Living in Miami, I’m well-acquainted with Cuban music, but I was surprised by the range of talent we enjoyed on this trip. From kids to professional groups, we saw and heard a wonderful cross-section.

One of the first we experienced was at Beyond Roots, a community center dedicated to Afro-Cuban culture. We learned a bit about the icons and music in Santeria worship, and enjoyed spirited drumming and dancing. They also had a beauty salon focused on African hairstyles, and a small shop featuring locally made items utilizing African fabrics. To top off the experience, they made us some excellent guava batidos from their refreshment counter.

My favorite entertainment of the trip was the professional group Havana Compass, which performed an exciting mash-up of flamenco infused with Afro-Caribbean beats. It was one part like the Broadway show Stomp, a dash of dramatic flamenco, combined with synchronized footwork like the Stepping originated by African-American college fraternities. The colorful, energetic performance was a real highlight for me. This troupe has performed around the world (and was in Tampa in 2016 when restrictions between our countries were eased a bit). During your travels, if you see they are performing – go! There is a video with a short sample at the end of this post.

Kids Show Off

On two occasions, we visited children. One group of fourth-graders in an afterschool program sang a quick song. They asked our group to sing back, and rather pitifully, our group responded with a very uncreative “Happy Birthday.” The other kids ranged from nine to teens at a neighborhood guitar center.  It may not have been where they wanted to be on a late Friday afternoon. They were shy and looked like they wished they were anywhere else. Some of the older girls were also teachers for younger kids in the program. One young lady sang and played a lovely version of “Quiero, Quiero, y Quiero.”

Getting Our Salsa On

Back to dancing – we went to a local studio, KubaSoy, and met a group of salsa aficionados. These folks had other jobs and clearly love to dance. They very patiently tried to teach our group to Salsa. The girls also showed us some performance numbers, but what I liked best was watching the group dance together – you could tell they were having fun and really enjoyed one another.

Cigars, Rum & a Violin

Another highlight was the incredibly talented violinist/singer who played for us as we enjoyed some Havana Club rum and tried Cuban cigars (no cigars for me). The performer was amazing. This was at Vi Humos Boutique, in a beautifully restored apartment leased from an owner living in El Salvador.  It was here I learned to play dominoes, and with a couple of excellent coaches, I won. I don’t think, however, I’ll be challenging Miami’s Calle Ocho players anytime soon.  

It was another occasion with no power, and Vi was very worried about her humidors, which she might have to move to a place with a generator if the outage continued. No one here knows when the rolling outages will occur or how long they will last.

Dinner Music

Our first dinner in Cuba set the pace with three wonderful guitarists playing in the background. We concluded the trip with rooftop dining on a beautiful, breezy evening at a neighboring hotel, while enjoying rhythms and songs provided by a nine-member ensemble. With violin, trumpet, trombone, flute, keyboard, drums, and vocalists, these kids were all multi-talented.

Tourist Shows

Just for tourists, the price of these shows includes drinks. At least we knew tickets bought with US dollars through certain intermediaries, meant some fees were shared with individuals.

On a free evening, we visited the Buena Vista Social Club ($35) after dinner (they serve dinner there, but I would not recommend it). Of course, it’s not the original BVSC – that was in a house and closed decades ago. But it honors similar traditional Cuban music – like what is currently featured in the new Broadway show of the same name. The seats were at tables and incredibly smashed up against one another (no fire code here). It was very uncomfortable, but the music was actually pretty enjoyable. We traveled by bicycle taxi, arranged by our Tour Director. That young man had to work hard to pedal us over the dark, badly broken, and uneven streets – but he did his best to make it as smooth as possible.

Yes, we did go to the Tropicana ($95), because after all, we were in Havana. It was a big disappointment. Really run down. And the usual open-air roof was closed for some reason. The show was very “thematic” and included representation of phases of Cuban history. At times, the dancers were performing to taped music, and the musicians were just standing in the background. These pictures actually make it look a lot nicer than it was.

There was an abandoned air about the place, since huge areas of the complex were vacant (maybe where a casino or another restaurant used to be?). In any case, I was glad to have seen it. We went after dinner at about 10 PM and stayed about an hour and a half (dinner is also available there, but again, wouldn’t advise it). The show apparently runs until 3 AM. Our table of 8 was able to take away two almost full bottles of good rum to gift to our local guide.

The highlight was rolling down the long drive and pulling up to the front entrance in a vintage convertible.

If you want to see a small part of Havana Compass in action, watch the following clip:

If you enjoyed this post, check out my other content about Cuba: Reflections Intro