Cuba - The African Heritage of Cuban
Folklore Written and Photographed by Habeeb Salloum
It was late in the evening when we left our hotel on Varadero
Beach - Cuba's paragon of resorts for a half-hour trip to the
city of Matanzas where we were to witness the colourful singers
and dancers perform at the Tropicana Cabaret, a mini version of
the Tropicana in Havana, Cuba’s most famous showplace. It
was a cabaret extravaganza that brought to mind the world-renowned
shows in Las Vegas.
Sitting in that showcase of entertainment, surrounded by hundreds
of Canadian and European tourists, along with a sprinkling of
Cubans, we waited for the performance to begin. The audience was
enjoying their drinks as they conversed in a subdued fashion.
Suddenly, the curtains opened to the blare of an orchestra accompanied
by flashing lights that magically silenced the fascinated crowd.
Soon, singers and hip-swaying dancing girls filled the stage.
Their fantastic plumed hats, sprouting vegetation and other fantasies,
complemented the bright sparkling gold and silver of their skimpy
yet elaborate costumes - the epitome of fantasy sexy creatures.
It was one of the Rolls-Royces of Cuba’s rousing folkloric
entertainment.
The roots of this performance and the many others held in Cuba
go back to the days of slavery in Spanish colonial times. In that
era, slaves were imported in great numbers and the traces of their
heritage can be found in many facets of today’s Cuban culture.
The music, singing and dance-steps in these songs and dances have
inherited much from the pagan religions and rituals of the African
tribes. African masks, music and dance rhythms, impregnated to
some extent with the melodies of Spain, form the true basis of
these folkloric concerts and carnivals - the most spectacular
of which is held yearly in Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Varadero,
but there are others in numerous cities.
When slaves were first brought into the island, for protection
and self-help, they formed secret tribal sects and fraternal societies
similar to those they knew in Africa like the Abakúa,
Carabaló, Conglo and Yoruba. These organizations,
known as cabildos, looked after the needs of their members,
assisting them when they became sick and paying for their funeral
expenses. However, they had to meet underground. The authorities,
for many years, frowned on these societies and often tried to
break them up. Catholic priests, in those years, the arm of the
government, would ban them on an ongoing basis, but they would
always reappear.
Even though the Spaniards forced all the slaves to become Christian,
these abused souls continued to practise their pagan religions
under cover of these societies. The Africans identified images
of Catholic saints with their own gods until, in the ensuing centuries,
the two were hardly indistinguishable. They celebrated Catholic
festivals as a cover for the worship of their own deities. Names
of saints were adopted as a disguise for non-Christian séances
and rituals of worship, which included amulets, as well as animal
sacrifices, beating of drums, flagellations and the consuming
of food considered to have magical properties.
The celebrations of these associations, which in later years
came to be semi-officially accepted, were, to some extent, overlooked
by most of the owners who wanted their slaves to be content. Every
year on January 6, the Feast of Epiphany, the cabildos
from all over the island formed a number of large contingents
of masked musicians and absurdly dressed dancers called, comparsas.
These, led by their kings and queens, paraded through Havana,
the capital of the country, singing and dancing their way to Plaza
de Armas, the main square. Here, their kings and queens received
gifts from the governor of the island.
By the time slavery was abolished in 1886, some one million African
slaves had been brought to the island - about half of Cuba's population
at that time. In the meantime, these kidnapped Africans, besides
the carnivals, had left an indelible imprint on every other aspect
of Cuban life. The island's folk medicine, food, language and
social life all contain traces from the African lands. In a number
of the eastern towns and African sections of the large cities,
ritual objects and images of African gods are still sold. When
the Cuban revolution came along, it brought the once secret societies
into the open and made them a proud part of the country's culture.
The comparsas with their fantastically imaginative costumes
and ornaments continued until our times. They outlived the age
of slavery and have become the bases of today's cabaret shows
and carnivals. In these joyous and uplifting performances rhythm,
dance, colourful costumes, traditions and symbols, the ways of
Africa can be clearly seen. The old slave dances rumbled in the
modern tourist establishments not only by Cubans but also by blond
sun worshippers from the north still imbue to the audience and
performers alike with the African feeling of care freeness and
sociability. Their rousing beat, sensuous movements and catchy
melodies produce a collective aura of elation, no doubt, felt
by the African slaves for their comparsas.
For us that enjoyable evening, the dazzling outfits, emphasized
by the coloured lights created a magical atmosphere, while the
singing and the rousing dances on stage and in the aisles, seemed
to overwhelm our senses. It was truly an extravaganza of colour
and splendour.
At the climax of the performances, we were drunk with a feeling
of pure ecstasy. The melting pot of sound, movement, colour and
overpowering euphoria had staggered our minds. It was an explosion
of Cuban folklore that infected and excited us with a feeling
of pure delight. This air of happiness contaminated us as well
as the other tourists as we relished the performances accentuated
by lavish costumes, throbbing music and captivating dancers.
It was an explosion of African influenced Cuban folklore, which
infected us with an excitement of pure delight. We had been seduced
by Africa's gift to the New World - a moving exhibition bequeathed
by a people forcefully kidnapped from their lands.
Every tourist who journeys to Varadero should make at least one
visit to the splendid Tropicana in Havana or to this smaller version
of that nightclub where Cuban folklore can be seen at its best.
It will be a spectacular climax to a lazing vacation on one of
the most renowned beaches in the world.
Habeeb Salloum
is a Canadian author who grew up in Saskatchewan. For the
last 25 years he has been a full-time freelance writer and
author specializing in food, history and travel. Besides 6
books and 18 chapters in books he has had hundreds of articles
about culture, food, travel, history and homesteading in western
Canada appear in such publications as the Toronto Star, the
Globe and Mail and many others.
