CAMAGUA
Cuba is first of all the Cubans, a people with character and endearing. It is also a baroque and tropical island, creole and African, fascinating, which has aroused all desires.
Flat as a whole, with the exception of some hills, it promotes exchanges between regions. The climate is favourable for the production of large tropical crops and seaside tourism. Sugar cane grows comfortably on vast plains with deep and fertile soils. The west, dedicated to tobacco cultivation, offers the most beautiful landscapes of the island. In this very cultivated plain, dotted with «bohios» these small traditional peasant houses, tobacco is the main resource and the «casas de tabaco», kinds of barns with palm roofs, serve to dry the leaves. Of the eleven million inhabitants, two thirds are descendants of European settlers, mainly Spanish, while the rest are partly of African or Caribbean origin or mixed.
With the Folk Company «Camagua», which is directed by Professor Fernando MEDRANO VIREYA and was created in 2011, we are at the heart of the extraordinary musical and folkloric wealth of Cuba. This ballet, from the folk ensemble «Maraguan», offers us a journey into the roots of Caribbean traditions.
His show is a series of paintings more dynamic than the others. We first discover «Cubanisimo» in an evocation of the oldest and original popular traditions. Por los campos de mi Cuba» tells the dances of the eighteenth century in rural areas. “Caribe soy” is the expression of the influence of the peoples of the Caribbean on Cuban traditions. The music and dances of Jamaica punctuate this moment of the show.
With «Homenaje», the company takes us to the French planters and their slaves who landed in the eighteenth century, bringing a refined art de vivre, where dance figured in high place. In the halls, the rich owners danced menuets and rigodons. The slaves also danced to the masters. They played the minuet to the rhythm of African drums. This was the setting for the so-called «fiestas de tumba francesa». The dances have kept their ancient figures as the «minué» whose name in «patua francés-criollo» comes from menuet. A few words have survived from the spoken language. Finally, "Congos trinitarios" brings together traditional dances such as the "makuta" or the "palo" from the region of Trinidad. The songs and dances multiply stories and legends. They tell the story of a past that is still alive.
Exuberant by the smile and the ability of its inhabitants to be amazed and marvel, the island of Cuba has kept its sweetness of life, its Afro-Latin charm, its beauty a little faded that we will rediscover with passion.
