Music and Dance in South Louisiana's Cuban Community By Tomás Montoya González with contributions from T. Ariana Hall. Translations by Lori N. Tyler, Guillermo Cabrera Rojo, and T. Ariana Hall Cuban Migration to Louisiana: Race, Identity, And Generation Creating Cuba in New Orleans Cuban Music and Dance Styles and Instruments Nightclubs, Music, and Dancing Conclusion Introduction Without a doubt, Cuban music has made its mark on the North American and international musical landscapes. The fusion of diverse cultural elements in Cuban music, most notably of Spanish and African origins, gave rise to a rich array of music and dance genres, rhythms, and styles that can be found in Louisiana, especially in the greater New Orleans area. When the Spaniards arrived in Cuba in 1492, they practically annihilated the indigenous population through their abuses. Later they began one of the most brutal episodes of human history with the establishment of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, trafficking human slaves from Africa to the Americas. The trans-Atlantic slave trade brought a second set of African cultural influences to the New World, since Christopher Columbus' ships carried with them age-old historical and cultural ties between Spain and its neighbor, Africa. At the time of Spain's colonization of the New World, Spanish society, culture, and, especially, music already incorporated centuries of African influences. Another distinguishing factor in the development of Cuban music and dance are the French and distinct African influences that were brought to Cuba by French-Haitian immigrants in the early 19th century. These French-Haitian immigrants also played an important role in the history of Louisiana. During the Spanish colonization of the New World, Cuba served as a geographic bridge to the Americas, linking all the routes in and out of the Caribbean. This inevitably made Cuba a multicultural bridge that transcended the physical realm and penetrated the complex social and historical fabric of many New World communities, including Louisiana. Louisiana developed under Spanish, French, and, finally, American rule, while always maintaining a special relationship with the Caribbean. Cuban Migration To Louisiana: Race, Identity, And Generation The music and dance expressions of the Cuban immigrant community in the greater New Orleans area can be better understood in the context of the waves of Cuban migration to Louisiana. Since 1959 there have been several waves of Cuban migration into the United States, which were unprecedented in terms of their size and circumstances. The socio-political changes that occurred in Cuba after the 1959 revolution and the resulting changes that they created in U.S.-Cuba relations were the principal causes of these migrations. For many of these Cuban immigrants, the only possession they could bring, like a precious gem, was their culture and music. Cuban immigrants arrived with the ever-evolving traditions from the period when they departed Cuba. These immigrants had infrequent and conflicted contact with Cuba after leaving the island. Each migratory wave has unique issues surrounding their musical preferences, which cannot be understood without looking at the distinguishing factors of class, race, generation, ethnicity, religion, and ideology for each group. Three groups of Cubans have come to the United States, and Louisiana, since the 1960s. The 1960s group was the first to leave Cuba as an immediate result of the socio-economic changes of the Cuban Revolution. The Marielitos left Cuba in 1980, and are often referred to as Marielitos because they left the island through Mariel Bay in the northwestern part of Havana Province. The Balseros, or Rafters left Cuba in all kinds of small boats and rafts throughout the mid 1990s. Each group of immigrants has been a product of the culture and times that caused them to leave Cuba. The immigration of the 1960s was mostly composed of different levels of the Cuban middle and upper classes. Even though they came from diverse origins, the majority were white Cubans. In contrast, many of the 1980s Marielitos were black. They are often ostracized from the established Cuban community of the 1960s due to a complex set of social factors including class prejudice, racism, educational differences, differences in fundamental cultural values and tastes, etc. A certain number of Marielitos were released from jails in Cuba to leave for the United States, which has created a widespread prejudice against the entire Marielito group. Many Marielitos have also assimilated into black communities of South Louisiana. The Balseros from the 1990s have internal conflicts in how much to assimilate and how to define themselves as a group and as individuals. They are torn among their mythical preconceptions of life in the United States, the reality of life in the United States, and their more recent memories of Cuba. They came to the United States because of the economic crisis in Cuba during the 1990s. Cubans have settled in South Louisiana as a direct result of these three main migrations and a wide variety of other isolated cases. Upon their arrival, they were not only welcome in the United States, but they also felt at home in the friendly Louisiana environment. According to the 2000 United States Census, 5460 foreign-born Cubans were living in Louisiana. The Cuban population in South Louisiana has made a notable social impact on the area, despite their relatively small numbers. Several Cubans immigrants, who came at different times, shared their stories about how they arrived in Louisiana and why they decided to stay in Louisiana. Vilma Longoria, who arrived in the U. S. in 1962, explains how other family members and friendliness kept her here in New Orleans: When I first arrived in the States with my husband and children, we spent a week in Miami, and since one of my uncles was living in New Orleans, we decided to move here. We stayed here because people were very friendly and helpful. However, I did not speak English and it wasn't easy for me at first. . . . Most of my husband's and my own relatives have migrated to the States and are living currently in New Orleans. Family members already in Louisiana also brought Carlos Manuel Padial to the state in 1961: I came here trying to escape communism. The Cuban government put me in jail the day before the invasion for a while because they thought I was a threat to the regime. At that time, I had a six-month-old baby. I did not want my child to grow up under the system. After I got out of jail, I came to the States. When I left Cuba, . . . my brother was living in Baton Rouge and my parents in Mobile, Alabama, so I moved there with them. After two months, I got a job in Baton Rouge, in which I worked for just three months. The company was moving out of town and I did not want to move again. I stayed in Baton Rouge and went to night school to get my Ph.D. At that time, I made a living as a door-to-door salesman. I sold an Italian coffee (Aroma Di Oro), Cuban cookies, and guava jelly. After five months, I got a job in New Orleans as a chemical engineer. I worked there for twenty years. Basically, my job, the Spanish-French culture, the type of food, and the music made me like this place so much that I wanted to stay. At the age of 16, Francisco Thompson arrived in Louisiana in the early 1970s: The reason that I wanted to come here is because I did not like the Cuban system. Well, when I arrived in Miami, they gave me two options: Nebraska or Louisiana, and since Louisiana was closer to Cuba, I chose Louisiana. Plus, there were some acquaintances here, too (my younger brother and some friends) and the very next year my older brother came, too. Then I petitioned for my father, who lived with me for a while before moving down to Florida. Ailene Cabrera, a Balsera (rafter), says, "I left Cuba in 1994. I sold my gold and came here in a raft that I built with a bunch of people. We were rescued and taken to Guantanamo Naval Base, in which I stayed for a year. I arrived on August 11, 1995." Cuban immigrants established social networks necessary to preserve their culture, with music and dance as the basis for collective community expressions. Music and dance are at the center of celebrations that, in turn, bind the Cuban community together, and inject the Cuban social psychology with a "Carnival attitude" that is an elemental characteristic of Cuban culture. The Cuban community shares many cultural parallels to Louisiana like the importance of festivity, the use of time, and the relationship between public and private spaces. In both Cuba and Louisiana, there is a direct, informal nature to creating interpersonal relationships, with parties as important spaces for establishing social connections. A joviality affects ordinary everyday actions, a "Caribbean humor" that shows up in many cultural expressions. Both places have a strong Spanish and French heritage, which can be seen in the music, architecture, and economic backgrounds in trading sugar, coffee, and wood. However, there are differences between the symbolic structures of Cuba and South Louisiana, so the sounds, dances, imagery, language, foodways, and other identifying traits of Cuban culture encountered obstacles to their development and acceptance. The Cuban traditions arriving from the Caribbean Sea had to survive culturally in this new context. NEXT - Creating Cuba in New Orleans

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