Blog Post #3- Brynn Hespeler
It was interesting to learn about
Cuban music and architecture and how the two connects people.
Christopher
Columbus arrived to Cuba in the late 1400’s which lead Havana becoming a main
port between the old world and the new world.
In the 20th century, Havana had a rise of economic boom that increased Cuban
architecture and brought the use of art and identity to the culture. After the
Cuban Revolution ended and Castro came to power, more music as well as art(
learned in the previous blog) was formed in Cuba. Musicians started off at a
young age and were able to further educate themselves to become successful after
the revolution.
In the readings I
read about Cuban Rumba which was a tradition originated from in West Africa
where most slaves were taken. It was interesting to read about a dance I didn’t
have any previous knowledge of, as everyone’s heard of Salsa. The main difference
between the two styles of dance is that Salsa is much faster and emphasizes
footwork and the connection between partners.
Cuban Rumba
represented Cubas African influence and is very celebrated throughout Cuba. The
dance is energetic and soulful and combines the use of drums, maracas,
scrapers, and bells and the music is influenced by Son Cubana style of music.
In the United States, I have not seen a dance quite like Rumba and the dance really
shows how it represents the identity and history of Cuba.
After researching some
Cuban artists, my favorite was Benny More, and I greatly enjoyed listening to
his music. Benny was a Cuban singer, songwriter, and bandleader. In 1940, he made
the move back to Havana where he would play in bars and cafes. He then landed a
better job with the Conjunto Cauto led by Mozo Borgellá. His hard work paid off
and his songs began playing on the radio and overtime he became one of Cubas
most popular Musicians. His most popular songs were Bonito y Sabroso and Como fue.
Cuban artists used
street art such as graffiti and colorful paintings that touched on social and political
issues on the island. Some artists used their art as a form of protest and social
messages that speaks volume to Cuban people. In the past 20 years, street art
became more popular, and artists started creating pieces on walls across the city.
This shows the more recent community of street artists getting the chance to express
themselves through their work on public territory.
Two questions that
I have created after reviewing the materials are:
1. How
has tourism helped the rise of street art?
2. How
has Rumba changed over time?( consider from pre-revolution to recent years)
Brynn,
ReplyDeleteStreet art is one of those things that can be very individualistic, and a lot of times doesn't spread internationally. Of course, Cuba is a good exception where examples of styles of art can be found everywhere and has even spread throughout the world and intermingled with many other styles. I think as tourists come to Cuba and see things that we may not see in our own country, we want to share these experiences, works of art, music, etc. Also, different experiences of people and different cultures, lead to different ways of expressing themselves through art. I can't imagine that people in a socialist country would express themselves in the same manner as those in a capitalist country. Of course, there are similarities, but political notions have an influence of works of art and can be used in many different ways to express many different things. Art is something that can be adapted to any person, culture, experiences, etc., and because of this, it is in our nature, I believe, to want to spread it.