00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:56.320
My name is Juan Campos Cárdenas.
People call me Chan.

00:00:59.680 --> 00:01:02.000
I was born and raised in a house

00:01:02.360 --> 00:01:05.440
where music,
at least rumba,

00:01:06.040 --> 00:01:07.720
played morning to night.

00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:24.680
I was a percussionist.

00:01:26.320 --> 00:01:29.720
An old friend,
who's dead now, said:

00:01:29.960 --> 00:01:32.880
"Why are you playing drums?
You were born to sing."

00:01:33.320 --> 00:01:36.200
When I came from Africa

00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:41.600
I brought my snails.

00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:47.720
The Spaniards brought me

00:01:49.240 --> 00:01:53.080
in a caravel.

00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:59.480
They threw me on the land

00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:05.080
like a wild beast.

00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:08.800
Oh Lord,
what a treacherous world.

00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:03.240
The Cuban people

00:03:04.160 --> 00:03:07.760
get great enjoyment
from cultural expressions,

00:03:08.880 --> 00:03:10.480
especially music.

00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:14.000
Cubans dance and sing.

00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:16.200
Not all of them, of course,

00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:19.080
but Cubans understand music

00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:23.640
and have a special
predisposition for culture.

00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:25.680
But we shouldn't stop there.

00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:32.200
The 20th century was key
for traditional Cuban culture.

00:03:32.440 --> 00:03:36.480
Not just art and literature,

00:03:36.720 --> 00:03:39.120
but also customs and traditions,

00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:45.000
culture as it is expressed
in the everyday lives of Cubans.

00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:49.200
Traditional Cuban culture
has many ingredients,

00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:50.960
but it is autochthonous.

00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:55.240
In other words,
"Cubanness" is autochthonous.

00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:22.880
I'm of African descent,
and I'm also of Basque descent

00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:25.000
because my surname is Loyola.

00:04:27.640 --> 00:04:31.760
I am proud of both origins:

00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:33.920
the African origin

00:04:34.280 --> 00:04:35.840
and the Basque origin.

00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:50.160
My life has played out

00:04:50.520 --> 00:04:55.800
in the sound universe
that ranges from teaching

00:04:56.680 --> 00:04:59.200
to music practice as a composer,

00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:02.320
to music practice as a flautist,

00:05:02.840 --> 00:05:06.920
and I also founded
a popular music orchestra,

00:05:07.400 --> 00:05:10.560
called Charanga de Oro, in 2004.

00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:14.320
Maestro!

00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:17.200
-What's up?
-We'll talk later.

00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:21.560
It's an honour for us at Sublime
and for the audience

00:05:22.080 --> 00:05:26.160
to have the pleasure of listening
to the maestro Loyola, a true classic.

00:06:22.960 --> 00:06:27.200
African music and Spanish music
are the bedrock of Cuban music.

00:06:27.520 --> 00:06:29.600
African music for the rhythm,

00:06:29.840 --> 00:06:33.920
and Spanish music for the melody,
copla and all the rest.

00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:40.560
With the cha-cha-chá you can do
danzón, or change to bolero...

00:06:40.880 --> 00:06:43.000
Many genres overlap.

00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:48.920
And the African part is the base
of a lot of popular Cuban music.

00:06:53.400 --> 00:06:56.560
-A round of applause!
-Maestro Loyola!

00:06:57.400 --> 00:06:59.400
With Charanga de Oro.

00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:11.000
I think the Spanish influence
in Cuba is important,

00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.160
but our African heritage

00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:19.040
is undeniable,
and deserves its due,

00:07:19.640 --> 00:07:23.600
but in addition it must be said
that the soul of the Cuban nation

00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:26.880
is, among other things,
the African soul.

00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:39.040
Africa is not just an influence
on Cuba,

00:07:39.840 --> 00:07:41.240
it's a presence in Cuba.

00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:44.840
In particular, or above all,

00:07:45.200 --> 00:07:49.920
without the presence of Africa
–note I'm not saying "influence"–

00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:53.920
Cuba would be a bland country.

00:07:54.400 --> 00:07:56.200
Like undercooked bread.

00:07:57.640 --> 00:08:00.040
It's a surprising statistic,

00:08:00.280 --> 00:08:03.560
but 88 African ethnic groups
came here.

00:08:04.280 --> 00:08:08.480
Or were brought here,
to be more historically exact:

00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:12.480
it was a forced migration,
based on slavery.

00:08:12.880 --> 00:08:14.760
Many slaves came to Cuba.

00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:18.120
In the 19th century,

00:08:18.960 --> 00:08:21.840
some two million
black men and women arrived.

00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:25.000
That's why we are a mestizo country,

00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:29.560
with a very strong process
of transculturation and fusion.

00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:35.840
Black people made
enormous contributions here.

00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:41.200
Their main contribution wasn't
their religions and their offshoots:

00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:44.080
arts, music, dances,

00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:46.320
mythology, legends…

00:08:47.280 --> 00:08:51.760
The main contribution of Africans
to Cuba was economic.

00:08:52.880 --> 00:08:55.440
They built the forts, the churches,

00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:00.440
the byroads, the streets, the roads…

00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:03.080
It was all done by Africans.

00:09:03.560 --> 00:09:05.760
They left their blood and sweat here.

00:09:06.400 --> 00:09:11.480
Every time you see a rock,
a big limestone rock,

00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:14.320
you should realize
that behind that rock

00:09:14.880 --> 00:09:17.160
there's African sweat and blood.

00:09:39.040 --> 00:09:43.280
I think this alley
has its own special magic.

00:09:44.800 --> 00:09:48.040
It's a place
where artists used to meet:

00:09:48.560 --> 00:09:52.480
Omara Portuongo,
Elena Burke, Moraima Cecada...

00:09:52.760 --> 00:09:55.760
I AM ART AMONG ARTS
AND MOUNTAIN AMONG MOUNTAINS

00:09:56.040 --> 00:09:58.600
On 21 April 1990

00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:03.640
I was inspired to create a large mural.

00:10:04.840 --> 00:10:09.600
A mural dedicated
to Afro-Cuban culture.

00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:15.560
To the Yoruba,
the Kongo, the Bantu,

00:10:16.040 --> 00:10:19.520
to the Abakuá Secret Society,

00:10:19.760 --> 00:10:21.680
which is very important in Cuba,

00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:24.640
to spiritualist concepts,

00:10:25.680 --> 00:10:30.320
to the religious syncretism
phenomenon known as Santería…

00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:33.280
That's how I made this work,

00:10:33.520 --> 00:10:38.520
which, I admit,
many people initially frowned upon.

00:11:01.800 --> 00:11:03.720
We represent the deities.

00:11:04.040 --> 00:11:09.160
Today, I am in the role
of the Orisha Oya,

00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:12.200
unfaithful lover, wife of Changó.

00:11:17.280 --> 00:11:22.480
This group portrays
the religious ethnic groups

00:11:22.760 --> 00:11:26.160
of the Yoruba,
Lucumí, Carabalí, Arará...

00:11:26.400 --> 00:11:29.160
In this case, the Yoruba religion.

00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:38.200
It's a Cuban religion,
but it comes from Africa,

00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:40.280
that's why it's called Afro-Cuban.

00:11:49.680 --> 00:11:52.280
We also possess great wealth

00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:55.080
in our popular culture,

00:11:55.640 --> 00:11:58.360
in our artistic heritage,

00:11:59.040 --> 00:12:03.920
thanks to the influence
of the Yoruba, the Kongo, the Bantu,

00:12:04.520 --> 00:12:07.680
and the Calabar River,
the Niger River,

00:12:07.920 --> 00:12:11.360
the whole Gulf of Guinea,

00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.440
what is now Naomei, Nigeria, Togo…

00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:18.120
Sierra Leone, Ghana…

00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:23.360
Now it is our greatest treasure.

00:12:23.760 --> 00:12:26.320
THEY CAME WITH SONGS
THAT NOBODY KNEW

00:12:26.560 --> 00:12:28.920
THEY CROSSED THE SEA
IN WOODEN FISH

00:12:29.160 --> 00:12:32.120
THEY BROUGHT A SECRET
COVERED IN BLOOD AND DIRT

00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:34.360
THEY SANG, CRIED, PLANTED

00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:06.800
Yoruba Andabo is a school.

00:13:08.680 --> 00:13:13.800
Yoruba Andabo began at the
National Union of Writers and Artists,

00:13:14.520 --> 00:13:16.920
through Eloy Machado,"El Ambia",

00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:20.840
who had a club
and approached me

00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:25.640
to organise a rumba session
on Wednesdays.

00:13:27.280 --> 00:13:30.960
We took some old cajones,
no speakers, singing loud.

00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:32.960
A cappella.

00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:35.400
And it was a hit.

00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:41.000
One day Pablo Milanés,
came to see us,

00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:45.000
he saw our band,
he liked it.

00:13:45.800 --> 00:13:49.320
He asked our name,
but we didn't have one.

00:13:49.760 --> 00:13:53.960
The brand of one of the cajones,
which belonged to Pancho Quinto,

00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:55.640
was "Yoruba Andabo",

00:13:56.880 --> 00:13:58.560
and we took that name.

00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:39.560
We played in Colombia twice,
in Mexico twice,

00:14:39.920 --> 00:14:43.240
three times in Venezuela,
in Italy, France,

00:14:43.760 --> 00:14:45.040
Germany,

00:14:45.800 --> 00:14:47.640
Norway, Spain…

00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:50.640
Too many to remember.

00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:35.600
That was my experience,
my school, Yoruba Andabo.

00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:40.920
I retired from it,
but I feel it in my soul.

00:15:41.760 --> 00:15:44.320
But, the years…

00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:50.680
prevent me
from continuing the journey.

00:16:13.280 --> 00:16:16.200
Cuba is a country
that is totally mixed.

00:16:16.520 --> 00:16:22.120
Cuba is a mix of black culture,

00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:24.880
African culture
and Cuban culture.

00:16:25.280 --> 00:16:30.160
And it's very hard
to find a Cuban artist

00:16:30.920 --> 00:16:35.080
who is not strongly influenced
by this mix

00:16:35.880 --> 00:16:40.440
of black culture,
white culture, Canary Island culture…

00:16:40.920 --> 00:16:43.240
The mix that makes up Cubans.

00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:47.880
The crucial element
for singers of Cuban music

00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:52.240
is to master the rhythms

00:16:53.160 --> 00:16:56.120
of Cuban folklore.

00:16:56.480 --> 00:17:01.280
That is, the Orishas,
Yoruba rhythms,

00:17:01.520 --> 00:17:03.880
the Batá drums...

00:17:04.760 --> 00:17:06.280
It all starts there.

00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.720
It would be hard for a composer

00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.360
to ignore the presence
of African rhythms,

00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:19.400
because of our training,
our idiosyncrasy,

00:17:19.800 --> 00:17:24.680
which is about dance, movement...
about joy…

00:18:35.160 --> 00:18:37.800
I love being Cuban because…

00:18:38.280 --> 00:18:42.640
you can mix sounds,
you can dance all kinds of things.

00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.840
We have a beautiful mix
of Spain and Africa,

00:18:46.080 --> 00:18:50.360
which allows us to be multifaceted.

00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:55.360
We're very friendly,
we have two beautiful legacies,

00:18:56.120 --> 00:18:59.880
which makes Cubans different,
as the song says.

00:19:13.120 --> 00:19:16.720
Habana Compás Dance
was founded in March 2004

00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:22.080
with four former members
of another major Cuban company.

00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:26.800
I became director with the aim
of experimenting with dance.

00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:37.480
We used a mix
of instruments, footwork…

00:19:37.840 --> 00:19:41.400
We used all the patterns
of Afro-Cuban rhythm,

00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:46.360
footwork
and flamenco patterns too,

00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:48.720
with the percussion instruments.

00:19:49.080 --> 00:19:53.520
This fusion led to
Habana Compás Dance.

00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:26.360
If all these things
were separate in Cuba…

00:20:26.600 --> 00:20:31.520
I like to say that Fernando Tejo
would have described us as a salad,

00:20:31.840 --> 00:20:35.760
with the various ingredients
tossed together in a plate.

00:20:36.320 --> 00:20:39.840
But he captured our essence:
he compares us to an ajiaco,

00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:44.560
a stew originally made by the Taíno,
indigenous Cubans,

00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:50.320
that became a Creole dish,
with elements from other cultures,

00:20:50.600 --> 00:20:52.960
creating a new soup.

00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:11.040
I'm the bandmaster of the National
Symphony Orchestra of Cuba

00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:15.480
and a music teacher
at the University of the Arts.

00:21:17.520 --> 00:21:22.400
Aside from classical music,
I've always played popular music,

00:21:22.840 --> 00:21:25.160
since my student days.

00:21:26.040 --> 00:21:28.000
-Congratulations.
-Thanks.

00:21:28.520 --> 00:21:33.600
Loyola called me five years ago
and we did some little things.

00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:37.680
Two years ago he invited me
to join him in the orchestra.

00:21:52.280 --> 00:21:56.840
In fact, I have four orchestras,
counting Loyola's.

00:21:58.120 --> 00:22:00.600
And I'm a teacher too.

00:22:01.640 --> 00:22:04.680
So I work non-stop.

00:22:05.360 --> 00:22:08.400
And I earn enough to get by.

00:22:43.640 --> 00:22:47.680
Cuba makes an enormous effort,
despite the…

00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:54.480
the economic difficulties
caused by the US embargo.

00:22:55.760 --> 00:23:00.640
Despite that, a lot of effort
goes into ensuring that it doesn't harm

00:23:02.280 --> 00:23:04.200
Cuban culture and education.

00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:06.440
If the blockade is lifted,

00:23:07.600 --> 00:23:11.000
the possibilities would increase

00:23:11.320 --> 00:23:16.320
because it makes a difference
to have good-quality instruments,

00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:21.840
to use very expensive pianos,
to have access to credit…

00:23:22.360 --> 00:23:26.120
With the blockade,
all purchases must be paid in cash.

00:23:26.520 --> 00:23:28.560
It would be easier to advance.

00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.400
Even so, we advance and we work.

00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:35.840
Cuban culture
is an unstoppable force,

00:23:36.080 --> 00:23:41.360
but if we had that opportunity,
things would be a lot easier.

00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:29.720
Thanks.

00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:32.560
Give me a kiss.

00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:37.640
Was it fun?
Great.

00:24:39.560 --> 00:24:43.640
I have fun with my friends
at school too.

00:24:44.680 --> 00:24:45.760
Sure.

00:24:53.360 --> 00:24:55.360
I'm from Guantánamo,

00:24:55.600 --> 00:24:58.680
but my career
started in Santiago de Cuba.

00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:06.160
First with the Cabaret Tropicana,
I did some tours, some cruises…

00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:14.640
I have the admirable task
of doing three jobs at once.

00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:17.040
The most important is my kids.

00:25:31.840 --> 00:25:38.320
Cuban mothers who have an aunt, a sister,
or their mother living with them,

00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:40.880
get help with the kids.

00:25:41.120 --> 00:25:42.720
But that's not my case.

00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:48.520
My husband is posted in Venezuela
and I have to manage on my own.

00:25:56.160 --> 00:25:59.120
-Isn't there a history exam tomorrow?
-Yes.

00:26:00.600 --> 00:26:04.000
When we finish maths,
we'll revise history.

00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:18.200
What religion do you follow?
African, Catholic, or none?

00:26:19.320 --> 00:26:20.480
None.

00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:14.560
I come to the church of Saint Barbara,
because I'm a devotee.

00:27:14.920 --> 00:27:16.760
In church she's Saint Barbara,

00:27:17.040 --> 00:27:20.480
but in the Yoruba religion
she is Changó.

00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:22.560
Santa Barbara is Changó.

00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:26.840
All the children of Changó
come here to see Saint Barbara.

00:27:34.200 --> 00:27:36.680
Religiosity in Cuba
is a complex matter.

00:27:41.120 --> 00:27:46.800
We're a country
rich in beliefs, not in religions.

00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:49.800
Let us be silent...

00:27:51.360 --> 00:27:56.240
But many people practice
a strange syncretism.

00:27:56.680 --> 00:28:03.360
They don't just syncretise
deities or Orishas with Catholic saints.

00:28:03.800 --> 00:28:08.560
No, it's strange.
People believe whatever they can.

00:28:11.560 --> 00:28:14.120
I practise the Yoruba religion.

00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:17.160
I'm a devotee of Santa Barbara.

00:28:18.360 --> 00:28:21.560
Santa Barbara is Changó
in the Yoruba religion.

00:28:22.800 --> 00:28:26.720
Father is going to bless our children.

00:28:27.080 --> 00:28:28.800
Let us listen.

00:28:29.760 --> 00:28:31.440
Call on the Lord.

00:28:32.120 --> 00:28:36.720
Allowing the syncretism
of Catholic saints

00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:41.520
with Orisha deities
and other African saints

00:28:41.840 --> 00:28:44.200
was an acknowledgement

00:28:44.520 --> 00:28:48.600
that it was not possible
to evangelise Cuba

00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:52.000
without accepting
African religious traditions.

00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:36.240
I think how you see God
depends on where you live.

00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:43.160
As Cuba has such a strong
folkloric mix,

00:29:43.520 --> 00:29:46.560
I see God through African culture.

00:29:48.760 --> 00:29:55.000
And of course it has totally influenced
my life, the way I think,

00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:58.720
the way I act,
and my outlook on life.

00:29:59.080 --> 00:30:02.560
All the rumba and religious
saints are with us,

00:30:03.040 --> 00:30:06.880
but my saint,
in my religion, is Eleggua,

00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:10.960
who is syncretised
with the Holy Infant of Atocha.

00:30:11.560 --> 00:30:14.680
I'm a Yoruba initiate
and my saint is Eleggua.

00:30:15.040 --> 00:30:18.840
I was initiated 12 years ago,
on 12 October 2005.

00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:23.360
That was 12 years ago.
I have eight Elegguas.

00:30:23.760 --> 00:30:27.240
I'm 38 years old
and I'm 12 saint-years old.

00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:29.520
I'm still a girl!

00:30:37.040 --> 00:30:42.160
Some people think
santeros are like the devil,

00:30:42.600 --> 00:30:47.040
but it's just a particular way
of looking at God,

00:30:47.280 --> 00:30:50.120
through this culture,
from this part of the world.

00:30:51.840 --> 00:30:54.800
Otherwise we'd have to ask
many other cultures,

00:30:55.080 --> 00:30:58.360
be they Catholic
or Christian or whatever.

00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:07.560
Cuban religions

00:31:08.040 --> 00:31:09.960
of African origin,

00:31:10.360 --> 00:31:15.040
like La Regla de Ocha,
of Nigerian, Yoruba, origin,

00:31:15.400 --> 00:31:17.360
La Regla Conga,
La Regla Arará,

00:31:17.600 --> 00:31:22.200
and the Abakuá Secret Society,
which is grounded in religion,

00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:24.080
were all taboo.

00:31:24.320 --> 00:31:29.120
They were taboo in the 19th century
and the first half of the 20th century

00:31:29.400 --> 00:31:31.880
and today, fortunately for Cuba,

00:31:32.120 --> 00:31:35.000
Cubans practice them very freely.

00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:37.520
They're organised.

00:31:37.760 --> 00:31:40.440
There's no distinction:

00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:45.360
the law considers all religions equal,
because it's a secular state.

00:31:45.760 --> 00:31:49.920
but religions are practised
in complete freedom,

00:31:50.360 --> 00:31:53.600
and they have a place

00:31:54.080 --> 00:31:56.480
that is highly visible and important.

00:32:39.520 --> 00:32:41.360
I received my saint quite late,

00:32:42.120 --> 00:32:44.320
because I had to do it
for my health.

00:32:45.880 --> 00:32:47.640
My health was very bad

00:32:48.440 --> 00:32:51.800
and I commended myself to Ocha.

00:32:56.040 --> 00:32:59.880
My children helped me
during that time

00:33:01.520 --> 00:33:03.160
because I was sick.

00:33:03.480 --> 00:33:05.120
And now

00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:08.640
I feel like a 15-year-old kid.

00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:11.680
-He's almost 80.
-I'm almost 80.

00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:31.160
God exists in all religions.

00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:33.560
In Abakuá

00:33:34.200 --> 00:33:36.200
God is Abasí.

00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:39.440
God exists in Palo,

00:33:40.200 --> 00:33:42.360
God exists in Yoruba,

00:33:43.160 --> 00:33:46.240
God exists in Freemasonry…

00:33:46.920 --> 00:33:48.840
Because without God there's no…

00:33:58.840 --> 00:34:03.840
Look, these are Elegguas,
owners of the roads.

00:34:05.560 --> 00:34:06.680
This is Oggún,

00:34:08.040 --> 00:34:09.640
owner of iron,

00:34:10.160 --> 00:34:12.760
and keeper of health, because...

00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:19.600
Oggún is a saint
who helps when you have surgery

00:34:20.360 --> 00:34:24.920
and in situations like…
you know what I mean.

00:34:25.600 --> 00:34:28.800
And this is Oshosi, the hunter.

00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:32.960
On Mondays
we light candles to them,

00:34:33.520 --> 00:34:37.920
sprinkle dry wine, liquor...

00:34:38.720 --> 00:34:41.000
and we light a candle
most mornings.

00:34:51.560 --> 00:34:53.600
A symbol of Cuban culture.

00:34:54.200 --> 00:34:56.480
In the sixties,

00:34:57.520 --> 00:34:59.960
it was a symbol of Cuban culture.

00:35:02.120 --> 00:35:06.200
In the religion I follow,
this is called íreme.

00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:09.320
Abakuá.

00:36:05.520 --> 00:36:09.560
Rumba was recently declared
global cultural heritage.

00:36:09.800 --> 00:36:12.720
I participated in that process,

00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:18.200
but I think it should also embrace
other important artistic expressions.

00:36:18.520 --> 00:36:22.480
But above all, UNESCO
should recognise

00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:26.840
the collective memory
that Africans brought to Cuba.

00:36:27.960 --> 00:36:30.800
That was all the could bring.

00:36:31.080 --> 00:36:34.040
They couldn't even bring
their belongings,

00:36:34.280 --> 00:36:36.800
their emblems,
their anklets, their necklaces…

00:36:37.160 --> 00:36:38.560
They came here naked.

00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:42.160
They recovered all this in Cuba,

00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:46.240
setting up parallels with nature,
trees, plants...

00:36:46.720 --> 00:36:48.960
They made their necklaces here...

00:36:50.080 --> 00:36:53.800
They set up symbolic links
with the trees of Africa,

00:36:54.040 --> 00:36:56.200
like the Baobab, the Kapok...

00:36:56.640 --> 00:36:59.680
An inexhaustible wealth.

00:37:00.240 --> 00:37:03.520
And thanks to that,
we're not a boring country.

00:37:03.960 --> 00:37:08.320
We have a great folklore,
a great popular culture,

00:37:08.680 --> 00:37:10.120
a cosmogony.

00:37:10.560 --> 00:37:12.520
We have our own cosmogony.

00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:16.200
Not every country can say that.

00:38:10.640 --> 00:38:14.960
In Cuba, culture and sport
are closely related.

00:38:16.800 --> 00:38:22.320
I started out in the world of sport,
because most Cubans

00:38:23.200 --> 00:38:25.600
are sport lovers.

00:38:30.120 --> 00:38:33.320
I stated playing sport
at the age of nine.

00:38:33.600 --> 00:38:35.040
Athletics at ten,

00:38:35.280 --> 00:38:37.840
and at fourteen
I specialised in high jump.

00:38:47.200 --> 00:38:51.920
Even though sport
is literally called sport,

00:38:52.160 --> 00:38:53.920
it is part of culture.

00:38:54.200 --> 00:38:55.880
Our people follow it.

00:38:56.200 --> 00:38:59.680
Certain aspects of sport
are also culture:

00:39:00.160 --> 00:39:05.680
some movements
are like an art, a dance.

00:39:07.480 --> 00:39:11.000
Some forms are about harmony,

00:39:11.560 --> 00:39:13.840
others are combat sports,

00:39:14.080 --> 00:39:15.560
but that's culture too.

00:39:15.800 --> 00:39:18.560
In Ancient Greece
it was considered culture.

00:39:19.920 --> 00:39:23.960
I think sport is important
for sportspeople in Cuba.

00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:29.760
You develop a certain mindset,

00:39:30.760 --> 00:39:33.880
respect for others, politeness…

00:39:34.320 --> 00:39:38.640
I think most sportspeople
who have made sacrifices

00:39:39.080 --> 00:39:42.240
have done well
at the international level,

00:39:42.480 --> 00:39:44.480
and I think that's important.

00:39:53.160 --> 00:39:57.040
I think we owe a lot
to our African heritage.

00:39:57.400 --> 00:40:01.960
Africans by origin are powerful,

00:40:02.480 --> 00:40:04.680
very strong, very tough,

00:40:05.200 --> 00:40:10.360
and this has led to
great achievements in sport.

00:40:10.720 --> 00:40:14.960
In part, we have to thank Africans

00:40:15.320 --> 00:40:19.520
and we have to thank
the Spanish too, of course:

00:40:19.800 --> 00:40:22.920
that's Cuban culture now.

00:40:31.120 --> 00:40:36.120
To the extent that justice
has been done

00:40:36.840 --> 00:40:40.040
and the African presence
is now less taboo

00:40:40.280 --> 00:40:45.680
we cannot deny that this was largely due
to the cultural policy of the Revolution.

00:40:45.920 --> 00:40:50.920
If we don't say that,
we fail to honour our history,

00:40:51.160 --> 00:40:54.520
what happened to us in Cuba.

00:41:02.200 --> 00:41:07.080
Fidel was a man who broke taboos,
ties, and prejudices

00:41:08.360 --> 00:41:13.920
and he also fought
against accepted values

00:41:14.640 --> 00:41:19.520
and against canons
that were fixed in history.

00:41:20.120 --> 00:41:25.240
Fidel fought against
the 20th century's greatest power.

00:41:26.760 --> 00:41:30.800
Backed by most Cuban people.

00:41:31.280 --> 00:41:32.840
The vast majority.

00:41:46.360 --> 00:41:49.600
I was born in the former
Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan,

00:41:49.800 --> 00:41:51.720
although I'm a Russian citizen.

00:41:51.880 --> 00:41:56.200
I studied at the Polytechnic Institute
of Frunze, the capital,

00:41:56.640 --> 00:42:01.480
where I met my future husband,
a Cuban student there.

00:42:02.040 --> 00:42:05.520
We got married,
and when I finished my studies

00:42:05.760 --> 00:42:10.760
I did my social service there
and I arrived in Cuba in 1984.

00:42:13.560 --> 00:42:17.080
For 28 years I worked here
as a hydraulics engineer,

00:42:17.280 --> 00:42:20.440
which is what I'd studied
in Kyrgyzstan.

00:42:21.760 --> 00:42:24.960
And three years ago,
when this restaurant started,

00:42:25.200 --> 00:42:28.520
they offered me this job.

00:42:33.960 --> 00:42:35.440
My mother was a cook,

00:42:35.880 --> 00:42:41.040
and I think it's important
on this island, for the Cubans too,

00:42:42.600 --> 00:42:46.000
to show typical Russian food.

00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:52.720
And no one is better suited than us
–Russians, former soviets– for this task.

00:43:00.560 --> 00:43:04.360
My name is Iliana Falcón Gaidemskaya
and I came to Cuba when…

00:43:04.600 --> 00:43:07.600
I was born in 1986,
when Chernobyl happened,

00:43:07.920 --> 00:43:12.480
and my mother brought me here
to get treatment, like many Russians.

00:43:13.040 --> 00:43:14.960
I was in hospital for a long time.

00:43:15.320 --> 00:43:19.480
My father is Cuban,
so part of my family lives here.

00:43:19.720 --> 00:43:24.480
When I was discharged,
at 9 or 10, I stayed here.

00:43:24.840 --> 00:43:28.480
My mother decided to stay
and my father decided to leave.

00:43:28.960 --> 00:43:32.080
So I've lived in Cuba
for more than 25 years.

00:43:39.680 --> 00:43:41.400
I consider myself Cuban.

00:43:42.840 --> 00:43:44.120
I love Cuba.

00:43:44.800 --> 00:43:47.480
When anyone asks,
I always say

00:43:47.760 --> 00:43:51.880
that if I had my life over
I would choose the same fate.

00:44:26.040 --> 00:44:31.080
I've been in Havana
for exactly 55 years,

00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:35.760
I came in 1962
and it's now 2017.

00:44:37.880 --> 00:44:41.280
I came for the first time in 1954,

00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:45.760
when they were still building
Revolution Square.

00:44:51.360 --> 00:44:55.240
When the revolution triumphed,

00:44:56.280 --> 00:45:00.000
Cuba already had a culture
that was hundreds of years old.

00:45:00.240 --> 00:45:05.800
What was missing
was the sociocultural development

00:45:06.760 --> 00:45:11.320
that came with the Revolution
to make the music widely known.

00:45:17.200 --> 00:45:19.360
In each provincial capital,

00:45:20.040 --> 00:45:23.280
there was a school for the arts,
not just music.

00:45:23.520 --> 00:45:25.120
In the municipalities…

00:45:25.720 --> 00:45:30.800
Cultural centres were created
for popular culture

00:45:31.360 --> 00:45:32.720
in the neighbourhoods,

00:45:33.400 --> 00:45:37.360
schools for art teachers,
to teach the kids…

00:45:37.760 --> 00:45:39.240
Mass culture.

00:45:48.040 --> 00:45:50.080
Music is universal.

00:45:51.040 --> 00:45:55.080
When speeches fail,
there's music, sound, communication…

00:45:55.320 --> 00:45:58.280
And that matches

00:45:59.400 --> 00:46:02.280
the ideas of the founding fathers.

00:46:09.120 --> 00:46:11.400
Culture is our birthright.

00:46:12.240 --> 00:46:16.600
Without walls or boundaries.
That's artificial.

00:46:17.400 --> 00:46:19.680
And this equality
should be worldwide.

00:48:07.440 --> 00:48:11.600
Those men and women
made an incredible contribution.

00:48:12.200 --> 00:48:15.360
It's a living presence
in Cuban culture,

00:48:15.600 --> 00:48:17.400
let alone music.

00:48:17.680 --> 00:48:21.640
Without mambo, cha-cha-chá, rumba...
we'd have nothing.

00:48:22.360 --> 00:48:25.040
We'd be an amorphous country.

00:48:26.960 --> 00:48:31.360
And paradoxically,
the people we brought here in chains,

00:48:32.160 --> 00:48:34.240
those we abducted,

00:48:35.720 --> 00:48:40.000
are those we have to thank
for our vast cultural wealth,

00:48:40.560 --> 00:48:44.240
an infinite wealth.

00:48:53.440 --> 00:48:55.040
But our biggest lesson

00:48:56.520 --> 00:48:59.560
came from the maroons:

00:49:00.600 --> 00:49:03.280
that is, the slaves

00:49:03.880 --> 00:49:07.400
who escaped
the clutches of their masters,

00:49:07.920 --> 00:49:12.840
the whipping, the stocks,
the punishments,

00:49:13.080 --> 00:49:15.600
which were exceedingly cruel.

00:49:16.160 --> 00:49:17.840
And the maroons...

00:49:18.360 --> 00:49:23.480
If Carlos Manuel de Céspedes
is the father of the nation,

00:49:24.000 --> 00:49:26.120
the maroons are the grandparents,

00:49:26.640 --> 00:49:29.840
because they taught us
the dignity of standing proud

00:49:30.760 --> 00:49:33.200
in the face of Spanish rule,

00:49:34.240 --> 00:49:38.400
not in pursuit of a nation
or a homeland:

00:49:38.640 --> 00:49:42.520
those concepts
weren't clear back then.

00:49:43.600 --> 00:49:45.040
They didn't exist.

00:49:45.280 --> 00:49:47.440
The aim was to throw off the yoke,

00:49:48.200 --> 00:49:50.960
to escape
the mechanisms of oppression

00:49:51.680 --> 00:49:53.160
and slavery.

00:49:53.400 --> 00:49:57.640
They taught us to love freedom,

00:49:58.280 --> 00:50:02.560
to have a spirit that is free,

00:50:03.160 --> 00:50:06.640
permanently and eternally
emancipated.

00:50:39.120 --> 00:50:42.240
To deny yourself
as a people is suicidal.

00:50:43.200 --> 00:50:47.240
Even for the sake of a socialist
or materialist idea,

00:50:48.280 --> 00:50:50.400
we didn't deny our identity.

00:50:51.800 --> 00:50:56.800
This is who we are: spiritual,
open, Catholic, Protestant...

00:50:58.040 --> 00:51:02.200
Christian, Santero,
Abakuan, Palero...

00:51:02.680 --> 00:51:07.040
This is our people,
and the power that will always unite us

00:51:07.440 --> 00:51:11.720
as a people, as a race,
and as centre of the Caribbean.

00:51:11.960 --> 00:51:13.280
And proud, too.

00:51:13.720 --> 00:51:16.960
I'm very proud
to have been born in Cuba.

00:51:17.400 --> 00:51:21.440
I think patriots
from all over the world

00:51:22.080 --> 00:51:27.040
feel proud to have been born
in their own countries.

00:51:27.680 --> 00:51:31.200
In my case, I'm very proud
to have been born in Cuba,

00:51:31.440 --> 00:51:34.120
to have been able
to represent it honourably

00:51:34.400 --> 00:51:37.720
and to still be here,
sharing with my fellow Cubans,

00:51:39.040 --> 00:51:40.600
and belonging.

00:51:41.000 --> 00:51:45.800
I'm very proud, despite
all the problems and difficulties.

00:51:46.680 --> 00:51:50.200
We're fighters,
we're warriors, we strive

00:51:51.280 --> 00:51:54.440
and things work out,
we're cheerful people.

00:51:55.680 --> 00:51:58.920
Sometimes we get upset or offended

00:51:59.160 --> 00:52:01.800
but the next day
we get up and move on.

00:52:02.440 --> 00:52:06.960
It has enabled me to have an identity

00:52:07.200 --> 00:52:09.880
and that's very difficult in art.

00:52:11.800 --> 00:52:16.160
There are only seven notes
and their derivatives,

00:52:16.880 --> 00:52:19.360
so doing something different,

00:52:19.600 --> 00:52:24.040
especially at a stage of history

00:52:24.280 --> 00:52:28.160
when so much different,
good music has been made.

00:52:30.720 --> 00:52:36.680
It's very hard to have a signature,
to have an identifiable sound.

00:52:37.320 --> 00:52:41.400
And being Cuban
has made it possible for me

00:52:41.680 --> 00:52:45.240
to create a totally new mix
of the music I like.

00:52:46.440 --> 00:52:48.360
First of all,

00:52:48.600 --> 00:52:53.200
I can't imagine
being born or living elsewhere.

00:52:53.760 --> 00:52:56.920
I'm Cuban through and through.

00:52:57.440 --> 00:53:01.640
The focus is on solidarity,
loving one another,

00:53:01.880 --> 00:53:04.240
and humility.

00:53:04.880 --> 00:53:08.040
That's one of the things
I love about Cubans.

00:53:08.240 --> 00:53:11.440
Also the salt smell on our skin

00:53:11.960 --> 00:53:14.640
and the legacy of the mambises

00:53:14.920 --> 00:53:19.360
who taught us to keep going
despite sorrows

00:53:19.760 --> 00:53:22.920
and not to fear
any situation in life.

00:53:23.720 --> 00:53:26.280
I'm a Cuban,
I will die a Cuban.

00:53:26.520 --> 00:53:31.760
Cubanness is joy, feeling good,
and getting along.

00:53:32.160 --> 00:53:33.440
That's being Cuban.