Spirituality in Cuban Dance
Art can be reflective of important cultural norms and practices. As is the case with Caribbean dance, more specifically Cuban dance. I have observed that parts of Cuban dance are associated with spirituality and the intersection of religion and the body. Cuban dance is able to embody African culture through movements of one’s body. For example, in religions like Santeria ritual ceremonies are performed with singing and dancing for orishas that incorporate reflective movements of the orisha (Carbonero, “The Africanness of Dance in Cuba,” p. 61). In Santeria dances, the singular movements of a part of the body are not as important as the collective fluidity of the entire body. The way each piece is part of the whole. The collective movement gives the dance meaning and reflects “nature and human life” (Carbonero, p. 62). Each move a dancer makes represents attributes of the divine. To me, it feels like a connection between ones’ body and the spirit. It becomes a visceral experience that goes beyond rhythm and music and has a purpose.
Further than a reflection of the divine, a Cuban dancer can be “embodied” by the divine. (Gottschild, “Crossroad, Continuities, and Contradictions,” p. 4). There is a spiritual connection between the body and the divine while performing a dance. Gottschild is careful not to refer to this as possession, but rather “embodied”, in which a “spirit dances in or through the bodies of its believers” (Gottschild, p. 4). This distinction is of vast importance because Gottschild notes that possession suggests a “lack of control” and this is not what occurs during the dance (Gottschild, p. 4). The idea of embodiment feels to me, like a marriage of the spirit and the body, the two interacting together in harmony.
In an attempt to hold onto their culture Africans enslaved in Cuba could practice their religion through dance. Relating their spirituality through the use of the body and exercising their connection to the divine via dance is discreet. Unlike traditional western religions like Judeo-Christianlity, where religion is practiced out loud and directly. Enslaved Africans could use dance to connect and practice their religion together. It is important to recognize that the spiritual connection found in Cuban dance has deep roots in African culture. This culture is reflected to this day in Cuban dance. These dances are a form of art, a reflection of the culture in Cuba in two thousand and nineteen. We should be able to see these elements protrude in our own Salsa lessons. As we familiarize ourselves with the steps of each dance, though we may not be practicing Santeria, we should feel the connections of the African roots that have carried on for so many years.
I find this to be an interesting aspect of Cuban dance. As historians, we know that cultures are molded over time by the influence of people from the ‘outside’. In this case, Africans, brought to a strange land and enslaved, made a huge impact on the culture and the dances practiced today.
