Gabriella La Rocca Reviews Havana Rumba! The New Generation at Riverside Studios
It is the best fix you can get in this economic downturn. You have to agree with one of the directors, Toby Gough, when he said: “What’s better than a bunch of Cubans in London during a recession?” Their passion for music and for dance is infectious. Why is it always the ones in perennial, straiten circumstances who know how to have a good time and simply be happy?
Havana Rumba is the story of the people of Cuba told through their music and their addictive partying, but it’s the shattered dreams of a better life in Miami that is equally highlighted making this show insightful and powerful. Suffering and disappointment are well explored and, while the music written by Sonora La Calle (the Sound of the Street) is constantly elevating you into an a new and exhilarating experience, there is a vein of sadness running through.
Rumba was born in the streets of Havana and the three founders of Rumba - Luis Aspirina, Rolando El Bailarin and Satacruz, also known as the Bermuda Triangle - helped create this show in London. The band Sonora La Calle performed in the West End’s hit Lady La Salsa and all its members, from Santiago de Cuba are blessed with la ‘bomba’ - that perceptive, creative element that is so Cuban it connects their music and their songs to the soul of the people. For a couple of hours you are immersed in the streets of Havana feeling and understanding the Cubans.
Tragedy and unfulfilled dreams do not destroy the spirit of the country, instead it seems they shape up the character of its people and transform music and dance into an addictive way of life.
Recession? You can learn from the Cubans.
Not to be missed.
April 16, 2009
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