Buena Vista Social Club
In keeping with my stated course goal to learn more about Cuban culture and the influences on its development, I chose to focus my project on the 1998 documentary Buena Vista Social Club. While this film primarily focuses on the bringing together of a group of mostly aging and forgotten artists to produce an album reflective of a bygone musical era in Cuba, there are several identifiable underlying issues that reveal a variety of ways in which political events and social issues have played a role in the isolation of these artists. Indeed, the film points out that many of these once famous musicians were living in relative obscurity some 40 years after the Castro led Cuban Revolution. Many were well into their eighties and nineties when the film was made. Singer Ibrahim Ferrer was shining shoes and selling lottery tickets to support his family. Others had long stopped performing their craft in order to be able to continue to support their families. What follows is my analysis of how this film has given me valuable insight into not only the demise of these special musicians, but also how that demise is a mere representation a larger issue of change in Cuban culture since the 1950’s.
In order to understand the demise of the Buena Vista Social Club (and all social clubs in general) post-Revolution, I think it is important to understand the club’s significance in Cuban culture during the early twentieth century. According to Gross (2008), in Cuba prior to the revolution social clubs (known in Spanish as sociedades de color) were gathering places where blacks and poor, uneducated whites could come together to enjoy shared interests. In so much as these groups were marginalized in society, the clubs provided ...
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...at the world can benefit from the many unique facets of this “rich” culture.
Works Cited
Buena Vista Social Club. Dir. Wim Wenders. Prod. Ry Cooder. Arte, Road Movies Filmproduktion, Kintop Pictures, Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC), Channel Four Films. 1998.
Chasteen, J.C. (2006). Born in blood & fire. (2nd ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Danzon. History of Popular Cuban Music: The Cuban Son. 16 Aug. 2009
< http://www.danzon.com/eng/history/cuban-music.htm >
Gross, Liza. “Race-based clubs see revival in Cuba.” The Miami Herald. 29 Dec. 2008. 16 Aug. 2009
Martinez, Rubén. “Buena Vista Social Club: the film.” Rev. of Buena Vista Social Club by Wim Wenders. PBS: date unknown. < http://www.pbs.org/buenavista/film/introduction.html >.
During these times, the Latino community grew stronger and more diverse when different ethnic backgrounds migrated to the United States (predominantly New York City and Florida) such as Dominicans, Colombians, Cubans, and others who followed in those footsteps. The reader learns not only of the radical groups in the United States but the ones outside of it such as the groups in Cuba; Omega 7, Acción Cubana, and the Bloque Revolucionario. These groups were created to override the dictatorship that Castro implemented among the island. Throughout the 1970’s, the vast majority of the population in the United States was made u by the Latino community and soon their numbers made their votes principal towards the Anglo politicians. At the beginning of the Voting Rights Period, the United States saw that the Latino communities were no longer as involved in politics as it saw a decline of organizations. As time has repeated itself, the movements themselves reverted back to their primary goals which was political equality except this time around, it would be mixed together with both cultural pride and ethnic
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...ert. Flesh and blood so cheap: the Triangle fire and its legacy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. Print.
Danticat, Edward. “A Wall of Fire Rising”(2009). The Norton Introduction to Literature, Portable 10th ed. Alison Booth and Kelly J.Mays. New York: Norton, 2010. Pg.232-244
Music comes in many shapes and forms, and has been a magical element of inspiration and encouragement throughout time. The art of music derives from many different things, such as culture and traditions. One such type of music is mariachi music, deriving from Mexican culture and traditions. Mariachi music is often an upbeat rhythm, consisting of a band of up to six to eight violins, two trumpets and a guitar. Unlike modern music and other music bands alike, mariachi bands lack in numbers when it comes to band size. Though they are small, their music brings great significance and life to the places they perform and the people that they touch with their joyous music. In this paper, I will be comparing the culture and style of mariachi music to twentieth century modern music.
Montagne, Renee. “Latina Girls Festively Come of Age.” NPR Morning Edition 6 Aug. 2007: 1
More than eight million copies sold is a great figure for any music album. However, for a CD labeled with World Music genre, that number means an unprecedented success. The album, named Buena Vista Social Club, has changed the attitude of the world to Cuban music forever. Nonetheless, Buena Vista has been criticized for being a commercial product, and for causing negative effects to Cuban society. Let us discover the story behind this phenomenon from Cuba, and more importantly, explore the music inside this brilliant CD.
The novel ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’, by Junot Diaz gives a very entertaining insight towards many social dynamics that are relevant to Dominican culture, and it fits very well within the scope of the course; and, although it is a work of fiction, this novel is set in New Jersey, and deals specifically with the Dominican Republic experience under the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. From what I’ve learned after reading the first half of this book, there is certainly a lot that can be discussed. Thankfully the book’s versatile portrayal of vivid topics that are seldom discussed shine light upon these many issues that face such an overlooked culture, especially for the American audience.
To begin, it is necessary to understand the reality of the oppression happening in Cuba. The Cuban government constantly suppresses and terrorizes the independent artists
Last Sunday I went to jazz bar in Manhattan and I listened “Latin Jazz?E Latin jazz is “a fusion of African and indigenous rhythms from the entire Latin American Diaspora with the language of jazz?E It was first known as coop, but you are now familiar with it as afro-Cuban. When talking about afro-Cuban jazz, it is difficult to not mention certain turning points in history that made this music possible. The roots of much, of the music might be traced back to African Cuban slaves. In Cuba itself, music and dance are so essential to national character that you can not disentangle them from the country’s history. “The story of Latin jazz music is thus one of religions and revolutions, power and liberation, the collision of civilization?E In the United States we can never completely understand our own music, without referencing it to Cuban music. There are various characteristics that can define Latin jazz ranging from the savant grade to more popular forms. Some forms of popular music that most people are familiar with would have to be the mambo, salsa, cha-cha, and afro-Cuban jazz. These types of music were originated from north America, but to elaborate further, Latin immigrants can to new York and brought with them distinctive rhythms that blended together. Theses types of music and other music are contagious and an evolutionary process. No one person can take the credit for Latin jazz of any form of music that comes into the united s...
...re, Robin D, (2006) Music and Revolution: Cultural Change in Socialist Cuba. University of California Press: New York
Cristina García es una autora cubana-estadounidense que explora la experiencia de desterritorialización personal y cultural de los residentes cubanos y los inmigrantes cubanos. Cristina García nació en La Habana en 1958. Cuando Castro asumió el poder en 1959 sus padres eligieron vivir en el exilio en los Estados Unidos. García tenía sólo dos años cuando emigraron a los Estados Unidos, y por esta razón, ella no tiene recuerdos de Cuba. Esta falta de memoria ha moldeado a sus intereses académicos y se destaca en su escritura, donde la memoria y el sueño es un motivo constante. Desde los Estados Unidos, Garcia escribió su primera novela publicada, Soñar en cubano, escrita en inglés y traducida al español. En su obra, García explora el tema de la Revolución cubana a través de los efectos de la Revolución en los distintos miembros de la familia del Pino. La novela de ficción se enfoca específicamente en las vidas de las mujeres durante el periodo de la Revolución, dándole una voz opinada a cada una. La experiencia personal de Celia, la figura matriarcal de la familia del Pino, en el contexto de la Revolución Cubana la define como la nueva mujer de la Revolución y sirve de espejo de la experiencia nacional.
The Latin American music scene is an amazingly diverse, engaging and entertaining music culture. Thomas (2011) explains, “…Latin American music has engaged in ongoing dialogue and cultural exchange that has profoundly affected music making in Europe and the United States and, more recently, in Africa and Asia as well”. This paper will be describing different aspects of the music culture from its musical features, to the historical aspect of this interesting music culture. Also, I will discuss a personal experience with Latin American music. After researching the music culture, I attended a concert performed by Boogat, an Emmy award nominated Latin American musician from Quebec who has toured all over North America. Latin American music culture
Considering this, Cuba is portrayed to be so limited in opportunity, that you have to find the optimism/light. The use of scotopic lens forced me to really understand the struggles that the Cuban people go through, and in contrast it allowed me to understand the beauty of true life. I pose question of which society I 'd find most happiness in. In this reflection I seek to express the cultural, social, political, and economic similarities and disparities of Cuba and America in relationship to my