Starting to learn in Havana - Advice?
- Thread starter OwnTwist
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salsera_alemana
Changui
Amanda is right on the money with everything she wrote! Extremely good advice for Cuba!
Great advice not to fall in love!!! I know some women myself who met handsome Cubans in Cuba, fell in love, invited them to Germany and later married them ... and got divorced. I believe even that some of these guys (whom I met) had good intentions but once they got to Germany, they felt in paradise and everything was available to them. Once they start going out to the Latin clubs, you can literally kiss them goodbye. They either know how to dance or they learn it fast. Some of the ones I knew did not know how to dance when they got to Germany but learned it fast and then were a real hot commodity in the salsa scene. And from there things go downhill most of the time.
To add to this:
Always ask beforehand what things cost and then check your (e.g. restaurant) bills. This happened a lot to my girlfriend and me, although we both speak Spanish very well. At that time (1992 and 1993) restaurants had two menus: one for tourists with tourist prices and one with Cuban prices. Although we always made sure they gave us the correct one (for tourists) they later tried to ripp us off by charging us the double justifying it because they had given us the Cuban menu by mistake. Several times we had to call for the manager in order not get ripped off.
As Amanda said, the best is to have a Cuban local whom you can trust to accompany you most of the time, that is like "mosquito repellent" and many of those people who would like to "help" you and "show you around" leave you alone. Also, it makes things so much easier to get around because these people mostly have connections and know how to work the system. We met a great guy who became a friend but I do not know what became of him and if he is still in Havana.
I was in that club 1830 19 years ago and then it was really, really beautiful. They had a dancefloor and bar outside in the yard overlooking the water, with something like a fairy tale castle built into the water and lit up, very, very nice. And the place had beautiful windows.
I hope you will have a great time in Cuba!
Great advice not to fall in love!!! I know some women myself who met handsome Cubans in Cuba, fell in love, invited them to Germany and later married them ... and got divorced. I believe even that some of these guys (whom I met) had good intentions but once they got to Germany, they felt in paradise and everything was available to them. Once they start going out to the Latin clubs, you can literally kiss them goodbye. They either know how to dance or they learn it fast. Some of the ones I knew did not know how to dance when they got to Germany but learned it fast and then were a real hot commodity in the salsa scene. And from there things go downhill most of the time.
To add to this:
Always ask beforehand what things cost and then check your (e.g. restaurant) bills. This happened a lot to my girlfriend and me, although we both speak Spanish very well. At that time (1992 and 1993) restaurants had two menus: one for tourists with tourist prices and one with Cuban prices. Although we always made sure they gave us the correct one (for tourists) they later tried to ripp us off by charging us the double justifying it because they had given us the Cuban menu by mistake. Several times we had to call for the manager in order not get ripped off.
As Amanda said, the best is to have a Cuban local whom you can trust to accompany you most of the time, that is like "mosquito repellent" and many of those people who would like to "help" you and "show you around" leave you alone. Also, it makes things so much easier to get around because these people mostly have connections and know how to work the system. We met a great guy who became a friend but I do not know what became of him and if he is still in Havana.
I was in that club 1830 19 years ago and then it was really, really beautiful. They had a dancefloor and bar outside in the yard overlooking the water, with something like a fairy tale castle built into the water and lit up, very, very nice. And the place had beautiful windows.
I hope you will have a great time in Cuba!
TrulyMadlyAmanda
Changui
thank you!
i dont mean to sound cynical, but........to give one example of 'good intentions' i had a lovely (to me) cuban salsa teacher in havana who had a series of tourist girlfriends even though he was actually gay, and went on to marry a german lady.
as of a few years ago, he would still spend months of every year in cuba (on her money), with his boyfriend, and would prepare the daily text messages demanded by his jealous wife in advance whilst in germany, then simply hit send once a day and otherwise avoid thinking about her. while in cuba, he'd stock up on black market ****** tablets in order to 'satisfy' her once back in germany.
(as a funny aside: the first time he came home, i went to a -kicking - party at his place, which went on til after 6am and he was telling me about the horrors of germany; "OMG, amanda, you wouldnt believe it! the germans are so cold, and so boring. my neighbours came and complained about loud music one wednesday night...it wasnt even 3am yet, and i'd only been having a few parties a week that month...")
an important fact to know about cuban culture is that sexual fidelity is rarer than hen's teeth, for both genders. sex is highly valued and very freely available and the in-cuba divorce rate is very high. jealously is extreme, to the point that most couples wont allow their other half to go out to a club/bar/party without them. inter-gender platonic friendships are culturally abnormal - if you spend any time whatsoever with a member of the opposite sex it's assumed youre shagging. jealousy is justified....more than 90% of cubans in cuba are in a relationship at any one time, and the vast, vast majority are cheating. one of the red flags for a foreigner in a relationship with a cuban is if the other person appears to trust you - they dont, lol, they either think youre supremely unattractive, or they dont care cuz they have no feelings for you.
im sure there are tons of opportunities for cubans abroad, but nowhere has more chances for sex than cuba itself. cuban and feeling horny at 11am on a tuesday morning? go to the sea wall in havana, catch the eye of someone you fancy, chat for 5 minutes then go and have sex - that simple, guilt-free. if the average 35-year-old western guy has had say 5 - 20 sexual partners, half that for a woman, the average 35-year-old cuban in cuba has usually had several hundred partners - whilst being in 'monogamous' relationships most of their lives.
i once said to some cuban friends that the chance a cuban is not with a foreigner for love is about 85%. they disagreed, and thought it was more like 99%+...ive since come to agree with them. apart from anything else, spend enough time around cubans and tourists start to appear palid, flabby, ill-dressed, gauche, sexless creatures with no rhythm...who even once you start talking to them, often cant even join in a debate about who the greatest mathematician of all time might be, and may not know any operas at all.
salsera_alemana
Changui
Great post, Amanda! I did not know that it is really THAT bad but, yes, I believe it.
Well, your acquaintance might have complained about Germany, but I bet he is still there. Hardly any Cuban voluntarily leaves Germany to go back to Cuba once they have a permanent visa. So I guess it cannot be that bad
I thought about another warning I need to give the OP:
Watch out for your stuff. Things "disappear" easily (get stolen). Take a few locks so that you can lock your suitcase in the hotel and lock all valuables and your dance shoes in it, whenever you leave the room.
I got my dance shoes stolen once (shoes were very hard to get in Cuba then and a very hot commodity), then I had my clothes stolen from my towel on the beach although my girlfriend was right there. She had our small backpacks with our valuables one under her head and one under her legs. When she closed her eyes for a moment, someone had taken my clothes. The monetary value was nothing and our hotel was close (which is normally not the case), so it was not a major issue but still...
Watch out in the morning before you check out at your hotel because that is when things disappear. That is just before you leave and by the time you miss the item you are in another place already. We had clothes items stolen like that. It is not about the monetary loss but when it is something that you still need during your vacation, then, yes, it is a loss to you (better take 2 pair of dance shoes!).
Once, we were gone from the hotel for 2 nights. The third night when we were back, around 4:30 in the morning the (locked) door of our room was opened and the light in the bathroom went on. We caught the maid going through our toiletry stuff in the bathroom. She did not know that we were back.
Well, your acquaintance might have complained about Germany, but I bet he is still there. Hardly any Cuban voluntarily leaves Germany to go back to Cuba once they have a permanent visa. So I guess it cannot be that bad
I thought about another warning I need to give the OP:
Watch out for your stuff. Things "disappear" easily (get stolen). Take a few locks so that you can lock your suitcase in the hotel and lock all valuables and your dance shoes in it, whenever you leave the room.
I got my dance shoes stolen once (shoes were very hard to get in Cuba then and a very hot commodity), then I had my clothes stolen from my towel on the beach although my girlfriend was right there. She had our small backpacks with our valuables one under her head and one under her legs. When she closed her eyes for a moment, someone had taken my clothes. The monetary value was nothing and our hotel was close (which is normally not the case), so it was not a major issue but still...
Watch out in the morning before you check out at your hotel because that is when things disappear. That is just before you leave and by the time you miss the item you are in another place already. We had clothes items stolen like that. It is not about the monetary loss but when it is something that you still need during your vacation, then, yes, it is a loss to you (better take 2 pair of dance shoes!).
Once, we were gone from the hotel for 2 nights. The third night when we were back, around 4:30 in the morning the (locked) door of our room was opened and the light in the bathroom went on. We caught the maid going through our toiletry stuff in the bathroom. She did not know that we were back.
TrulyMadlyAmanda
Changui
Hardly any Cuban voluntarily leaves Germany to go back to Cuba once they have a permanent visa. So I guess it cannot be that bad
Watch out for your stuff. Things "disappear" easily (get stolen). Take a few locks so that you can lock your suitcase in the hotel and lock all valuables and your dance shoes in it, whenever you leave the room.
lol...i was firmly on the side of the german neighbours in that story (needing to get up for work at 7am, with loud parties all night for a month!). i can understand the culture shock to the cuban though - if your neighbour's having a party, you join in. then if you feel like calling in sick to work, you can do that when you wake up at 3pm...everyone at the office will have heard there was a party in your street anyhow, so they wont be expecting you.
re the stealing...after the 'special period' ended in the '90s i never had much problem (before that my ex had his cheap espadrille shoes stolen off his feet, lol. to be fair, he was passed out cold in the hotel lobby overnight at the time from moonshine rum, and his wallet was untouched. at the time, there was not a pair of shoes to buy in all cuba).
cuban culture is very different to western...it is a true communist country at a very basic philospohical and emotional level. it's absolultely normal for a friend in a bar to simply take his friend's drink out of his hand and drink some, or help himself to a cigarette, without any of the non-verbal cues even the closest of us would use. those cues would come into play if you were taking from a stranger, but you wouldnt expect them to refuse you. any decent cuban (i say 'decent' to distinguish the amazingly wonderful majority, who send more volunteer doctors to warzones than the rest of the world put together) from the dodgy minority who tourists are unfortunately most likely to meet.
most cubans would never outright steal even in straitened circumstances. however, there's a very strong principle at work, of sharing if you can spare. when i took salsa holidays out there, i used to tell the female students to put their tampons in the hotel safe. they could leave valuables out in the room, but tampons (and sometimes a couple of inches' worth out of a shampoo bottle, or a squirt of perfume) were liable to walk off (particularly since tampons arent available anywhere in havana i could find, and only in one place in varadero, 2 hours' away. and very useful to professional dancers, or anyone who wants to go swimming...). the rationale being: this person is so rich that these things are completely insignificant to them...she'll never even miss it. if i could ask her directly, of course she would just give them to me (as any cuban would). i used to hang out with the chess players in parque central, and beggars would come around and everyone would literally empty their own pockets to give to them. refusal was simply not even a possible option. there was sometimes mild sarcastic grumbling after the person left(particularly in the case of one - i think slightly mentally troubled - lady, who would always ask for money "for food", who weighed about 400lb, lol), but the last cuban peso was always given.
even the 'mani' guys who sell nuts, and are seen to operate a business, which is different from simply 'having' a lot of peanuts, lol, would easily be giving a third of them away. the prevailing ethos is simply generosity/sharing. add to that the fact that most cubans own a maximum of 2 sets of clothes (one to wear/one to wash...tending to be one everyday outfit and one party outfit. sometimes they only have one outfit, which explains the wednesday morning ladies grocery shopping in sequins and hotpants - though fashion tends to the sexy/flashy anyhow). to them, us, with our four pairs of shoes to last us 2 weeks, have unimaginable, execrable, unnecessary mountains of pure stuff. imagine you were Imelda Marcos' best friend, you guys share stuff all the time, she's not there and you borrow one of her shoe horns....that's how it seems. when i moved to cuba with one 20kg suitcase of stuff, my friends were half-excited, half-horrified by how i could have, need or want so much stuff. and that was knowing this was my entire worldly goods, rather than a holiday bag.
i dont think there's a non-spe******t padlock that could keep a cuban out of your suitcase who wanted to get in. the lock serves to communicate that youre not cool about 'sharing' your things, lol. i was last in cuba 4 years ago.
in the 4 years before that i took a lot of salsa holidays out there, and neither they nor i had anything (other than tampons) stolen (with the exception of a long, super-complicated scam by a 'friend' to steal my laptop, which wouldnt affect a tourist). there are some street-snatches of expensive-looking cameras etc, so i wouldnt recommend carrying them openly, though the police usually catch the offenders and return the stuff. if someone steals something significant from you in a hotel, i'd suggest loudly and angrily complaining to the manager that you are going across the street for a coffee, and if the dance shoes which were the last thing your beloved dead grandmother ever gave you are not back in your room within two hours you will call the police. (police are very efficient, and prison sentences are very high. if anyone starts to cry, harden your evil western heart and verbally apologise/be nice, whilst looking certain to carry out the threat. manager may threaten to sack the maid, but certainly wont).salsa alemana's right, you have to be very careful with bar and restaurant bills, which will be padded 90%+ of the time (and when you confront the person, they will become furiously angry, for some reason, lol).
at the end of the day, the way to enjoy cuba is to think of possessions as just stuff...which they are, and plans as made to be broken...which is when all the best things happen anyhow.
timberamayor
Son Montuno
I've never had anything stolen from me, albeit I was with my Cuban BF the whole time quite possibly the ethos contra foreign BFs/GFs differs from that towards regular "tourists". Like maybe out of respect for him I was spared that stuff. I never stayed in a hotel only casas particulares or at friends' houses but I also paid them $20 a day (illegal of course)
Or like the time we were standing outside Casa de la Música Miramar and I was drinking a beer I had bought and my BF came up, took it away and gave it to another girl.
Again I think since I was with Cubans the whole time that never happened except once we went to a restaurant in Havana, can't remember the name and there were no prices on the menu. We had a very good meal of roast pork but when the bill came it was like 44 per person and we're thinking that's too low to be moneda nacional but too high to be CUC. It was CUC. So never order food if there is no price on the menu. We still joke about that being the most expensive restaurant in Havana. Used to go to that paladar Los amigos or tres amigos or whatever it's called, the one that Lazarito Valdés is owner of. Great batidos and good food at a good price IMO. But of course I always paid for the food for everyone who was with us.
Well said.at the end of the day, the way to enjoy cuba is to think of possessions as just stuff...which they are, and plans as made to be broken...which is when all the best things happen anyhow.
salsera_alemana
Changui
Amanda, keep your great posts coming... Very interesting!
I was there during the período especial (1992 and 1993). There was nothing (read zero!) that one could buy in any Cuban stores (except the tourist stores in the hotels that were not open to Cubans) and there were no shoes for men available for Cubans. The shelves in the stores were completely empty! People had a very hard time finding their "daily bread", basically they were busy the whole day with just figuring out how to feed their families - everything was black market.
We sometimes bought things for people who were nice to us and were not out to rip tourists off. For example in Santiago de Cuba we hired a taxi for a day to take us to the Sierra Maestra. Our taxi driver was such a nice and kind man. He was not begging, he just told us how difficult things were. He was not allowed to take an extra tip from us, I believe, so we could only pay him the official fare. But we went to a tourist store at the end of our trip and bought him shoes, food and other things for his family (the tourist stores had only a few canned items, though).
Your experience was my experience, too. The things that were stolen were not valuables but things that were hard to get in Cuba, e.g. a cheap bra, T-Shirts, soap, perfume etc. Yes, it did help to lock it into the suitcase. A maid would not open or try to unlock a suitcase but it is of course very easy to take a bra that lies on a chair or a perfume that is on the bathroom sink. People who travel to Cuba more often, frequently give their clothes away at the end of their trip because they have become friends with Cubans and know that they have very little.
However, the "professionals" were around everywhere and tried to steal what they could get their hands on. In Playas del Este my girlfriend and I were sitting on a dune and chatting, our small backpacks right behind us (our backs touching the backpacks). We were there by ourselves, nobody around. All of a sudden my girlfriend abruptly turns her head (she had heard the sound of her backpack zipper) and there was a guy right behind us about to grab our backpacks. Then he changed his story, tried to do some sweet talking and asked for a lighter...yeah, right...
Our experience was that in Varadero you have to be particularly careful! I did not care for Varadero, anyway, it is all tourists and rip-off. When the ripp-off happened in restaurants or bars, we always staged a small but fairly loud "scene" saying that we would like to talk to the manager etc., so that the whole restaurant could hear us. And that was, of course, embarrassing for the waiter or manager and then they mostly gave in.
No, when you are with locals, this most likely does not happen to you. Both times we spent half of our trip with locals that we knew through Cuban friends in Germany and we met many very nice people and had a great time in Cuba. My girlfriend has been to Cuba about 14 times now, I think.
I was there during the período especial (1992 and 1993). There was nothing (read zero!) that one could buy in any Cuban stores (except the tourist stores in the hotels that were not open to Cubans) and there were no shoes for men available for Cubans. The shelves in the stores were completely empty! People had a very hard time finding their "daily bread", basically they were busy the whole day with just figuring out how to feed their families - everything was black market.
We sometimes bought things for people who were nice to us and were not out to rip tourists off. For example in Santiago de Cuba we hired a taxi for a day to take us to the Sierra Maestra. Our taxi driver was such a nice and kind man. He was not begging, he just told us how difficult things were. He was not allowed to take an extra tip from us, I believe, so we could only pay him the official fare. But we went to a tourist store at the end of our trip and bought him shoes, food and other things for his family (the tourist stores had only a few canned items, though).
Your experience was my experience, too. The things that were stolen were not valuables but things that were hard to get in Cuba, e.g. a cheap bra, T-Shirts, soap, perfume etc. Yes, it did help to lock it into the suitcase. A maid would not open or try to unlock a suitcase but it is of course very easy to take a bra that lies on a chair or a perfume that is on the bathroom sink. People who travel to Cuba more often, frequently give their clothes away at the end of their trip because they have become friends with Cubans and know that they have very little.
However, the "professionals" were around everywhere and tried to steal what they could get their hands on. In Playas del Este my girlfriend and I were sitting on a dune and chatting, our small backpacks right behind us (our backs touching the backpacks). We were there by ourselves, nobody around. All of a sudden my girlfriend abruptly turns her head (she had heard the sound of her backpack zipper) and there was a guy right behind us about to grab our backpacks. Then he changed his story, tried to do some sweet talking and asked for a lighter...yeah, right...
Our experience was that in Varadero you have to be particularly careful! I did not care for Varadero, anyway, it is all tourists and rip-off. When the ripp-off happened in restaurants or bars, we always staged a small but fairly loud "scene" saying that we would like to talk to the manager etc., so that the whole restaurant could hear us. And that was, of course, embarrassing for the waiter or manager and then they mostly gave in.
No, when you are with locals, this most likely does not happen to you. Both times we spent half of our trip with locals that we knew through Cuban friends in Germany and we met many very nice people and had a great time in Cuba. My girlfriend has been to Cuba about 14 times now, I think.
TrulyMadlyAmanda
Changui
seconded! it was a really tough time. the local black-market pizza places that nowadays do really yummy fried pizza for around 10CUP ($0.50) (hey, dont knock it til youve tried it, lol), had no cheese...so they would melt a plastic bag on top of the pizza instead!
people were catching/eating rats/cats/dogs and all kinds to survive.i don't know if you youve been back since, SA, but things are a lot better now, which seems to have cut out most of the theft. the state-issued food rations provide a reasonable but dull diet. one way to tell decent cubans from hustlers - the hustlers always complain they are 'dying of hunger' and are doing X or Y dodgy thing because 'you have to live [somehow]'. usually just before whipping out their latest model mobile phone, and answering a call for 20 minutes (costs $1 per minute to receive...so that one call is enough to live on in cuba for a month).
at one point, varadero was a nightmare for hustlers, but the police do operations to clear them away from time to time. last time i was there (about 4 years ago), it was a lovely peaceful caribbean beach, with a couple of good salsa nights.
salsera_alemana
Changui
seconded! it was a really tough time. the local black-market pizza places that nowadays do really yummy fried pizza for around 10CUP ($0.50) (hey, dont knock it til youve tried it, lol), had no cheese...so they would melt a plastic bag on top of the pizza instead!
When I was there, there was literally nothing one could buy in the street. I never saw any black market pizza at that time. However, we had a hamburger in the street twice. Once we went with our two local Cuban companions to an outdoor dance club, where hamburgers were sold and we all ate one.
About a week later, on a Staturday night at 1:30 h in the morning the four of us sat on the wall at the Malecón with lots of other people, all of us facing the ocean. My girlfriend said to me jokingly: "Oh, now I really could have one of these hamburgers we had the other night", knowing that that was very unrealistic. A little while later a guy walks closely past all of us on the sidewalk behind us und repeats in a very low voice (because he was not supposed to sell anything): "McDonalds, McDonalds, McDonalds,...." with a heavy Cuban accent. And guess what: He sold hamburgers that he had in a white plastic bag. And of course we had to have one.
We told that story to our Cuban friend who lives in Germany and at whose family's house near Santa Clara we had spent the first two weeks of our trip. He told us we were crazy to eat those hamburgers: "Who knows what you ate, you might have eaten cats and dogs", he told us.
It was too late for regrets, we were still alive and healthy, we thought, and we thought the whole incident was very funny. We still laugh about it today!
i don't know if you youve been back since, SA, but things are a lot better now, which seems to have cut out most of the theft. the state-issued food rations provide a reasonable but dull diet. one way to tell decent cubans from hustlers - the hustlers always complain they are 'dying of hunger' and are doing X or Y dodgy thing because 'you have to live [somehow]'. usually just before whipping out their latest model mobile phone, and answering a call for 20 minutes (costs $1 per minute to receive...so that one call is enough to live on in cuba for a month).
No, I have not but I have been hearing from non Cuban friends over the years that things are somewhat better now. When you hear Cubans, though, who still have family in Cuba, this sounds somewhat different.
Here are a few good articles about Cuba, if you are interested (they are in Spanish): "La esperanza, un bien muy escaso en Cuba": http://www.elnuevodia.com/especiales-cubahoy/
Oh dear, you hate to scare people off...I'm afraid Cuba is the only country I've been robbed in (and I've been to more than 75...) and Japan is the only country I've been physically attacked in - once by a guy who objected to foreigners, once by an inoshishi (wild boar - ? Damn scary!) Go figure. Granted it isn't a good idea to be making out on the Malecon at 3am, so I can really only blame myself...and I only lost about $30. I was so angry with myself, nevertheless. This would have been - 2002? Cuba seems to be a lot more set up for tourists now. I didn't diminish my overall enjoyment of the trip and appreciation of the vibrancy of the populace.
timberamayor
Son Montuno
Thanks, I just ordered it, hopefully it will be as promising as it looks
Give us a little review once you're read it.
TrulyMadlyAmanda
Changui
doh!
so sorry to hear both those stories...especially the japan ones sound scary. ive never been to japan, but had heard there was lot of anti-foreigner racism...but for some reason it always seemed like a low-crime country to me. having been attacked by a cow once (not a bull, lol, a cow), i cant even imagine how scary to have tusks pounding towards you! it's always a good idea to make out on the Malecon at 3am, lol.
were you pickpocketed? if you were making out with a cuban guy, i hate to suggest... 
It IS a low-crime country, and incidents of racism-motivated violence are very rare... azana, sorry to hear about your experiencedoh!
azzey
Son Montuno
Hey OwnTwist,
Most of the posts so far have been directed to non-dancing issues.
I thought I'd take a moment to make some suggestions that would enhance your progress and enjoyment of the dancing side while you're in Cuba. If you do a little preparation. If you don't have time, don't worry about. Just go and have fun ; that's what Cubans are all about, particularly when dancing.
There are quite a few forms of music and dance within Cuba, not just Salsa. Which may be confusing for you. Knowing what they are and having heard them a few times before may help you. Cubans are not that good at explaining things. Dance lessons with them will mostly be the monkey-see-monkey-do method. Most Cubans have a sense of rhythm for the music as they grew up with it. Some instructors may find it hard to teach you this.
The main dances you need to know about (I'm not saying learn here, just be aware that there's more than Salsa around) are: Son, Rumba (Guaguanco, Yambu, Colombia), Salsa (Casino), Reggaeton, Mambo, Cha cha cha, Folkloric (Orishas), Tembleque, Despelote. You may see some Rueda (groups of dance couples swapping partners in a circle or line) performances while you're there also, depending where you go out.
Timba (Cuban salsa), Son, Reggaeton and Rumba are probably the main types of music you will hear while you are there.
Some threads of interest:
Timba Recommendations Listening to some of the types of music you might hear while you're there.
Adding flair to basic footwork Has some example videos of the different dances.
Cuban Salsa videos Some good examples of Cuban style Salsa dancing.
Dancing in Cuba YouTube videos of dancing in the street, in clubs and some shows.
Can't hear the beat ---- help please ! Understanding a little about how Salsa music is made up will help you find the beat easier when you dance.
Most of the posts so far have been directed to non-dancing issues.
I thought I'd take a moment to make some suggestions that would enhance your progress and enjoyment of the dancing side while you're in Cuba. If you do a little preparation. If you don't have time, don't worry about. Just go and have fun ; that's what Cubans are all about, particularly when dancing.
There are quite a few forms of music and dance within Cuba, not just Salsa. Which may be confusing for you. Knowing what they are and having heard them a few times before may help you. Cubans are not that good at explaining things. Dance lessons with them will mostly be the monkey-see-monkey-do method. Most Cubans have a sense of rhythm for the music as they grew up with it. Some instructors may find it hard to teach you this.
The main dances you need to know about (I'm not saying learn here, just be aware that there's more than Salsa around) are: Son, Rumba (Guaguanco, Yambu, Colombia), Salsa (Casino), Reggaeton, Mambo, Cha cha cha, Folkloric (Orishas), Tembleque, Despelote. You may see some Rueda (groups of dance couples swapping partners in a circle or line) performances while you're there also, depending where you go out.
Timba (Cuban salsa), Son, Reggaeton and Rumba are probably the main types of music you will hear while you are there.
Some threads of interest:
Timba Recommendations Listening to some of the types of music you might hear while you're there.
Adding flair to basic footwork Has some example videos of the different dances.
Cuban Salsa videos Some good examples of Cuban style Salsa dancing.
Dancing in Cuba YouTube videos of dancing in the street, in clubs and some shows.
Can't hear the beat ---- help please ! Understanding a little about how Salsa music is made up will help you find the beat easier when you dance.
timberamayor
Son Montuno
azzey thnx
Hopping on the plane in half an hour! Thank you all for all the advice, I'm excited!
By the way.. I can already recommend My Seductive Cuba, gets me pumped! I'll post a review after I've really visited the country.
Looking forward to it. Have a great time!
Got any room in your suitcase for me ?
azzey
Son Montuno
azzey thnx
Hopping on the plane in half an hour! Thank you all for all the advice, I'm excited!
By the way.. I can already recommend My Seductive Cuba, gets me pumped! I'll post a review after I've really visited the country.
Have fun!
Give us a report when you get back...glurgle!
ok, here's my suggestion:
go to parque central in old havana (la habana vieja) - very easy to find. look for a bunch of guys playing chess (there are likely to be more of them around in the early evening - say 5pm - 9pm, but there's normally always at least a couple). ask for Idalfonso 'El Maestro FIDE', Adrian (ad-reyan), or 'El Grande' (who is also known as 'El Profe' pronounced proffay). all of those three guys speak some english (el profe and Idalfonso fluently) and are decent guys. if one of them isn't already there, hopefully someone will go fetch one of them for you, which may take up to an hour (Idalfonso lives a 10-minute walk away).
I was searching around for Cuba travel dance advice and found this thread, I am planning to go to Cuba in the end of February. You have so much good information!
Would you know if Idalfonso, Adrian, or El Profe are still going to be in parquet central still playing chess in the evenings as usual?
tocatimba
Son
We have two other board members that are in Cuba right now....TSC and Davell. PM them and ask them for their observations/suggestions. Remember, everybody in La Habana knows how to dance but no one knows how to teach.