Festival, 1991 UNEAC Prize for best female performance at the IV National Monologue Festival, 1991 Prize for Best Live Performance. Guanabacoa Festival, 1996 Laurel Crown of the Avellaneda, for best female performance. VII Festival de Camaguey Work Edith, 1998 Francisco Escudero Prize from the Camagüey UNEAC for best performances Work Edith. Festival de Camaguey, 1998 Honorable Mention Caricatos Prize of UNEAC. Work "Edith", 1999 Prize for stage production and acting prize at the II Small Format Festival of Havana, 2000 Work Flores de Papel Prize for stage production, acting, work "La Ventana Tejida", 2005 Nomination for the Caricatos Prizes, 2007 Lifetime Calzada de Tirry Prize to the Most Popular Actress Prize for best female performance with the work Where Only Forgetfulness Was from the XXI Meeting of Cine-clubs. Terry Prize for best actress, 2011. Audience Prize for best female performance, Argentina, 2011, with the production of a contemporary version of the classic Romeo and Juliet.