Reimagining Community: Cuban Folkloric Dance, Diplomacy, and Collectivity, 1970-1990

• In Event: The Stagings of Afro-Cuban Traditions: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Starting in 1964, the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional de Cuba played an important role in Cuban cultural diplomacy. That year the company traveled abroad for the first time, performing in European cities and the recently independent Algeria. In the 1970s and 1980s, the international presence of the company increased as the Cuban government promoted its regional leadership in the Caribbean and became involved in African wars for independence. This paper focuses on the Cuban folkloric company's activities in the late 1970s and 1980s. It examines the company’s role abroad in relation to Cuban foreign policy as well as choreographic innovations at home. Choreographically, dancers sought to clarify what “folkloric” performance meant in a postcolonial, socialist society that aimed to be a leader in the Global South. Delineating these meanings proved difficult given the deeply personal significance of the cultural practices and productions that served as artistic inspiration for dancers and choreographers. While challenging and in many ways, unresolved and ambiguous, the effort proved nonetheless important to Cuban culture and society. Analyzing performance programs, press, government directives, and the writings and oral history testimonies of longtime company advisor (and cofounder) Rogelio Martínez Furé and choreographer Ramiro Guerra, this paper argues that creating folkloric dance in the 1970s and 1980s served as an exercise in reimagining local, national, and international communities. While the government provided a particular framework for forging connections, dancers gave these networks meaning through their choreography and artistic leadership.

Author

• Elizabeth Schwall, Columbia University