Cameroon

Casa de la Trova Matanzas

Matanzas has its own Casa de la Trova, reflecting the city's deep musical culture. Often called the "Athens of Cuba" for its cultural richness, Matanzas is the birthplace of Danzón, the stronghold of Rumba (particularly Yambú and Guaguancó), and home to the oldest living Abakuá and Arará traditions.

Havana

Cuban Dances Originating in Havana

Havana, the cultural heartbeat of Cuba, played a central role in the creation and evolution of several iconic Cuban dances. Some were born directly in the capital, while others were transformed there into the forms we know today.

Palo

Palo

Palo is an Afro-Cuban religion with various denominations that developed among Central African slaves and their descendants, particularly those of Congo and Bantu origin.
The Spanish word palo (“stick”) refers to the wooden sticks used in the construction of ritual altars—called la Nganga, el caldero, or la prenda.

Denominations (“Branches”) of Palo

• Mayombe (or Mallombe)
• Monte
• Briyumba (or Brillumba)
• Kimbisa

Practitioners

Priests and initiates of Palo are called:

• Paleros
• Tatas (male priests)
• Yayas (female priests)
• Nganguleros

Core Beliefs

The Palo belief system rests on two foundational pillars:

1. Honor of the spirits
2. Belief in natural / earth powers

All natural objects—especially sticks—are understood to contain spiritual power, typically connected to the spirits themselves. This differs from Santería and other Yoruba religions, whose orishas are more closely associated with human or anthropomorphic forms.

Distinctive Traits

• No deity-specific colors, clothing, or stylized dances (unlike Santería).
• Ritual emphasis on natural objects and the nganga.

Music in Palo Rituals

Palo music typically begins with wooden percussion, followed by drums and metal tools.

Wooden instruments:

• Catá
• Guaguá

Drums:

• Ngoma (conga-style drums)

Metal instruments:

• Cowbell
• Hoe
• Plow

Higher Deities and Syncretism

Nkuyu

Also known as: Mukudji, Nkuyu, Mañunga, Lubaniba, Lucero, Lucero Mundo, Remolino, Cuarto Vientos, Kbuyu

• Deity of forests and roads; a guide and balancer
• Guardian of cemetery entrances
• Associated with the moon
• Syncretized with Eleguá/Eshu (Yoruba) and the Holy Infant of Atocha

Kengue

Also known as: Mama Kengue, Yola, Tiembla Tierra, Pandilanga

• Sky Father and primordial creator
• Deity of knowledge and justice
• Equivalent to Obatalá (Yoruba)
• Syncretized with the Virgin of Mercy

Sarabanda

Also known as: Zarabanda, Rompe Monte

• Strong, forceful, willful deity
• Equivalent to Ogún (Yoruba)
• Associated with Saint Peter

El Christo Negro

• Black manifestation of Jesus Christ
• Considered all-powerful; all spirits bow to his authority
• Symbolically linked with black crows and black roosters

Mama Chola

Also known as: Chola Wengue

• Goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and prosperity
• Ruler of rivers and fresh water — all that flows, grows, and is renewed
• Equivalent to Oshún (Yoruba)
• Syncretized with Our Lady of Charity (La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre), Cuba's patron saint

Yuka

Yuka is considered the oldest surviving Kongo-derived dance form in Cuba and the most direct ancestor of Rumba. Preserved by Congo-descent communities from the era of slavery onward, Yuka contains the movement vocabulary, the drum format, and the social dynamic that would eventually transform into one of Cuba's defining popular dance traditions.

Makuta

Makuta is a secular Kongo-derived dance of the Congo-descent communities of Cuba — vigorous, grounded, and celebratory. It belongs to the oldest layer of African-Cuban cultural expression and represents a direct continuation of Central African movement and musical traditions preserved across centuries of slavery and colonial life.

Abakuá

Abakuá is an Afro-Cuban male secret society founded in 1836 in Regla, Havana, by enslaved and free Africans from the Cross River region (south-eastern Nigeria and Cameroon). Its ceremonies, drums, and masked íreme dancers deeply influenced rumba, especially columbia.

Cuba

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean and the birthplace of some of the world's most influential music and dance traditions. African, Spanish, and French cultural streams collided here over centuries of colonial history, producing an extraordinary creative culture that exported itself across the globe.

Nigeria

Nigeria — home to the Yoruba, Igbo, and Efik peoples — is the single most influential African source for Afro-Cuban religion and dance. Enslaved Yoruba brought to Cuba preserved their cosmology through Santería, and their descendants' dances remain at the core of Cuban folkloric and popular movement vocabulary today.

Congo & Angola

Congo and Angola lie at the heart of the old Kingdom of Kongo. From this part of Central Africa came the Bakongo and other Bantu peoples who were brought to Cuba as enslaved people. Their heritage survives in Cuba in Palo Monte and in the dances makuta and yuka.

Congo & Angola

Congo and Angola lie at the heart of the old Kingdom of Kongo. From this part of Central Africa came the Bakongo and other Bantu peoples who were brought to Cuba as enslaved people. Their heritage survives in Cuba in Palo Monte and in the dances makuta and yuka.

Congo & Angola

Congo and Angola lie at the heart of the old Kingdom of Kongo. From this part of Central Africa came the Bakongo and other Bantu peoples who were brought to Cuba as enslaved people. Their heritage survives in Cuba in Palo Monte and in the dances makuta and yuka.