*Coming soon
We will soon provide details of the best:
. Trova and Nueva Trova
. Rumba and folkloric
. Salsa and timba
. Son
. Bolero
. Classical
If you would like to contribute to the web-site, especially regarding one of the areas detailed above or have any comments or feedback regarding this section please do get in touch with us at CubaAbsolutely@gmail.com
We would also like to begin a music blog and give a forum to people interested in Cuban music.
Enigmatic "centaurs" with an urge to live
Dansomania Dance Company from Montpellier, France
Teatro Mella, Havana, April 2008
By Frank Vasconcelos
What is Dansomania?
Combining jazz dance with the most open trends of contemporary dance, Dansomania is one of the principal companies of Montpellierdanse. Since its creation in 1985, its director and choreographer, Anne-Marie Porras, has held a very particular interest in the individuality of the dancers and how they maximize themselves to become others.
The Narciso Medina Dance Company at the Mella Theatre: “Contemporary Vision”
By Frank Vasconcelos
Absent for several years from the big stages in Havana—its usual venue is the Favorito, a converted movie house with quite uncomfortable conditions for both audiences and dancers—the company founded and directed by dancer and choreographer Narciso Medina returned to the Mella Theatre with a program that included two new dances plus the piece that has been his trump card for more than two decades—Metamorfosis.
Inside Cuban Culture
by Chen Lizra
It was super hot outside and it felt so nice walking on the streets at night wearing so little. The soft wind felt like it was caressing my skin. The heat mixes with seduction and the Mojitos are so alcoholic that they make you tipsy. It’s hard to walk and not smile at life
read complete article .
The London Royal Ballet – Havana style new*
By FRANK VASCONCELOS
July 2009
The Royal Ballet’s first ever trip to Cuba marked many milestones and ticked many boxes but above all it was a triumphant homecoming for the magnificent Carlos Acosta (the Cuban lorry drivers son now a star with the Royal Ballet in London) and a tribute to the legendary Alicia Alonso (iconic Cuban legend and current artistic director of the principal Cuban Ballet). Above all perhaps it was simply a magnificent treat for the Cuban ballet aficionados.
15th July, the gala night marked exactly 63 years since Alicia Alonso danced Giselle together with André Eglevsky at Covent Garden when she was a principal star with the American Ballet Theater and was conceived as a tribute to her, as Dame Monica Mason, director of the Royal Ballet since 2002 explained:
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Cuba's beautiful, brilliant ballerinas—The 20th International balet festival
By Silvia Gomez (from 2007 print edition)
Balletomanes flock to the event from all over the world, for despite the Spartan conditions in which Cuban dancers train and rehearse and the threadbare state of the Gran Teatro's curtains, some of the very best ballet in the world is performed on its stage. Foreign companies are keen to recruit Cuban stars.The most famous example is Carlos Acosta, the lorry-driver's son whom his father enrolled in ballet classes to keep him out of trouble and who won the Prix de Lausanne at 16 years old. Now, as Principal Guest Artist with the Royal Ballet, he regularly sends Covent Garden audiences into ecstasies before nipping across the Atlantic to wow los habaneros.
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Dancing Columbia in Cuba - "Dale chica, vete pa' alla!"
By Tamina Oliva—December 2007
Raulito's voice cuts through the syncopated music, urgent and insistent. As he speaks, his hot breath fluttering on my ear, he indicates the stage with his head, gracefully arcing his neck. A thrill of excitement shivers through me, adrenalin surging from my gut. Excitement tinged with horror. I can't go up there, not in front of this audience, not after these performers. And especially not to dance columbia. What is he thinking?
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"mix of flamenco guitar and African rhythm that is the mother of Cuban dance music, guaguancó is an erotic rumba-";a vertical suggestion of a horizontal intention"-.
Lonely Planet 4th Edition
"Dance, from the earliest guaguancó to the mambo craze, has always been a potent expression of an enshrined national tradition: Cuban sensualism." Frommer's Cuba 3rd Edition
Timeless Cool: Jitterbug with the dancers of de Santa Amalia
By Conner Gorry—December 2007
In a far flung Havana neighborhood you've never heard of, there's an intoxicating monthly party where the USA and Cuba are old friends and the drug of choice is the jitterbug (or tap or boogie woogie depending on which addict you ask). Tonight the club is hopping: a dapper gent in Kangol cap and Nikes spins his lithe, smiling partner around the floor while the barman mixes another cocktail. Nearby, a couple spontaneously pops up and into the swing, making room for the two stepper, who's letting his happy feet fly
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