Cuba

Everything U want to know about Cuba, salsa, dance, culture, travel info, casa particulares , etc…
Everybody can put his comments, links, experiences and interesting stuff here on this page.

Cuba on wikipedia : The Republic of Cuba (pronounced /ˈkjuːbə/ ( listen); Spanish: República de Cuba, pronounced [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] ( listen)) is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country’s capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city.^[12][13]

Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is the most populous insular nation in the Caribbean. Its people, culture, and customs draw from diverse sources, including: the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples; the period of Spanish colonialism; the introduction of African slaves; and its proximity to the United States. read more… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba

Cuban Flag :

The flag of Cuba was adopted on May 20, 1902, containing a field with three blue stripes and two white stripes, and a red equilateral triangle at the hoist with a white 5-pointed star. The flag of Cuba was designed in 1848 for the liberation movement, which sought independence from Spain. The flag was briefly hoisted in 1850 at Cardenas but was not officially adopted until 1902, when independence was granted by the United States.The Cuban flag is composed of five horizontal stripes, three blue ones and two white ones and a red triangle in which features a single white five-pointed star. The three colors (red, sky-blue and white) and the three points of the triangle represent the Republican ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, which were proclaimed during the French Revolution and are known as the Republican Tri-Color. The three blue stripes are said to represent Science, Virtue, and Beauty. The two white ones to represent Justice and Purity. The red color of the triangle represents the blood of the Patriots. The lone white star within the equilateral red triangle represents the unity of the Cuban people and the Independent Cuban Nation upon the blood spilled by the revolutionary heroes. The width is twice the height.
History of The Puerto Rican Flag involving The Cuban Flag:
The Puerto Rican Flag is the same as the Cuban, but the red and blue colors are inverted.
Don Antonio Vélez Alvarado, Vice-President of the Club Borinquen in New York, conceived the design for the Puerto Rican flag on June 11 of 1891. It is said that on that night, while he observed the Cuban flag, after shifting his sight, he experienced some sort of optical illusion where he saw the red and blue colors of the Cuban flag inverted and he took this vision as a revelation. He immediately bought materials and asked Doña Micaela Dalmau to sew the new flag based on his design, which he had previously sent to Don Ramón Emeterio Betances for his approval. Micaela Dalmau vda. de Carreras, had invited José Martí as a guest to her house. Martí was pleasantly impressed by the prototype, and made note of it in a newspaper article published in the Cuban revolutionary newspaper Patria, published on July 2 of that year. Betances, who had designed the earlier flag used for the failed Lares insurrection (“El Grito de Lares”), and was at the time exiled in Paris, is said to have responded: “Let us make the republic that afterwards any rag can serve as a flag.”
The flag was first used on December 22, 1895, when a group of 59 Puerto Ricans gathered at “Chimney Corner Hall”, at 57 West 25th Street, to officially form the Puerto Rican Section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. As part of their activities, Don José de la Matta Terraforte, a survivor of the Grito de Lares, presented the new flag in order to rally support for independence movement from Spain. In that general assembly in New York City, the members of the Puerto Rican Section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party decided to adopt the flag created by Don Antonio Vélez Alvarado for Puerto Rico.The flag was soon adopted as a national symbol. The new flag became popular among the exiled Puerto Ricans in New York City it was eagerly accepted. The flag symbolized the fraternity in the revolutionary struggle of the Puerto Rican and Cuban people. This is why the Puerto Rican flag is very similar to the Cuban flag.

Read testimonials about hotels and casa particulares : http://www.cubajunky.com

La musica cubana en La Havana, Santiago, Holguin, Varadero,… : http://www.egremtodomusica.com

Cuban newspaper Granma online : http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu

Transport en Cuba : http://www.viazul.cu/asp/reserva/Default.aspx

Cuba Musique :
Le SON naît dans les zones rurales d’Oriente, à la fin du XIXe siècle, vers Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba et Manzanillo. Ses origines remonteraient au XVIe siècle, avec le célèbre ‘son de la Ma’Teodora’. Il se diffuse par la suite vers le reste de l’île. Très syncopé, il est caractérisé par une alternance choeur-soliste.
Sa mélodie fait appel à des instruments comme le tres, ainsi que la marimbula, le guïro et le bongo.
La richesse du style procréa des genres dérivés, de formes collatérales qui, ensemble, ont donné ce qu’on appelle la complexité du “son cubain” : les variantes les plus connues sont le changuï, le son-montuno, le sucu-sucu, le son-habanero, la guajira-son, la guaracha-son, le bolero-son, le mambo, le cha-cha-cha, le guanguanco,…
Sonora Matancera est un des groupes de son les plus anciens de Cuba, dans laquelles chantait la ‘reina de la salsa’, Celia Cruz. Aujourd’hui le son est surtout connu par Buena Vista Social Club.

La TIMBA :
Rébellion de musiciens cubains, intégrée par des instrumentistes de la nouvelle génération née après 1959.
La Timba se reconnaît l’héritière de toutes les traditions musicales cubaines, mais avec une projection de fin de millénaire; sa connaissance académique de la musique classique influe en outre fortement sur les arrangements, la conception musicale et les harmonies.
Les composants de la timba sont le songo de Juan Formell, le son avec rap de Manolin “el medico de la salsa”, le son avec jazz de José Luis Cortés, le son avec bolero de Isaac Delgado, le son traditionnel de Adalberto Alvarez, le son avec rock et suffocation de Paulo Fernandez Gallo et le son avec vallenato de Manolin y su trabuco.

Le DANZÒN:
Les genres musicaux du danzòn peuvent être divisés en deux groupes. L’un est composé exclusivement de genres instrumentaux comme la contradanza criolla, la danza et le danzòn, l’autre comprend des ensembles vocaux et instrumentaux comme le danzonete, le mambo et le cha-cha-cha.

source : Eric Lobo

“Con nuestra música los cubanos hemos exportado más sueños y placeres que con el cigarro, más dulzura y energía que con el azúcar. La música afrocubana es fuego, deleite y humo; es almíbar, fiesta y bienestar; se asemeja a un ron sonoro que se bebe con los oídos, que en el ámbito de las relaciones reúne a las personas y las iguala, y en el de los sentdos dinamiza la vida”.
” Avec notre musique, nous autres Cubains, avons exporté plus de rêves et de plaisirs qu’avec le cigare, plus de douceurs et d’énergies qu’avec le sucre. La musique afro-cubaine est feu, délectation et fumée ; elle est sirop, fête et bien-être ; tel un rhum sonore qui se boit par les oreilles, qui dans le domaine des relations réunit les personnes et les met sur le même pied, qui dans celui des sens dynamise la vie.” Chinolope