Dance in Havana
Private city tour of the dance paths in Havana
The City Tours are an EXTERNAL SERVICE recommended by CubaUnique and hired by the client at destination.
Dance in Cuba always catches you. We invite you to get to know Havana from its rhythms, its most sensual and elegant movements accompanied by an independent tour guide, philologist and contemporary dancer. Havana is a city that moves to the rhythm of classical ballet and its most traditional and folk dances, together with the most modern dances and mergers arising from its multicultural heritage.
MORE ABOUT DANCE
Havana is a city where you dance in every corner and in every social and night club. Its streets annually host the International Dance Festival "City in Motion", which describes it as a city open to dance as a cultural expression in constant transformation. We urge you to discover its most popular rhythms, as well as the history, tradition and avant-garde that today distinguish Cuban dance.
ROUTE
A taxi will pick you up to take you to Café Adagio, inside the Gran Teatro de La Habana, to taste a delicious welcome cocktail.
You will visit the Gran Teatro de La Habana, where you will be able to enjoy the architectural majesty of one of the most important cultural complexes in Latin America, which serves as headquarters for the National Ballet of Cuba, under the direction of Alicia Alonso. The “theater inside” tour modality allows us to offer you a special inside look of the premises, a privileged exploration of spaces and work areas that are not usually accessible and which have witnessed anecdotes of famous personalities of the world of ballet .
Then, you will enjoy a rehearsal session by Mi Compañía, a pioneer company in the creation of avant-garde contemporary dance in Cuba, directed by the Spanish Susana Pous. You will meet their teachers and students.
Lunch at a local "paladar", where you can taste excellent Cuban food.
After lunch, we will visit a rehearsal session in the dance academy Acosta Danza to have an encounter with their teachers and students. This academy was founded in 2016 by Carlos Acosta and connects with the inernational artistic scene with an artistic line that takes into account both the contemporary movements and classical ballet, enriched by folkloric traditions and urban dances.
Another option on this route is to visit the headquarters of the company Habana Compás Dance, to enjoy an interesting and unique presentation of these dancers who mix Spanish and African roots in dance.
To complete the tour, if you do this route on Sunday, we will visit the Hamel Alley. If it is on Saturday: the Great Palenque, or if it is on Friday: the Yoruba Association.
Visit to Callejón de Hamel, preferably on Sunday afternoons of the rumba. We will discover the magic of a community cultural project in an alley located in Centro Habana, where the African origins of Cuban identity have been shaped and spread in colorful murals. We will enjoy Afro-Cuban dances starring professionals and practitioners of Afro-Cuban religions, without dance training, who gather there to collectively rescue the African heritage from dance and music.
Visit to Gran Palenque cultural center, headquarters of the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional de Cuba, to enjoy Rumba Saturday from 3:00 p.m. A fascinating dance and secular Afro-Cuban drums show in a large outdoor patio. The show consists of 3 hours of rumba, guaguancó and yambú; so we can not stop moving the feet and hips to the sound of Afro-Cuban dances.
Visit to Asociación Cultural Yoruba de Cuba to attend the Santera Drum Ceremony, where every two Fridays, at the sound of drums or violins, African dances are performed and the deities (Orishas) of the Yoruba religion are invoked. Sometimes Yoruba priests or priestesses go into a trance. There we can also enjoy a permanent exhibition of sculptures set with attributes and landscapes that represent the different African gods.
TIPS
During the tour, do not miss to visit:
- Spectacular terrace of Villa Lola, for a lemonade on the Susana Pous company headquarters, an open space between mango trees where you can also enjoy the dance show.
- Coffee among antiques and curious objects at the Café Fortuna Joe’s , a cozy place overlooking the sea.
- Buy a peculiar article handcrafted by a local author in the store Cositas
- Buy clothes and objects from recycled materials with graphic printing and fresh designs in the store Clandestina
- Hotel Malecón 663 With interesting design and atmosphere made by local artists, it is essential to have a mojito on its terrace overlooking the sea.
LUNCH
For lunch, we will stop at a "paladar" in the historic center, where you can taste excellent traditional Cuban fusion food.
We recommend:
- La Guarida
- El Cocinero
- Mediterráneo Habana
- Atelier
- Los Naranjos
- El cuarto de Tula
CUSTOMIZE
All private field trips and city tours can be modified and adapted to the client's needs.
