bto Cuba. “It’s all about the clave, the mother of Cuban rhythm,” Jimmy, master of the Marisuri, Escuela de Bailes Cubanos, among the best in Havana. «To learn salsa dancing you must first listen carefully to the music». I tried by moving awkwardly and counting the steps in my head. Nothing to do with her grace, with her harmonious movements.
Then in the last ten minutes of the lesson she would come, Madelyne Fandall Garcia Fontaine, founder of the school: “You are a queen, you have to dance like a queento”. And then everything got complicated there, because the sauce is also poise, proud and erect. Just on my last day, after school, feeling like a queen, I checked into the hotel belly-in-chest-out, like Madelyne wanted. I felt everyone’s eyes on me. If you move like a queen you are seen as a queen. Seeing is believing.
Salsa, the quintessence of Cubanness, it is an interesting reading key to understand this rebellious and paradoxical island. It is loved and hated, arouses admiration and resentment, surprises and disappoints, seduces and abandons. It’s a real land.
The years of embargo and economic crisis continue to mark conspicuously Havana, what was once the most beautiful city in the Caribbean, and the life of its inhabitants. Today in the various neighborhoods, from the historic heart to Vedado, the former infamous neighborhood of the mafia, there are buildings undergoing renovation. Despite the country’s difficult economic situation, also linked to the crisis in agricultural production and frequent blackouts, there is great excitement. Among the new entries in the hôtellerie: the Telegrafo Axel Hotel La Habana (axelhotels.com), reborn after ten years of work from the original Hotel Telegrafo opened in 1860, the oldest in Cuba.
Cuba, 5-star hotels and homes for artists
It is within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts, with one of the most important collections in Latin America, the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso, home of the National Ballet of Cuba, among the five best classical ballet companies in the world, and from the Capitol, a national monument that recalls that of Washington. The Gran Hotel Bristol by Kempinski is also very central (granhotelbristol.com) inspired by the art deco of the thirties, with a beautiful swimming pool on the roof. Unique view of the bay from the terrace of the Grand Aston La Habana on the Malecon, the new luxury retreat a five-minute drive from the Cuban Art Factorythe house of art and artists in an industrial space of a former oil mill, which led to the rebirth of Vedado. Four floors of music, photography, cinema, theatre, design and dance, a meeting place for Cubans and non-Cubans. The international atmosphere is breathed in the contemporary dance performances every Friday at 21.30 when you can attend rehearsals of professional dancers (fabricadeartecubano.com).
Fashion in Cuba, the success of two entrepreneurs
In Havana it is never boring and with ease in a few hundred meters you pass through different atmospheres. It triggers controversial sensations, now perhaps even more than before. Habanera youth continue to get busy. The success of Clandestina, the first 100% Made in Cuba and sustainable fashion brandfounded in 2017 by Idania del Rio and Leire Fernández, led to the opening of San José Market by Clandestina (clandestina.co). It’s about a large space within the traditional San José market facing the portthe right address to buy handcrafted Cuban products, transformed by the two entrepreneurs into an atelier of designs designed, engraved and printed by hand by the talented artists and designers of their brand.
This initiative has inspired other young people to create and produce on the island. They have opened other fashion brands, among the many Wasasa, which offers very colorful swimwear, scarves, jewelry and bandanas, Innatusfor comfortable little dresses and tops, and Color Cafè, where in addition to the original models by Loypa Izaguirre, you can have breakfast (colorcafehabana.wordpress.com).
Dancing in Cuba
In the colonial city of Trinidad, music is also played on the street, at all ages. (Cube Images)
Interesting multitasking Factoria Design (Santa Clara 8) curated by Concha Fontenla, is a gallery dedicated to art, creative gastronomy, design, architecture and dance. Waiting for Fiesta del Tamborthe great Afro-Cuban event with concerts, shows and percussion and dance master classes, scheduled from 5 to 10 March 2024 (fiestadeltamborcuba.com), there is great fervor in salsa schools, which attract beginners and experienced dancers from all over the world.
In addition to the Marisuri school (marisuri. com), specializes in saucein the Old Havana neighborhood there are Salsandunga de Cuba (Compostela 756 e/ Jesús María y Merced) to learn bachata and merengueSaucing Chevere (sauceandochevere.com), That every Wednesday it organizes the Fiesta del Casino (as Cubans call salsa) at Club Almendares. Estilo sauce (salsaestilocuba.com) offers individual lessons of chachacha, mambo, rumba, percussion and the possibility of having a taxi-dancer, a sort of dancer-escort perhaps to throw himself on the floor of the largest Casa de la Música in central Havana or at Miramar, but also in the nearby town of Viñales, in the central Cordillera, where they see the rounded-topped karst formations in the lush greenery. The Achéokan Salsa School (acheokan.weebly.com) also has an office in Trinidad, an architectural jewel of the Cuban neoclassical and baroque.
From the city to the beach
From Trinidad you reach Sancti Spiritus to stroll along the main street and visit the theater, and Santa Clara, destination dear to the nostalgic for the Mausoleum dedicated to Commander Ernesto Che. Fifty minutes north of Santa Clara meets Seaward Remedieswhere colonial architecture hangs in the mansions, cobblestone streets and the Iglesia San Juan Bautista.
45 minutes north of Remedios, there is Caibarièn where the pedraplen starts, spectacular waterfront road to the beaches of Cayo Santa Maria and Cayo Ensenachos where to indulge a few days before returning to Havana.
Palm trees and white sand in Playa Esmeralda, in Holguín. (Alamy)
Alternatively to go to sea at the end of the tour of the colonial cities, from Trinidad you can reach Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo. With more time, the itinerary can continue towards Holguín and Santiago de Cuba and end with a few days of relaxation on the coast of Playa Pesquero. And for diehards of the sauce it is good to know that in every town there is a house of Musicwhere music and dance never fail.
Where to sleep in Cuba
Voya Boutique Hotel Havana
An independent hotel in a perfectly restored 1925 colonial mansion with a secret garden and a small swimming pool. Modern comfort and tradition. Double with breakfast from $195. Havana, Juan Delgado 25, tel. 0053.76395989, voya-havana.com
Casa Mi Tierra
In a 1930s colonial house in the city centre, a B&B within walking distance of the main places of interest. Rooms with very colorful walls and balconies overlooking the city. They also have triple rooms. Double with breakfast from $35. Havana, 113 Jesus Maria, casamitierra.com
In Havana, young creatives are creating new fashion, art and design brands. (IPA)
Where to eat
Yarini restaurant
For an excellent zarzuela de mariscos (seafood), an octopus carpaccio or a grilled lobster in a mix of indigenous and modern cuisine. Try the signature cocktails. Havana, San Isidro, tel. 0053.5.8979835, yarinihabana. com
Malecon663 restaurant
In the courtyard they serve natural foods, salads and fresh juices, on the first floor there is the bistro bar for dishes based on local ingredients and on the second floor the cafe for a drink, a cigar or breakfast.
On the third, on the rooftop, a lounge bar with jacuzzi. (They also have 4 rooms, with $185 breakfast). Havana, Malecon 663 (between Gervasio and Malascoain), tel. 0053.52735738, malecon663.com
With whom to go to Cuba
Living & Traveling with Bluvacanze (bluvacanze.it) offers a 12-day traveling trip through history, nature and dance steps, between Havana, Viñales, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Santa Clara (with breakfast and lunch) and Varadero (full board) from € 3,150 per person, excluding individual dance lessons. A week’s stay with Francorosso (alpitour.it/francorosso) outside the center of Varadero, in a beach resort, including the flight for two people and the all-inclusive formula, from € 2,325
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