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HAVANA CARNIVAL
Conga heat and sea breezes
Mireya Castañeda
YEAR after year, the Havana
Carnival begins with the traditional nightly nine
o’clock cannon-firing. This year, it took place the
weekends of August 9 and 16th. The hubbub of the
festival most awaited by Havana residents once again
convened us to the capital’s lengthy Malecón.
The development and procession of
the comparsas (street dance bands) and floats
took place in a shorter extension of the famous
seaside promenade, with the presence of masquerades
and the crowded dance space of La Piragua.
As always there was an area of
seats and bleachers with a capacity for close to
7,000 people. It is a fact that Cuban carnivals have
been a mass festivity for centuries.
According to historians, the
origins of Carnival date back to Ancient Sumer and
Egypt, more than 5,000 years ago, with similar
celebrations in Dionisiacan events in Greece, after
the period of the Roman Empire, from where the
custom expanded into Europe, to become a Catholic
tradition during Epiphany.
Although they assure that
Carnival came to the Americas with Spanish and
Portuguese navigators, beginning in the 15th
century, there is evidence of similar Andean
festivities, and later, a significant African
influence.
In Europe, Carnival fame is
concentrated in Venice, Italy; Santa Cruz, Tenerife;
and Cadiz, but according to the Guinness Book of
Records, the greatest celebration in the world is
the Rio de Janeiro Carnival.
Also internationally known,
reinforcing the pre-Hispanic complement, is the
Oruro Carnival in Bolivia, a Masterpiece of the Oral
and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, a title
conferred by UNESCO.
Carnivals also have a rich
history in Cuba, as accounts of them date back to
the 16th century, although with distinct names. They
have arrived with the heat of summer for more than
50 years.
The participation of comparsas
from other provinces in the Havana Carnival – Willy
y Las Voluminosas, from Santiago de Cuba, and the
Tambores de Bejucal, from Mayabeque – was one of the
surprises reserved for the public in this year’s
popular festivities. They moved along the Havana
coastline together with the Havana comparsas,
both traditional and contemporary, forming a
colorful spectacle.
This year, the event celebrated
the 50th anniversary of the Mozambique rhythm,
created by Pello el Afrokán (Pedro Izquierdo,
Havana, 1933- 2000); the 40th anniversary of
Los Guaracheritos de Regla, made up of boys and
girls, adolescents and youth; and the 20th of La
Giraldilla and La Mazucamba comparsas.
Many of these groups have their
origin in capital barrios. For example, La Mazucamba
is the Guanabacoa comparsa.
Its director, Miguel Leal, said
in an interview that, for the celebration, they
added a kaleidoscope of musical numbers, “from
ancestral rituals, with songs, dances and drumming
to the most authentic contemporary sounds.”
Outstanding among the traditional
comparsas were El Alacrán, born in 1908 in El
Cerro; and La Jardinera, with 75 years behind it;
Los Componedores de Batea; Los Marqueses de Atarés,
groups which returned to mark their steps with
contradanzas; and Las Bolleras. Closer in time
were the Los Guaracheros de Regla, recognized for
their joyfulness, choreographic compositions and
vitality; Los Jóvenes del Este, the Caballeros del
Ritmo; and the Comparsa de la FEU (Federation of
University Students).
The floats enhanced the beauty of
this festivity, seven in number this year, some of
them accompanied by the FEU, Los Guaracheros de
Regla and La Giraldilla comparsas and others
with the most popular sounds, such as Maikel Blanco
y su Salsa Mayor, Klimax and the all-women band
Anacaona. They played music from their own
repertoires, but without forgetting that Carnival
has its own musical sound: the conga.
Summer and vacations, rooted in the oldest capital
festival. Changes of date, place or raison d’être
are not of importance. Carnival is a tradition, a
popular street party which is playful, colorful,
musical, exciting… but tempered by sea breezes.
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