Santiago Alfonso
Santiago Alfonso is one of Cuba's most important choreographers â the artistic director of the Tropicana cabaret for over three decades, and a choreographer whose work has shaped how Cuban popular dance is presented on stage.
The Tropicana
The Tropicana in Havana is Cuba's most iconic entertainment venue â an open-air cabaret where elaborate choreographic productions have been performed since 1939. As its longtime artistic director, Santiago Alfonso has been responsible for the shows that have defined how Cuban popular dance looks in a theatrical context.
The Tropicana's productions are not social dance â they are staged choreography drawing on casino, rumba, Afro-Cuban ritual dance, and Cuban popular music traditions and presenting them with theatrical scale and precision. Alfonso's work in this context has created a visual language for Cuban dance that has influenced how the tradition is seen internationally.
Choreographic Approach
Alfonso's choreography is notable for its integration of different Cuban dance traditions:
- Casino and popular social dance as the base vocabulary
- Afro-Cuban ritual movement from SanterĂa, Palo Monte, and AbakuĂĄ traditions
- Rumba â YambĂș, GuaguancĂł, Columbia â integrated into theatrical context
- Theatrical spectacle â elaborate costuming, lighting, ensemble formations
His work represents the staged, theatrical dimension of Cuban popular dance culture â distinct from social dance but rooted in the same traditions.
Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms â born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and matanzas"> Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms â born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and matanzas"> Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms â born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and matanzas"> Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms â born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and matanzas"> Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms â born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and matanzas"> Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Casino is the Cuban partner dance born in the social clubs (casinos deportivos) of Havana in the 1950s. It is what Cubans call their own social dance â distinct from, and older than, what the rest of the world calls "salsa."
Lees meer >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.
Lees meer >The Tropicana is Havana's most famous cabaret and one of the great entertainment venues of the 20th century. Opened in 1939 in the Marianao neighborhood, it became a symbol of Cuban showmanship â elaborate choreography, live orchestras, and spectacular staging performed under an open-air canopy of trees.
Lees meer >The Tropicana is Havana's most famous cabaret and one of the great entertainment venues of the 20th century. Opened in 1939 in the Marianao neighborhood, it became a symbol of Cuban showmanship â elaborate choreography, live orchestras, and spectacular staging performed under an open-air canopy of trees.
Lees meer >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 (âstickâ) refers to the wooden sticks used in the construction of ritual altarsâcalled la Nganga, el caldero, or la prenda.
Denominations (âBranchesâ) 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:
- Honor of the spirits
- Belief in natural / earth powers
All natural objectsâespecially sticksâare understood to contain spiritual power, typically connected to the spirits themselves. This differs from SanterĂa 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 SanterĂa).
- 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:
Drums:
- Ngoma (conga-style drums)
Metal instruments:
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 EleguĂĄ/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 ObatalĂĄ ( Yoruba)
- Syncretized with the Virgin of Mercy
Sarabanda
Also known as: Zarabanda, Rompe Monte
- Strong, forceful, willful deity
- Equivalent to OgĂșn ( 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
- Goddess of fertility and love
- Equivalent to OshĂșn, the Yoruba orisha of beauty and love
Egungun is the Yoruba masquerade tradition honoring the collective ancestors â the Egun, the dead who remain present and active in the lives of the living. In Cuba, the Egungun tradition survived within the broader world of SanterĂa (Regla de Ocha) and the related ArarĂĄ and AbakuĂĄ communities, though in a form shaped by the specific conditions of the island.
Lees meer >Cuban music is built on percussion. The extraordinary density and variety of Cuban rhythmic culture reflects the meeting of West and Central African drumming traditions with Spanish, Haitian, and creole musical practices over four centuries. The instruments below form the core percussive vocabulary heard across Son, Rumba, Timba, DanzĂłn, and their descendants.
Lees meer >