Conjunto Folklórico Nacional de Cuba
Founded in 1962 to delve into and recover certain manifestations of traditional popular Cuban culture, the outcome has been a current repertoire of over 70 productions dedicated to Afro-Cuban dance and music, especially those that represent the Yoruba, Congo and Abakuá dieties, rumba and comparsas, typical Cuban country music and popular dances, among others. Afro-Cuban ethnologist and writer/poet Rogelio Martínez Furé, Mexican choreographer Rodolfo Reyes and a group of exceptionally talented dancers and singers with no previous formal education in their arts, including Lázaro Ross, Nieves Fresneda and Zenaida Armenteros, are all founding members of the company. Formed today by graduates from the National School of Arts and directed by Manolo Micler, the company preserves the legacy of its founders and has incorporated new acting and choreographic trends without losing its popular essence. The company has travelled widely to the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia with more than 90 tours and almost 2,000 performances plus a significant number of national and international awards under its belt. Every Saturday afternoon, loyal fans and the general public get together at the courtyard attached to the Mella Theatre, the company's home, to 'rumba away' with its dancers. FolkCuba is organized twice a year in January and July for lessons in Cuban dance and music, percussion and other related subjects.
Ballet Folklórico de Oriente
This was the first folk dance company established in Cuba in 1959 in what was then the province of Oriente, the easternmost region of the island, to research and preserve national traditional Cuban roots through dance, especially those particular to this region, which exhibits a strong French-Haitian influence uncommon in other places in Cuba. Directed today by dancer, choreographer and teacher Milagros Ramírez, the company's works reflect African ancestors in productions dedicated to the orishas or gods from the Yoruba pantheon, to Haitian rites and celebrations, and to popular Cuban dances.
Ballet Folklórico de Camagüey
Under the artistic and general direction of Reynaldo Echemendía, this company was founded in 1991 to compile and disseminate the island's folk traditions, especially those of the central region, incorporating them into productions with a contemporary language. Its repertoire includes over 40 pieces which display its dance and musical excellence acknowledged in renowned national and international festivals where critics have emphasized their outstanding work and stage design.
Ban Rará
Founded in 1994, it has since then been directed by choreographer and teacher Isaías Rojas and has focused on the music, songs and dances of the Haitians who during the 18th century settled in the territory that today comprise the provinces of Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba. The virtuosity of its dancers, graduates of the National School of Arts, their use of ribbons and machetes and the theatricalization of elements of the French tumba, expressions of Yoruba origin, forms such as the nengón and Cuban country dances, as well as son, give this company a very personal quality with regards to the rest of the dance companies in Cuba.
INTRODUCTION
The first known manifestation of dance and music in Cuba was a ceremony called areito performed by the island's indigenous population, but due to their rapid extinction, they left no substantial cultural traces; it would be Spaniards and Africans who would shape the individualities of a people who, since colonial times, from slaves' quarters to aristocratic halls, would exhibit a true passion for dance. During the 19th century, performances by professional dancers-both Spanish folk dances and ballet-in Havana's theatres would reinforce this gusto for
dance, which remains to this day. However, Cuba's first ballet company was created during the 1940s by Alicia Alonso, and only after 1959 would modern dance groups and other ensembles which dramatized folk dances appear. For the first time, these disciplines were taught in a systemic manner; thus, theatricalized dance is a relatively recent phenomenon. At present, there are around 50 dance companies, and new companies continue proliferating in keeping with the love for dance of the Cuban people.
Cuban Music
Cuban Music
