Arsenio Rodriguez and the Transnational Flows of Latin Popular Music (Studies In Latin America & Car)

Book Description

Arsenio Rodríguez was one of the most important Cuban musicians of the twentieth century. In this first scholarly study, ethnomusicologist David F. García examines Rodríguez's life, including the conjunto musical combo he led and the highly influential son montuno style of music he created in the 1940s. García recounts Rodríguez's battle for recognition at the height of "mambo mania" in New York City and the significance of his music in the development of salsa. With firsthand accounts from relatives and fellow musicians, Arsenio Rodríguez and the Transnational Flows of Latin Popular Music follows Rodríguez's fortunes on several continents, speculating on why he never enjoyed wide commercial success despite the importance of his music.

García focuses on the roles that race, identity, and politics played in shaping Rodríguez's music and the trajectory of his musical career. His transnational perspective has important implications for Latin American and popular music studies.

Customer Reviews:

Arsenio Rodríguez bio.......2007-06-10

The book all of us Arsenio-ologists have been waiting for, the discography and sidemen info are worth the double its sale price alone....

Great Resource and Interesting Read.......2006-11-21

What a treasure to have an English-language resource that shines light on this important figure, a man who was, and is, simultaneously revered and neglected. The source of many of salsa's most enduring innovations, Arsenio Rodriguez' contributions spanned the mambo era and found resonance when this music re-emerged later as "salsa." Garcia does a fine job of illuminating this for the reader. It should not surprise Americans, as Garcia points out, that these innovations were inspired by Arsenio's profound understanding of Cuba's African traditions. Most refreshing, however, is finding an author who also understands the importance of Arsenio's music as "music for dance." Garcia engages his reader on this point and drives home the critical relationship between Arsenio's music and the dancers, and the importance of this rapport in energizing and sustaining his innovations. Arsenio emerges in this biography as a critical voice in dispelling an entrenched notion that music for dancing cannot be serious music (I am reminded of Ned Sublette's "dancing is an intense listening state," from Cuba and its Music.) And Garcia makes this statement forcefully.

I also applaud Garcia's dissection of this musician/dancer connection--one that is enlivened by interviews with musicians and dancers. He missteps, however, in his definition of the son montuno "basic step." What he describes is more likely a "variation"--one that reflects the inventive styling and footwork of dancers responding to the push and pull of Arsenio's "clave feel." Son montuno was indeed danced using timing that Cubans call "contratiempo." Garcia's analysis of that timing, however, is simply too idiosyncratic.

Overall, this book is substantive. It presents English-language readers with another important resource in moving the discussion of Afro-Cuban music and dance (including salsa), and its West African roots, forward.

Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub

Average customer rating:

While Waiting for the Movie, read this book!
Seeing early Cuba through two women's eyes
A Movie Waiting To Be Made!
A Temple to the Goddesses of Flesh
Tropicana Nights

Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub
Rosa Lowinger , and Ofelia Fox
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156032600

Book Description

At Tropicana you could play the roulette wheel, dance to the latest mambo or rumba, or simply ogle the parading goddesses of the flesh. It was the brightest jewel in 1950s Cuban nightlife, and Nat “King” Cole, Liberace, Josephine Baker, and Carmen Miranda performed there before audiences that included Ernest Hemingway, Marlon Brando, and Joan Crawford.

In Tropicana Nights, Rosa Lowinger and Ofelia Fox, widow of Martin Fox, the club’s last owner, take us back to its glory years. Ofelia, the “first lady” of Tropicana, shares her memories, undimmed by decades of exile, with Rosa Lowinger, also a Cuban exile, whose parents frequented the club in its heyday. Together, Lowinger and Fox vividly portray the cultural richness and roiling social problems of pre-Revolutionary Cuba and take the reader on a tour of one of the world’s most glamorous venues at its most brilliant moment.

Customer Reviews:

While Waiting for the Movie, read this book!.......2007-07-28

Tropicana Nights brings to life the second most famous nightclub of the 20th century, and the events of the Castro revolution. Rosa Lowinger weaves into the story just enough personal history to give context to all the larger events. Details are included when they are relevant to the story told, but the story is allowed to move along quickly, and this book is entertaining and illuminating. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to get an idea of what pre-revolutionary Havana was like, whether or not they are interested in nightclubs. My parents, who often went to Tropicana, said that the book tells it like it was. The book also includes wonderful vintage photos.

Seeing early Cuba through two women's eyes.......2007-02-20

Tropicana Nights gives the reader a sense of what life was like in Havana during the 1940s and 1950s. The Tropicana nightclub embodied the creativity and glamour of that era.

Tropicana still exists in Havana today. In the 1940s and 50s, it was a nightclub, cabaret and casino. It hosted performers such as Nat "King" Cole, Ginger Rogers and Liberace. Its audience was composed of the rich and famous, politicians and people wanting a special night out. Tropicana consistently met and raised people's expectations. The shows were legendary due to the imaginative choreography, live animals and beautiful Tropicana models.

This book is a collaboration of two women who are brought together to tell Tropicana's story. Ofelia Fox is the widow of Martin Fox who owned the Tropicana from 1950-1962. Rosa Lowinger was born in Havana but raised in Miami. As they work together on the book, some issues are raised.

Rosa and Ofelia have different views on Cuban politics. Ofelia claims that both Batista and Castro are dictators. Rosa must be sensitive about what she writes about Castro or risk being denied entry back into Cuba.

Rosa is curious about the possible Mob involvement at Tropicana. Ofelia and Martin went to Trafficante's daughter's wedding and were personally entertained by Frankie Carbo (a hit man for Bugsy Siegel in the 1930s) when they visited New York. Ofelia maintains that this was just a good business relationship. but Rosa isn't so sure. It is up to the reader to decide who is right.

There are also questions about Ofelia's relationship with her roommate (Rosa Sanchez). They have been together for more than 30 years yet when asked, Ofelia states that Rosa is a close friend but they are not a couple.

Lowinger has written a book that reads like a juicy novel. She has a great writing style, I kept turning the pages to find out what happened next. After reading the personal anecdotes and seeing the photos, I felt like I knew the various characters (the showgirls, the dancers and roulette dealers). I also enjoyed finding out what happened to everyone in recent years.

Armchair Interviews says: Come spend some time at the Tropicana and find out why it was paradise under the stars.

A Movie Waiting To Be Made!.......2006-09-16

Rosita Lowinger brings Cuba in the '40s and '50s to vibrant life in this excellent book. Anybody interested in learning about the island of Cuba should read it, because it's chock-full of historical facts. In addition, you learn all about the politics, the music, the cabaret circuit, the culture, even the Mafia connections! Rosita is an excellent writer who puts lots of "sabor" in her prose. I hope she's working on the screeplay right now. You cannot put the damn book down! It's easily the best I've read all year.

A Temple to the Goddesses of Flesh.......2006-04-03

Lowinger, Rosa and Ofelia Fox 2005 Tropicana Nights. The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub. Harcourt, Orlando, New York, London ISBN 0151012245

This is a very exciting and interesting book, well worth reading. Personally I found this book, "Tropicana Nights", by chance and in it my distant cousin Leonela Gonzalez.

In my recall it is Cuba in the 1950. Leonela is six years older than I, Professor of Ballet, student of Alicia Alonzo and showgirl in La Tropicana; she sings professionally. She is all curves, raven black hair, smooth skin, full lips, high cheek bones, jet eyes. She is 5 foot four and less than 120 pounds, but towers over me in her high heels. I stutter but cannot speak, so drunk on her presence I cannot talk, unable to take her extended hand, I mere give a judo bow. She is one of the goddesses of flesh.

We are family, both of us great grandchildren of Leonela Enamorado Cabrera, that brave and graceful Taina woman who was consort of the great general Calixto Garcia at the time of the fullest power of his fiery warrior strength. Grandfather was child of Leonela Enamorado's passionate war time love match; Leonela Gonzalez is fruit of the descendents of a later formal marriage.

Thus I read this book intensely, trying to better understand things past. The authors have compiled oral history and compared it to the record of scholarly and popular writings on the matter. Lowinger and Fox have struggled, as all honest authors must on books about Cuba, to eliminate propaganda. What has come of this is a beautifully detailed, well written, hypnotically fascinating and engrossing book on the Havana Nightclub "La Tropicana."

The book presents the scene and the lives the actors of that place against a background of Cuban history. And it does that with remarkable accuracy, there are a few errors: as a University of Havana student, Castro did his first killings when he belonged to the "the trigger happy" Unin Insurreccional Revolucionaria (UIR) not Masferrer's Movimiento Socialista Revolucionario (MIR). The official Cuban Communist Party had very little to do with war against Batista until the last few months, quite the contrary it frequently supported that regime by providing information on resistance groups. The presence of Tano racial mix and culture, now clearly demonstrated by DNA studies, is glossed over yet both Batista and Leonela had such ethnic roots; the word Guajiro is taken from the original Taino word.

These authors of "Tropical Nights" explain that those who visit Cuba are not welcomed to return if they write the mildest criticism of the Government. They honestly point out such details as that the nomenklatura of the Castro government, took over and keep well painted the residences of the upper class, while the residences of most of the population are crowded and in disrepair.

As the Lowinger and Fox point out, contrary to official Cuban government propaganda in the Tropicana then these goddesses were not available to the clientele, for there were enough such places in Havana. The goddesses' loves of after hours which were then private matters are clearly presented. There were Mafia gangsters there, but they fearful of losing their comfortable residence in Cuba, limited their activities to providing gambling advice and were mere toothed minnows when compared to the far more numerous and lethal Batista goons. Don't keep on reading this, go buy this book!!!!!!!

Tropicana Nights.......2006-02-05

Tropicana Nights shows the views of two Cuban women from different generations who politically disagree, but are brought together by their love for Cuban culture, particularly the Tropicana Nightclub. This book provides an insider's view on the intrigue, gambling, music and dance of a place that holds an almost mythical place in the history of Cuba.

Rumba: Dance and Social Change in Contemporary Cuba (Blacks in the Diaspora)

Average customer rating:

"a piece of work"
A superb book!

Rumba: Dance and Social Change in Contemporary Cuba (Blacks in the Diaspora)
Yvonne Daniel
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 025320948X

Customer Reviews:

"a piece of work".......2003-08-01

Dr. Daniel's study of rumba as a vehicle for social change is a masterful work, as are the anthropological films she has produced regarding both Afro-Cuban and Haitian religious traditions. I look forward to reading more of her texts.

A superb book!.......1999-10-23

Everything you ever wanted to know about rumba, but were afraid to ask, is in this book. The reader will find the book to be an important study of this folkloric dance. I truly enjoyed reading this book. Highly recommended!

From Afro-Cuban Rhythms to Latin Jazz (Music of the African Diaspora)

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From Afro-Cuban Rhythms to Latin Jazz (Music of the African Diaspora)
Raul A. Fernandez
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520247086

Book Description

This book explores the complexity of Cuban dance music and the webs that connect it, musically and historically, to other Caribbean music, to salsa, and to Latin Jazz. Establishing a scholarly foundation for the study of this music, Raul A. Fernandez introduces a set of terms, definitions, and empirical information that allow for a broader, more informed discussion. He presents fascinating musical biographies of prominent performers Cachao López, Mongo Santamaría, Armando Peraza, Patato Valdés, Francisco Aguabella, Cándido Camero, Chocolate Armenteros, and Celia Cruz. Based on interviews that the author conducted over a nine-year period, these profiles provide in-depth assessments of the musicians' substantial contributions to both Afro-Cuban music and Latin Jazz. In addition, Fernandez examines the links between Cuban music and other Caribbean musics; analyzes the musical and poetic foundations of the Cuban son form; addresses the salsa phenomenon; and develops the aesthetic construct of sabor, central to Cuban music.
Copub: Center for Black Music Research

Average customer rating:

good intro to the music scene in Havana
Loved it
The beat of modern Cuba throbs on every page
Be Over It.

Last Dance in Havana
Eugene Robinson
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743246225

Book Description

In power for forty-four years and counting, Fidel Castro has done everything possible to define Cuba to the world and to itself -- yet not even he has been able to control the thoughts and dreams of his people. Those thoughts and dreams are the basis for what may become a post-Castro Cuba. To more fully understand the future of America's near neighbor, veteran reporter Eugene Robinson knew exactly where to look -- or rather, to listen. In this provocative work, Robinson takes us on a sweaty, pulsating, and lyrical tour of a country on the verge of revolution, using its musicians as a window into its present and future.

Music is the mother's milk of Cuban culture. Cubans express their fondest hopes, their frustrations, even their political dissent, through music. Most Americans think only of salsa and the Buena Vista Social Club when they think of the music of Cuba, yet those styles are but a piece of a broad musical spectrum. Just as the West learned more about China after the Cultural Revolution by watching From Mao to Mozart, so will readers discover the real Cuba -- the living, breathing, dying, yet striving Cuba.

Cuban music is both wildly exuberant and achingly melancholy. A thick stew of African and European elements, it is astoundingly rich and influential to have come from such a tiny island. From rap stars who defy the government in their lyrics to violinists and pianists who attend the world's last Soviet-style conservatory to international pop stars who could make millions abroad yet choose to stay and work for peanuts, Robinson introduces us to unforgettable characters who happily bring him into their homes and backstage discussions.

Despite Castro's attempts to shut down nightclubs, obstruct artists, and subsidize only what he wants, the musicians and dancers of Cuba cannot stop, much less behave. Cubans move through their complicated lives the way they move on the dance floor, dashing and darting and spinning on a dime, seducing joy and fulfillment and next week's supply of food out of a broken system. Then at night they take to the real dance floors and invent fantastic new steps. Last Dance in Havana is heartwrenching, yet ultimately as joyous and hopeful as a rocking club late on a Saturday night.

Customer Reviews:

good intro to the music scene in Havana.......2005-03-05

The book is an easy read and gives a good feel of Havana in the last few years, especially as regards the music scene. Robinson's ability in capturing the atmosphere, more than anything else, earns him points. The often-made claim that music and culture are intimately tied together in Cuba is given substantial anecdotal evidence based on observation and interviews. His knowledge of the Cuban music scene prior to the advent of rap in the late 90's seems sketchy though, and the book could certainly have been helped with more research here.
Robinson also scores by pondering the intriguing question of whether music might be the source for a nascent civil society in Cuba, though the idea is not entirely new.
His penchant for Afro-Cuban culture and the problematics of racism has its merits, though his presentation of these being the most urgent and potentially boat-rocking social issues lose a little of their thrust when considering that most of his narrative takes place in Havana, and to a lesser extent Santiago and Matanzas, all of them bastions of Afro-Cuban culture. His North American optic is overly obvious at times, and he actually devotes a chapter to US exiles in Cuba.
Unfortunately, Robinson is prone to exaggeration and over-simplified evaluations that he serves en passant as offhand remarks. In quite a few instances, what is passed off as factual is actually speculatory, and all in all his arguments seem based largely on personal experience and not on any serious research. His antipathy toward Europeans (portrayed grossly as pot-bellied sex-seekers) also does little for his credibility.
Definitely worth a read for those who want to know the temperature on Havana's streets and how to read it, and for such sharp and sweaping comments as this one: "In the land of chronic scarcity, about the only things in perpetual surplus are vanity, ingenuity, and time."

Loved it.......2004-10-23

I thought this was a very well done book....both about the music scene and the changes in life in Cuba in the past few years. Clearly Mr. Robinson knows his subject, and writes beautifully. It took me back to the clubs and streets and to the people whom he obviously cares about. Well worth the time.

The beat of modern Cuba throbs on every page.......2004-10-16

Eugene Robinson is a fine journalist who writes with style and confidence. His reportage is highly original. He completely avoids the well-worn path of hoary political analysis and gets out onto the streets and into the clubs of Cuba to produce a fascinating account of modern Cuba at the end of the Castro era. Some of the passages in this book really resonate - travel writing of a high order that illuminates a big picture by reference to the everyday culture of a people who have learned to escape from their oppression by means of the language of music. Arriba Eugene Robinson! This book really does add to the sum of collective knowledge about Cuba.

Be Over It........2004-09-15

Goodness! Get off the man's back and give up the grudge. Fidel is still trying to run a country. You don't like it? Don't go! Very simple.

Average customer rating:

Alicia Alonso: First Lady of the Ballet
Sandra Martin Arnold
Manufacturer: Walker & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0802782426

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Everything you want to know about Cuban music and culture

Dancing With Fidel (Waking Up in)
Stephen Foehr
Manufacturer: Sanctuary Publishing, Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Sensual, sexual, soulful and rhythmic, its very emergence is a feat of courage and resilience, where all but government-approved musicians are oppressed and restricted.

Customer Reviews:

Everything you want to know about Cuban music and culture.......2001-11-05

I really enjoyed this book. I love the author's sense of curiousity and his honest attempt to blend in and view things from a typical Cuban perspective.

DANCING WITH FIDEL is a small in size but large in terms of the amount of ground it covers.The author provides an insightful overview of the past, present and future of Cuban music and culture.

Customer Reviews:

For adults to enjoy, not for Children.......2004-05-31

(...)Perhaps the problem in this very long story comes from lack of "feeling." I am beginning to believe that it is best for Latino writers to write their own stories. I am reminded of when as a black actor, time after time I was not offered a part, but the parts were given to anglo's and they were "painted" black. I think this author needs to stick to what she knows best. One can "feel" that this authro is not Cuban. But the illustrations are good and recommendable. This story is not for a young child, but more for adults to enjoy. I just got it from the library and will return it. My grandchildren lost interest after the first four pages. I enjoyed the illustrations. She's a good writer, but nothing to write home about.

Hey mambo!.......2004-05-26

Every child wants to believe that his or her mother is the prettiest in the world. That no eye can compare to her, nor any other mother for that matter. In "Mama Does the Mambo", we watch a mother who was once most beautiful when she was dancing. The book is a delicately structured tale of how families must adapt and change as their situations change as well.

Sofia's mother hasn't danced since her Papa died. Living in Havana, Sofia's parents would cut a rug any chance that they got. They could do the merengue, the tango, the rumba, and the chachacha. The dance Mama loved the best, however, was the mambo. Now Sofia's Papa is dead and her mother never dances any more. People in the neighborhood keep hinting that her mother should find a new dance partner. Sofia is fairly certain that no one but Papa could dance with her mother, and this is confirmed by the appearance of Eduardo. Sofia and Eduardo get along splendidly and his courtship of her mom is slow and delicate. Unfortunately, Eduardo can't dance to save his soul. Sofia knows that for the next Carnival her mother must must must dance. Come Carnival, dance her Mama does, but not necessarily the way that Sofia had planned.

This story doesn't focus its attention on how well Sofia and Eduardo get along, though that is undoubtedly one of the many threads keeping the narrative together. So you won't necessarily be able to pidgeonhole this book as a "new parent" tale. Instead, the drama of this book comes with its focus squarely on Sofia's mother. Her grief for her lost husband is evident primarily in her lack of movement and rhythm. Maybe she wants to dance, but it's hard to do so after losing a partner as wonderful as her husband was. What Sofia is able to do is to help her mother accept his loss and act in his stead as her mother's new partner, daughter though she may be. The final parting shot of the two women spinning and dancing is a wonderful mother/daughter moment that far more treacly and sugary picture books have attempted to present and have failed.

Katherine Leiner's text is wonderfully paced. The book begins with an acknowledgement immediately that Sofia's father has died. We then get some wonderful memories and flashbacks of him in his life (how he died is never mentioned). Later, it is clear that Eduardo is a great guy. A pity he can't dance. Accompanying this book are Edel Rodriguez's pastel, gouache, spray painted illustrations. These pictures throb with life and energy. I was especially taken with a section of four pictures displaying Sofia's parents doing four different dances. Should you wish to know the difference between a tango and a rumba, these pics may help. Most impressive, to me anyway, was the picture of the green/blue streets of Havana found in the book's endpapers. This is a truly beautiful book to pick up and view.

I'm fascinated by the negative reviews this book has garnered. It almost seems as if I've read a book that's completely different from that of the other reviewers. Where they were bored, I was entranced. Where they moan about how the setting seems too researched to be real, I not only read but felt the entrancing locations and colors of the tale. Most interesting is the reviewer who feels that this book is a deliberate rip-off of someone else's story. I can't comment on that, since I honestly don't know the details. They may be completely correct in their assessment or they may be mistaken. Whatever the case, if the original "author" of the tale is able to pen anything half as colorful, eclectic, and a fun as this book, they'll have done a great job. "Mama Does the Mambo" is a sweet tale about making changes in one's life. The interactions between the characters are worth the price of admission alone. If you like a little high-stepping action in your picture books (or you wish to infuse your child's world with such images) you can do no better than to read them this book. It's a jolt of pure energy disguised as a dance.

Story Drags on and on... but Lovely Ilustrations.......2004-05-14

Story is much too long for kids. After the first few pages, my children stopped listening and left me reading on my own. The adults in our family do see the merit in the illustrations, though. It's not a book I'd recommend, but the illustrations are lively so we can't take merit away from artist. Good artist, boring text.

Not Written for Kids. Too long. Lacks Something........2004-05-13

This story lacks. The setting seems researched, not written by someone who's lived in Cuba or knows much about the Cuban culture. My 3 kids didn't like it. I am American, born in New York, married to a 1/2 Puerto Rican 1/2 Cuban. We collect children's books. We do not recommend this book. Although it is written well, my children found it way too boring compared to all their other picture books. It's not a flop, but it's nothing to write home about...

I've Heard This Story Before.......2004-05-11

The story drags; it seems to not be written for children in mind. Lacks passion and fun.

I was shocked when I read this story. I have a childhood cuban friend that's a Cuban storyteller. Our entire community knows her autobiographical story about when her father died that her mother stopped dancing, etc. Four years ago, the community begged her to write the story and some of us librarians, read it and critiqued it for her as a favor, because we strongly felt it would be published. She set it in her place of birth, Havana Cuba, and submitted it to the publishers. Now, the EXACT story (my friend's autobiographical event) is out by another author. How can this be possible? Could this be a coincidence? Our closely knit Cuban community is devastated.

Average customer rating:

Highlighting the styles, practitioners, moves, and insights of the dance

More than a focus on the Cuban stage: street dance too!

Images You Don See on Television

Dance in Cuba
Gil Garcetti
Manufacturer: Princeton Architectural Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub

The Last Days of Dead Celebrities

Back to Black

ASIN: 1890449342

Book Description

In 2003 American Photo magazine named Gil Garcetti one of the nation's master photographers. His two critically acclaimed Balcony Press books Iron: Erecting the Walt Disney Concert Hall and Frozen Music have been praised for their evocation of the poetry of architecture and the soul of those entrusted with its construction.

Garcetti's new book of photographs Dance in Cuba is a visual chronicle of Cuba's little-known, yet extremely vibrant, dance culture. Working with Alicia Alonso, Director of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Garcetti enjoyed unprecedented access to classical ballet and contemporary dance studios.

Garcetti's dramatic duotone photographs capture the folk dancing and flamenco of Cuba's dance heritage as well as the thrilling modern street performances of Cuban daily life. Dance in Cuba is Cuba as you have never seen it before— an island alive with dance!

Customer Reviews:

Highlighting the styles, practitioners, moves, and insights of the dance.......2006-06-03

Dance In Cuba by master photographer Gil Garetti is a vivid collection of black-and-white images which lucidly showcase the art of dance and in a series of intriguing visual pictures highlighting the styles, practitioners, moves, and insights of the dance. An impressive compendium of exquisite photographs, Dance In Cuba is enhanced with a selection of insightful quotes and words of wisdom on the Cuban art of the dance. An appropriate addition to any Photographic Studies reference collection, Dance In Cuba is very strongly recommended as a coffee table photography book for its generous pictorial display on the art of the dance.

More than a focus on the Cuban stage: street dance too!.......2006-04-27

Photographer Gil Garcetti first achieved fame with his work IRON: ERECTING THE WALT DISNEY HALL and FROZEN MUSIC: DANCE IN CUBA is quite another work all together - and equally impressive. Garcetti worked with Miguel Iglesias Ferrer, director of a Cuban dance company, and other dance company directors and dancers to produce DANCE IN CUBA: but it's more than a focus on the Cuban stage. Behind-the-scenes shots, images of street dance, and candid action shots make DANCE IN CUBA come alive.

Images You Don See on Television.......2006-03-13

Cuba has a long tradition of dance. And it's a special form of dance combining the cultures of Spain, Africa, the Caribbean and the rest of the Americas. Unfortunately the political realities of the world today prevent most United States citizens from experiencing the vibrant dance culture that still remains in Cuba behind the whatever-it-is curtain.

In this book, the author, according to American Photo magazine, one of the nation's four master photographers, shows the result of several trips to Cuba. Here is every kind of dance from classical ballet (complete with the bandaged feet of the toe dancer) to Gramps and Grandma out on the street. Here are dancers in parades on the street to dancers on stage; dancers practicing very hard and dancers just playing.

Above all else, this book shows that the people of Cuba have not changed with Fidel's government. It is still a culture of passion and joy. We are missing a lot.

Average customer rating:

what a lovely movie to watch one rainy sunday afternoon
Great Book

Havana Nights (Dirty Dancing)
Amanda Bader
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142401226

Customer Reviews:

what a lovely movie to watch one rainy sunday afternoon.......2004-11-01

this is such a touching moving that will make you want to dance in the end. with the great cuban music in the background, you will really enjoy the rythm of the movie. the lovely relationship between the couple will leave you with the desire to wach this movie over and over again. its a great movie, i recommend it to those of you who love romantic movies accompanied with sweet music.

Great Book.......2004-07-08

Great book, those are the only words to describe it. Buy/rent the movie! Its's even better!

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