[Singing in Spanish] Mickela Mallozzi: I'm a dancer, and I'm a traveler, and wherever I go, I experience the world one dance at a time.
I'm Mickela Mallozzi, and this is "Bare Feet."
Announcer 1: "Bare Feet" is supported in part by... [Singing African chant] [Playing Andean music] [Drumming] Announcer 2: Bloomberg Connects gives you a way to experience the arts from your mobile phone.
You can explore hundreds of cultural organizations from around the world, anytime, anywhere.
Learn more at BloombergConnects.org, or wherever you find your apps.
Announcer 3: Taiwan, a gateway to the world.
Crossing the continents, together with you, blossoming in the sky.
China Airlines, from Taiwan.
Announcer 4: Additional funding was provided by Koo & Patricia Yuen, through the Yuen Foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities.
Announcer 5: And by the Ann H. Symington Foundation.
Mickela: "Bienvenidos a Cuba!"
Welcome to Havana, Cuba.
Cuba is the largest island in the heart of the Caribbean, originally inhabited by the Taino, Siboney, and Guanahatabey indigenous peoples.
The island fell under Spanish rule for almost 400 years, starting in 1492 with the landing of Christopher Columbus, and it was a major point for the transatlantic slave trade until the end of the 19th century.
After gaining independence in 1902, followed by over 50 years of political instability, Cuba aligned with the Soviet Union after the Cuban Revolution, led by Fidel Castro.
As a communist state, Cuba's government support for the arts, music, and education has always prevailed.
In response, to alleviate the fractured economy, the country legalized private small business.
But the U.S.
embargo and lack of Soviet subsidies after its fall in the 90s took its toll.
Recently, Cuba has seen a mass exodus of young people from the economic devastation in tourism, jobs, and shortages on basic needs like food, gas, and medicine.
But through all of this, Cuba still remains.
Its history is complicated and filled with stories of resistance and rebellion, but it is also filled with a beautifully rich and diverse culture.
On this "Bare Feet" adventure, I'm here to dig deeply into the Cuban culture with its people here in Havana, Cuba.
My first stop here in Havana is to Casa de frica to understand the immense impact that the transatlantic slave trade has had on this island.
[Singing in Spanish] Mickela: Casa de frica is an arts institution and cultural hub here, in Havana.
It is a museum, an art gallery, an education center for children, and it provides programming for older adults, including dance and movement.
Alberio Granado Duque: [Speaking in Spanish] [Drumming and singing] Mickela: I was invited to Casa de frica by Nsila Cheche Folkloric Music and Dance Group of Spiritual Songs.
Nsila Cheche's mission is to rescue, preserve, and pass down a uniquely Cuban art form completely based on spiritual music from African, Afro-Cuban, and Cuban traditions.
Their work is rooted in African Yoruba practices, along with other religious influences.
And every member of Nsila Cheche is not only an incredible musician and dancer, but also a knowledge holder and spiritual custodian, passing down traditions that were taught to them in their homes and within their families.
Juan Manuel Montoto Pascual: [Speaking in Spanish] [Singing in Spanish] Mickela: Who are you calling when you're calling the spirits?
Juan Manuel: [Speaks in Spanish] Mickela: "Orishas" are divine spirits, representing forces in nature.
Like Elegu, the god of crossroads, or Yemay, the goddess of the ocean.
Juan Manuel: [Speaks Spanish] Oh!
[Singing in Spanish] [Shouts] [Singing in Spanish] Juan Manuel: [Speaks in Spanish] [Singing in Spanish] Juan Manuel: [Speaks in Spanish] [Singing in Spanish] [Music stops] Mickela: Ah!
[Sobs] Woman: [Laughs] Mickela: For me to start here, in Cuba, with you, to clear my spirit.
I felt like I was, like, floating with the dancers and with everyone.
Juan Manuel: Uh-huh.
Mickela: I don't even know what to say.
[Sniffs] Oh, my God.
Juan Manuel then takes me to the edge of the Marianao municipality, about 10 kilometers southwest from the historic city center, where the jungled outskirts outskirts of Havana begin.
And today happens to be an important holiday.
I'm here to meet Juan Manuel's "padrino," his spiritual godfather, in celebration of Da de Orula, this special day to venerate the orisha of wisdom.
Offerings are brought to the altar at the padrino's home, in thanks of his spiritual guidance for the year.
And many of his godchildren come to celebrate with him for this momentous day.
[bell ringing] What does the padrino represent?
Juan Manuel: [Speaks in Spanish] Mickela: To see all of your godchildren here today, how do you feel?
Padrino: Very good.
Mickela: Very good.
[Speaks in Spanish] Yeah, they all come to see you.
[Drumming and singing] Padrino: [Speaks in Spanish] Mickela: [Exhales] All: [Laughing] Mickela: My next stop, I head to Havana's Chinatown to meet with Teresa and Chen of Afro Chin Dance Group to learn more about the unique and little-known Afro-Chinese Cuban history.
Teresa Hernndez: [Speaks in Spanish] Mickela: Men from China and India immigrated to Cuba to fill the cheap labor demand after the abolition of slavery starting in 1847.
These contract workers were known as coolies, and their position in Cuba paralleled those of indentured servants.
Teresa: [Speaks in Spanish] Mickela: As the Chinese and Afro-Cuban cultures merged here in Havana, so did their religious practices.
San Fan Con is a uniquely Cuban saint, blending the Chinese god Guan Gong with the Yoruba orisha, Chango.
San Fan Con is the patron saint of the Afro Chinese Cuban culture.
Kachita Chen Xiulian: [Speaks in Spanish] Mickela: Guan Gong.
Chen: [Speaks in Spanish] Teresa: [Speaks in Spanish] Mickela: San Fan Con really is only a saint here in Cuba.
Nowhere else.
Teresa: [Speaks in Spanish] [Sings in Spanish] Mickela: Teresa is an artist who recently rediscovered her own Chinese roots.
And Chen is her mentor and collaborator.
Together they created a project called Afro-Chin to educate and celebrate this almost forgotten cultural heritage in Cuba's history.
They invite me to participate in this beautiful blend of culture and spirituality, representing what their Afro-Chinese Cuban ancestors had created over a century ago.
Chen: [Speaks in Spanish] Teresa: [Speaks in Spanish] [Singing and drumming] Teresa: [Speaks in Spanish] [Singing and drumming] Teresa: [Speaks in Spanish] Mickela: S, s.
Chen: [Speaks in Spanish] [Drumming] Mickela: My next stop takes me to Centro Hebreo Sefarad, the only Sephardic synagogue in Havana, and home to the MalPaso Dance Company.
MalPaso is one of Cuba's most sought-after contemporary dance companies, representing the future of Cuban excellence and artistry to the world.
I'm here to sit in on a warm-up class with the company, led by co-founder and artistic director, Osnel Delgado.
Fernando Saez: We felt from the very beginning that we had to have a very inclusive space in which we could welcome those young Cuban dancers and choreographers that wanted to develop their own works.
We are not going to change the Cuban dance, we are not going to transform the Cuban culture, but we have the responsibility, the duty, and the joy of redefining a little tiny part of what the Cubanness, this quality of being Cuban, is.
Cuban culture is not based on isolation, it's based on conversations.
So we are not an island, but a harbor.
Let's approach any show of Cuban contemporary dance with open arms and open heart and open mind, and let's see what they can bring to today's world, in tension, in contradiction, interacting, and so on.
Mickela: MalPaso is an interesting company because you do tour.
You are almost like a cultural ambassador, artistic ambassador, to the arts of Cuba.
Fernando: Well, as a touring company, of course, from the artistic viewpoint, to share with international audiences is key.
It has been a treat, and, of course, it has enriched the life of the company, because the best way to make relatively your own experience, to fight our own clichs, is traveling, is listening to the others.
Mickela: [Pants] This is just a warm-up.
[Chuckles] Delgado: [Speaking in Spanish] Mickela: Osnel's choreography and movement was something I hadn't done before myself, personally.
And it was this beautiful, fluid, yet powerful movement that we were doing, even just in the warm-up.
What I have to say, though, is there is no mirror in this space.
It was very difficult for me to pick up the choreography, because he did it once, and everyone got it.
[Laughs] And I'm like, "Wait a minute, slow down the train."
Fernando: When you are checking your own image, you are just not paying attention to your own core.
So you have to feel that it's coming from inside, not from the vision of the things that you think that are pretty.
That's not the way it works.
So you have to feel it from your own core, and it should come from the inside to the outside, not the other way around.
Mickela: [Chuckles] I'm going to remember all this choreography.
[Hums] A lot of people have left Cuba recently, in the past few years.
Fernando: Of course, it's easy to understand why so many Cubans have left.
In my personal case, I feel responsible for this society.
I cannot make a dramatic change, but I do have the responsibility of creating a sort of small oasis that won't change Cuba, won't change the Cuban politics.
But we can change our own life, the life of those young people that can live tomorrow.
But while they are here, they have the opportunity to create something that they own.
If we can offer some beauty to the dancers working here and to the audiences, we are just, under the worst possible circumstances, sharing the best of what humans are about.
Mickela: Hey!
[Laughs] That worked!
Bravo!
Gracias!
With music and dance in every corner of the city, my next stop brings me to Esquina de Tejas, a bustling neighborhood here in Havana and home to my newest dance partner, Oddebi Garca Fabars.
Oddebi is a renaissance man.
Artist, dancer, TV presenter, ambassador for his culture, and a connector in his community.
He's sharing with me his own love for the dance that he's so well-known for, salsa.
And it's because of salsa that Oddebi has me meet him on the edge of the city to a very special place.
Oddebi Garca Fabars: [Speaks in Spanish] [Guitar playing, clapping] Mickela: It's beautiful.
I mean, this wall goes forever, it feels like... To have the ocean right here, it's amazing.
And the city.
Oddebi: [Speaks in Spanish] Mickela: [Speaks in Spanish] With the rhythm, a Cuban walks with rhythm.
Oddebi: [Speaks in Spanish] [Singing in Spanish] Mickela: I've been dancing on the streets all day long.
Everywhere I go, someone will just start dancing salsa with me.
[Singing in Spanish] Oddebi: [Speaks in Spanish] [Playing salsa music] Mickela: My last stop here, in Havana is to Coco Blue y la Zorra Pela, an art space, caf, club and cultural hub made completely of recycled and found materials.
Tonight is a farewell celebration thrown by our generous hosts for our time here in Havana, Rita and her partner Jeff, visual artist and co-owner of Coco Blue.
Jeff: [Speaks in Spanish] Mickela: Faced with fluctuation of shortages, lack of supplies and limited resources, Cubans have always been extremely resourceful and innovative.
And Jeff's work here at Coco Blue is a perfect example of the Cuban entrepreneurial, creative and resilient spirit.
Jeff: [Speaks in Spanish] [Singing in Spanish] Mickela: Thank you for coming.
Woman: Thanks.
Mickela: Isn't this cool?
Woman: Oh, yes.
Mickela: I know, right?
What brought you to Cuba?
Rita McNiff: I came to Cuba in 2015, met amazing people from the moment I stepped off the plane and completely fell in love with the country.
And eventually, I had been spending so much time here that I realized, "Yeah, I just want to be here forever."
[Chuckles] Mickela: This entire experience in Cuba, I didn't know what to expect.
It's sort of this magical place that everyone is open to something.
Why do you think people don't come?
Rita: People still have that perception that, "Oh, you really can't go to Cuba."
You know?
It's always been legal to travel to Cuba.
They have to follow certain rules, you know, there are certain categories, one of them being support for the Cuban people.
But it's all things that you're gonna want to do anyway.
They're all experiences you're gonna want to have.
Involving yourself in the culture, involving yourself with the locals and immersing yourself.
Mickela: We're so grateful for your generosity in hosting us and introducing us to your family.
Rita: Everyone that you've met has been so special to me, from the dancers to the musicians to the artists.
Cuba has, like, welcomed me with open arms, and they do that with everyone.
Mickela: Yeah.
Rita: That's what makes it so special when you come.
Mickela: Havana feels like a "Bare Feet" adventure come to life, with music, dance, and connection following me every single step of the way.
At first glance, the historic streets and vintage cars can make you feel like you're stepping into another era.
But there is so much more to discover about this vibrant city and its people.
Gracias a todos.
Thank you to all of the Cubans who shared with me their beautifully rich and diverse cultures, who let me step in their artistry, who let me live in the presence of their spirituality, and whose resilience can be found in every turn.
And I'll see you on my next "Bare Feet" adventure, wherever it may take me.
You can stay connected with us at travelbarefeet.com, where you'll find extra bonus videos, join our "Bare Feet" series conversations through social media, and stay updated with our newsletter.
Oh!
Oh, oh!
Whoa!
That was nice.
We love you.
We love Tony.
We love Tony.
Singer: Mickela!
Mickela: S!
Singer: Yes!
Mickela: Bravo!
Announcer 1: "Bare Feet" is supported in part by... [Singing African chant] [playing Andean music] [Drumming] Announcer 2: Bloomberg Connects gives you a way to experience the arts from your mobile phone.
You can explore hundreds of cultural organizations from around the world, anytime, anywhere.
Learn more at bloombergconnects.org or wherever you find your apps.
Announcer 3: Taiwan, a gateway to the world crossing the continent together with you, blossoming in the sky.
China Airlines from Taiwan.
Announcer 4: Additional funding was provided by Koo & Patricia Yuen through the Yuen Foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities.
Announcer 5: And by the Ann H. Symington Foundation.
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