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The
trip
In July 1999, I went to Santiago de Cuba with a group of 15 people
from Amsterdam. The trip was organized by Freddy Stuyver & Stephanie
of dance school Salsa Caliente,
together with the travel agency la Palma Real. We stayed
at private families that are licensed to rent one or more rooms
to tourists (casa particular). We got lessons in the morning
and were free to do whatever we wanted the rest of the day. Lessons
were given by William Danger, who runs a modern dance group in Santiago.
The trip was planned to be in the Carnaval period at the end of
July.
Lessons
We got lessons from 9.00 till 12.00 in the morning, with a few
days of rest in the weekend. William turned out to be an superb
teacher, which I found remarkable since there is no real tradition
of teaching popular dances in Cuba. Not only is he an excellent
dancer, he is also an exceptionally good communicator. He was constantly
aware of what everybody was doing, well structured, patient and
totally in control. We got lessons in Son, Casino, and Rueda de
Casino. We also got bits of Mambo, Chachachá, Rumba and Afro-Cuban
dances.
The Casino and Rueda de Casino were danced on 1, while the Son
was danced on 3. Son is traditionally danced on 2, but William prefers
to teach on 3 because it is easier to learn for most people. For
William, the different body technique is more important than the
different rhythm. I have had quite some lessons of Son in Amsterdam,
but only in Cuba did I get a good feeling for the technique. Unlike
Salsa, most of the movement in Son is in the shoulders. There is
little hip movement, and in the first step the knee is bend.
Carnaval on the town squares
During the Carnaval, there are traditional Son groups
on each of the town squares. The experience of listening to these
unknown groups playing without amplification for a only few people
was simply superb. Nothing could be more relaxing and chilling than
sitting in the shadow in the morning or afternoon, listening to this
beautiful music.
I remember one bolero, sung by a relatively young singer,
that made me feel peacefully and happy in a way I had never felt before.
Even the Cubans, whose response to the Son groups is usually minimal
at most, gave a small applause after the song ended by fading into
the quiet sound of the street. On another day, after having been to
the Carnaval until 4.30 am, I woke up with the sound of the clave:
it was a Son band on the tiny square next to my house.
After playing one or two songs, the band would often
pause for ten or fifteen minutes. Whenever they felt like it, they
would start again. The contrast between the setting for these performances
and the concerts of Son bands in Europe I have seen is simply enormous.
In Europe, these bands perform in large concert halls. I am sorry,
but they are so clearly out of place the whole thing is ridiculous.
Carnaval in the streets
While listening to one of the Son bands, I was approached by Alberto.
He had noticed that the movement of my hips was rather Cuban for
a tourist and, after some chatting about Salsa, offered to take
me to a place at the street Carnaval with Salsa music.
The contrast between the relaxed, quiet city squares with Son music
and the Carnaval in the streets couldn't have been greater. The
streets of the Sueño and Trucha areas were
filled with Cubans who were partying, dancing and drinking beer
and rum - day and night. The music was loud and often came from
people's private sound systems.
Alberto took me to a spot with Salsa music, and introduced me to
some of his friends. It was quite a shock to the Cubans that I -
the only tourist and white guy in calle K (K Street) - had
no problem dancing the Cuban style with this Cuban lady. Luckily,
I had just learned how to do so the night before at Cubanacan.
Carnaval at Cubanacan
During the night, the Carnaval in the streets continues.
However, there is also a festival called Cubanacan on the parking
lot of the Santiago stadium. We went to the Cubanacan with a number
of people from the dance group.
The first night featured Los Van Van, one of
the most popular bands in Cuba. Their hit-song La Cabeza Mala
has been one of my favorite songs for quite some time. In fact, the
first night I heard this song was when I went to the toilet at 5 a.m.-
and it was being played live. Some of the other local Timba bands
that played included Su Caribe (?) and Maravilla de Florida.
It took me about an evening to adjust to the Cuban style
of dancing. It is very different indeed, but my experience with Rueda
de Casino helped a lot. Furthermore, most Cuban girls never loose
a beat, and keep dancing no matter what happens. As a result it is
a lot of fun to experiment with the leading and following.
The second night, we were confident enough to do a 'Dutch'
Rueda de Casino with three couples. Because of the atmosphere and
the excellent live music, we were very inspired and danced like never
before. Freddy was calling commando's with machine gun speed. The
Cubans were very surprised and enthousiastic. The circle of spectators
quickly grew during the song. After the song the Cubans congratulated
us and asked were on earth we had learned to dance like that - a question
that we were going to hear over and over again.
We had not yet seen a lot of high level dancing, but
after our Rueda, some excellent Cuban dancers gave it their best shot.
One guy in particular was amazing: he danced with his partner and
with Stephanie (from our group). Now I have seen the 'one-guy-two-ladies-thing'
performed by Luis Vazquez (one of the best dancers from Los
Angeles), but this guy took it to a different level. He had so many
variations it was incredible. At one point, he asked for another partner
('otra!'), and started dancing with three girls and he actually pulled
it off!
The next night was more of the same, except that this
time we did our small Rueda right in front of the stage. The circle
of spectators got even bigger - hardly anyone was watching the band
anymore and we got a lot of applause (in contrast, the local band
didn't get any applause during the entire show). It was simply
a dream come true for all of us. Again, we saw some excellent dancing
after our Rueda - it seems that Cubans need to be provoked
to show what they really got :-). One short guy did some of the most
complex spaghetti moves I have ever seen and there was also a really
cool semi-improvised dance of two guys side by side. The first guy
was giving signals to the second one by holding and tapping his shoulder.
There were also some interesting performances on the
stage, including a spectacular combination of Salsa and Hip Hop. Finally,
there was a small dance contest for women, in which women from four
different countries danced with Cuban partners. The audience got to
pick the winner. For the first time in the history of Cubanacan (according
to the speaker) the winner was not the Cuban girl from Santiago,
but our very own Stephanie from Amsterdam.
The music
 The
Cubans love Merengue. By far the most popular song at the Carnaval this
year was Elvis Crespo's Suavemente. I heard this song
so many times, it kept on playing in my head for days. Techno and House,
or as the Cubans call it Discotheque, are also very popular,
especially with children. There was some Salsa as well, in particular
Marc Anthony, DLG, and Grupo Niche are quite popular.
Foreign music is not for sale in Cuba: everything is copied on tapes
over and over again.
Of course, the Cubans are also very much into Timba. Almost all the
live music I heard at the street carnaval was Timba. According to my
Cuban friend Alberto, the most popular band at the moment is Manolito
y su Trabuco. My personal recommendations are Los Van Van
latest CD Llego... Van Van and Manolito's Marcando la Distancia.
The Cubans are proud of their traditional culture, but unfortunately
they are not into dancing to Son music at all. If it weren't for the
tourists and some old people, I am afraid that there wouldn't be much
Son left.
The Cuban style of dancing
The Cuban style of dancing is called Casino. In
the Casino style, couples don't dance in the closed position (with the
man's right hand on the back of the lady). Rather, the basic movement
is the same as the Rueda de Casino. Man and woman move towards
and from each other holding one hand. With the other hand, a push is
made in the middle of the movement.
An advantage of the Casino style is that it gives more
freedom to the dancers to do different body movements and variations.
This is particularly nice with Timba music, since it has so many breaks
and variations. Almost everybody I have seen dances the Casino style,
even to Son music.
During turns, the Cuban women walk a lot, and most men
stay in more or less the same position. The women do their turns by
walking, and not by (partially) sliding as in the European and North
American styles. One obvious reason for this is that the Cubans dance
on the street and not on smooth dance floors. For the same reason, multiple
spins are not in the vocabulary of the the Cuban dancers. The women
like to dance separately during parts of the song. These periods are
used in particular to shake the hips and every other shakable body part.
Dave is adapting to the Cuban style.
I have seen many men with very rough and sometimes even
cruel leads, up to a point where I wondered why anybody wanted to dance
with these guys. The Cubans are also much more into being 'macho' during
the dance, which is particular evident from their facial expressions.
On the other hand, I have also seen some very smooth and relaxed dancers.
Clearly, there are different styles in Cuba as well.
For those who are aware of the 'dancing on 1,2,3 or 4
controversy', to my surprise most Cubans in Santiago danced on 3. I
have also seen people dance on 1. I haven't seen any dancing on 2, except
for demonstrations of traditional Son.
 In
general, the Cubans have great body movement and feeling for the music.
However, most men are not very creative when it comes to leading and
following. An explanation for this is that dancing in Cuba is just a
part of having a party. Cubans dance to socialize and enjoy the music.
Almost everybody dances and knows how to move, but only a few are interested
in being creative on the dance floor. Nevertheless, those who are creative
are of an exceptionally high level.
In Europe, dancing is what it is all about in the Salsa
scene: dancers take lessons and there are clubs that act as competitive
platforms to show your dancing skills. It is more difficult to learn
the Cuban body movement than it is to learn complex moves. As a result,
there are many dancers who move really bad but know a lot of spectacular
figures. Also, compared to the Cubans, most European dancers are totally
unaware of the music. I really enjoyed the fact that the Cubans sing
along with many of the songs while dancing.
It has often been said that one of the main differences
between Salsa dancing in Europe and in Latin America, is that Latinos
start dancing at a very early age. Indeed, I have seen some incredible
dance performances at the Afro-Cuban dance competition for children.
I have also been to a birthday party with lots of kids dancing the Cuban
way to house music - it was simply amazing.
 .
Finally
The Cuba trip was a tremendous experience. I have learned a lot about
dancing, music, and life itself. In this report, I have limited myself
to the dance and music, although other aspects of the country are
very interesting, although not always pleasant, as well.
My friends tell me I dance very differently since I am back. In fact,
I had a lot of troubling adapting back to the Amsterdam style of dancing
- more trouble than I had adapting in Cuba. I look forward to going
back some time next year.
A conga passes by 
The photos
were taken by Arthur.
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