18.06.2008: Cuba various ...

1. The festival for Salsa and Casino in Havana (Group journey in autumn)
2. Adalberto Alvarez - a foretaste of the festival
3. Dancing in the attic - a personal account

Cuba keeps moving. You can still visit one of this world’s rare enclaves, where you won’t be constantly plagued by advertising slogans of the “free” economy. Just by the absence of multinational advertising, which has already become normal in our everyday life, you can consider a stay in Cuba a great holiday...

In this regards, we would like to invite you to our group journey in autumn 2008, which will present you two sides of the big city Havana. The occasion is the third

1. Festival for Salsa and Casino in Havana

Our offer takes place from November 15th - November 29th, and we recommend to book well in advance because of the growing kerosene prices. We will be there for the third time, and we are happy to be able to include more services still for a lower price due to the dollar exchange rate. During the first week, you will get to know the dance school and the teachers of “Danza y Movimiento” . You will be accommodated comfortably in the old part of Havana in the middle of Cuban life. (There is more information on the dance school in the report below...) During the second week, you will move to the suburb of Miramar. This allows you to spend the festival week very comfortably at the 5*-Hotel Melia Habana. This is were the festival itself will take place. Apart from concerts with the créme de la créme of Cuban musicians, you will enjoy an intensive and exciting programme. Please have a look at the following information:

Festival Baila en Cuba November 2008

2. Adalberto Alvarez - a foretaste of the festival

Adalberto Alvarez y su Son have chosen an adequate title for their new CD: “Gozando en La Habana”. In translation “Enjoy life in Havana”. For more than 30 years now, the band has managed to combine son and salsa and create a unique and wonderfully danceable sound. Have you danced Rueda de Casino already? For sure, one of the songs was by Adalberto Alvarez y su Son. This is how Havana enjoys life and the rest of the world as well! (Of course, this band will be also on stage at the festival in November.)

Adalberto Alvarez: Gozando en La Habana

3. Dancing in the attic - a personal account

Antje and Frank just returned from Havana and they sent us the following unabridged report, which we publish here with the authors’ permission:

“The salsa and movimiento course we booked was really good. We had already stayed in Cuba for one week before the course began. Thus, we had already become accustomed to some specialities. Above all to the heat. The classes took place in a typical colonial style house in Havana. But in a disco below the roof. With approximately 30°C. Something that needs getting used to. The cleanliness is typical for Cuba, one cannot expect European standard. During class, craftsmen were pottering around amongst the dancers, with drill machines and angle grinders. Completely normal. One cannot expect parquet floors and mirrored walls. But the quality of the course compensates for everything! In the second week, they even found out how the air conditioning worked, and so the problem with the oven heat in the attic was solved. The movimiento classes were exactly what we expected them to be. Lisa is incredibly temperamental and she knows how to make you get carried away. One should really do movimiento. It is valuable for any dancer. Also during salsa classes, all the Cuban dancers were great. Very friendly, always punctual and in a good mood. The course quality was grade A+. As we got to know a lot of workshops and many teachers at home, we believe that we can rate the classes quite well. Especially Caruca and Alexis make you learn a lot in a very short time. Their English knowledge is rudimental, but absolutely sufficient for the classes. We would like to thank you for the good organization and we will definitely recommend you!”

Short note: The craftsmen were a “surprise” you simply have to be prepared for in Cuba. Usually, there are no Cubans dancing with drill machines during class and if there are, they will work in the rhythm of the music for sure ... :-))

Many regards from Hamburg
Tanja (2) and Matthias from the Dym team