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| [Ligne directrice - Note] Note du photographe [Anglais] |
Cette autre photo d'une autre danseuse cubaine a été prise au Tropicana de La Havane. Ce cabaret qui a ouvert ses portes en 1939 est connu à travers le monde. La scène est en plein air alors s'il pleut il ne font pas le spectacle. J'ai pris les photos au Tropicana à 1600 ISO et avec le 70-200 2.8 IS sans flash. Voici un texte (en Anglais) que j'ai trouvé et qui parle du Tropicana:
"In the 1940s and '50s, American tourists frequented the club, which was known for its casinos, all-night partying and visiting international stars such Liberace, Nat King Cole and Carmen Miranda. The Tropicana even sent charter flights, with dancers and musicians aboard, to collect tourists in Miami.
Chevys were raffled off on stage. The spectacular revues, changed every two months, included circus acts, Vodou-inspired shows -- even live cockfights.
But Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution squelched the capitalist revelry. The casinos disappeared, as did the American mobsters who had a stake in them. A drop in the money coming in meant less extravagant shows and fewer performers from abroad.
In 1968, the government closed the Tropicana and all other Cuban cabarets.
''It wasn't clear whether [the cabaret] should continue as a product within the life we were leading after the revolution, or if it was an element too tied to the decadence of a class that no longer dominated the country,'' Aguilar said.
''Eventually the idea that it was a cultural product won out,'' he said.
In 1970, the Tropicana reopened. But without American tourists, the shows catered to Cuban audiences, incorporating Spanish dialogue and more theatrical acts. Late-night performances lasted until dawn.
''We Cubans like to party all night,'' said Fernando Valdes, who joined the dance company in 1974. Valdes now directs the Tropicana school for cabaret performers and is helping choreograph Tambores en Concierto.
By the 1980s, travelers began trickling into Cuba and, after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the government embraced tourism as a way to replenish income lost when Soviet support ended.
Every night now, 300 to 600 guests -- mostly foreigners -- fill the Tropicana.
Tickets ranging from $65 to $85 are too expensive for most Cubans, whose wages average less than $20 a month. But dozens of Cubans artists and politically active youths are invited to the show each night at a much reduced rate, Aguilar said.
''You can tell there are Cubans because they're the ones who get up and dance after the show's over,'' he added. |
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