Feminism, Gender & LGBTI Spaces
Dancing With Julie at Sábado de la Rumba
By: Emily Cromell
As we left the airport, I knew my time in Havana, Cuba would be beautiful, and that I would be surrounded by different colors, sounds, and smells everyday of the program. On the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel I felt a simultaneous need to document the world that was whizzing past me and to soak it in without the interference of my camera’s lens. I chose to enjoy the ride without taking out my camera, and in fact I never should have worried about not having enough pictures because I took over 400 pictures and videos during those ten days in Havana. As is often the case, I came back to the United States and discovered that I did not have any pictures or videos from my favorite and most memorable experience in Havana, dancing at Sábado de la Rumba.
That Saturday, the 21st of May, was a hot day made even hotter by the sunburn I had gotten that morning at the beach. We arrived early enough to get seats, but also early enough to start sweating, and the music and dancing had not even begun. Truth be told, I did not really want to be at Sábado de la Rumba, and I certainly was not planning on dancing. Thankfully, the people filling in the seats on both sides of the dance floor were much more alive, and soon the musicians started to play.
The first few dancers were men, and they danced by themselves. Each came out onto the dance floor and strung together a series of steps and moves until the song was over. Then they would retreat back to the crowd with some scattered applause from the audience. Excited that something was finally happening, I started to loosen up to being there, especially when more and more people began to dance. My favorite people to watch were the older women, whose flair and rhythm were apparent, even before they started to dance, from the way that they greeted their friends to the brilliantly colored clothes wrapped around them.
I was still not ready to dance, especially since none of my peers were dancing! There was no way that I was going to go out there alone, but Stevie finally got some of us up out of our chairs and on to the dance floor. She had already been pulled to the dance floor by a very eager and persistent man, so I was a little afraid I might be pulled away by some overly-friendly, anxiety-inducing man. Immediately, though, I knew I had made the right decision to dance, even though I felt like a fool. My clothes were sticking to my thighs and I kept tripping over myself in my flip-flops, but no one seemed to care. People seemed genuinely happy and thankful for the opportunity to be there and dance, and their joy was contagious, at least for me.
About thirty seconds after I made it out into the crowd of dancers, and older woman took my hands and started dancing with me. She knew a little bit of English, but I could not have cared less about that; her smile was so big and warm that she could have pulled me off anywhere. While I had been happy dancing alone with the other students, it was so comforting to have this woman take the lead. She would twirl me around and then I’d do the same for her, even after the first song ended. Soon she was leading me over to a group of women who were all dancing together. They were doing some kind of line dance, and they showed me how to step so that I would stay in line with them.
Soon the woman pulled me away with her again, and we danced some more. In the middle of the song, she pulled off my glasses and pointed to my eyes. “Beautiful,” she said, and it took me a minute to realize she was telling me I had beautiful eyes. I blushed, and she asked me what my name was. I then realized that I needed to know what her name was because to this day, she is the most radiant, warm, inviting person I have ever met. And her name is Julie!
In addition to dancing with me and giving me the greatest boost of confidence imaginable, Julie also introduced me to her son and grandson, who were both lovely as well. When she first brought me over to her son my heart fell a bit because I thought she was trying to set me up with him. But as soon as I saw that he had a little boy, I regained my sense of place. In fact, I had so much fun dancing with Julie and her friends that I did not even mind dancing with a man right afterwards. I normally would not mind dancing with a man, but as a lesbian, I am often uncomfortable in situations like these because I worry that my friendliness may be misinterpreted as interest.
Interestingly, though, I really did not feel out of place, and I did not feel judged for dancing with men or women. Normally, even when I am dancing with a group of friends, I feel very exposed, even if nobody is watching me or wondering about my sexuality. At Sábado de la Rumba, dancing was just dancing. I was dancing because it was fun, not because I was trying to prove a point, or make a statement. That being said, dancing with Julie, with her friends, and then a larger group of women who were all dancing together and enjoying each other’s company was very freeing and powerful for me. Everyone was friendly and tried to talk to me, and for someone not used to such high-energy social interactions, it was also a little overwhelming.
One thing that stood out to me was that men either danced alone or with women, but rarely together with other men. Women, on the other hand, danced with everyone, but seemed to create a special space for themselves, too. This use of space is really powerful because it can become a space for positivity, for other women, for our bodies, for the ways we express ourselves, and potentially, regardless of sexual orientation. Who knows if Julie or any of the other women guessed that I am a queer woman, but I felt safe and happy with them. Maybe if I was a queer Cuban woman, they might not have been as inviting, but it is hard to guess.
I also noticed that Sábado de la Rumba was a great space for learning and teaching, both across generations and across nationalities. I had never seen that many different ages all dancing and interacting together, from children barely old enough to walk to men and women with grey hair and wrinkles who still got up and danced like there was not an old bone in their bodies. The old could share a vibrant aspect of their culture with the young, and both could share dance moves. As an American, I met Cubans and other travelers, and we were all able to dance together even if we had no shared language.
I do wonder how tourism does and will impact places like Sábado de la Rumba. Some of the Cubans we met there were looking for ways out of their current situation, some by leaving Cuba all together, and others by finding financial security anyway they could, even if that meant following tourists. Even getting into Sábado de la Rumba cost money, and beer and water were also fairly expensive given the average Cuban salary. My hope is that Sábado de la Rumba will not become too expensive for Cubans, or too crowded with tourists that it will lose its feel.
The next day, Sunday, we went to rumba at Callejón de Hamel. Thankfully, I do have pictures and video of the dancers and artwork here, although I did not meet anyone like Julie. Dr. Marouan and I did, however, have the opportunity to meet a woman who leads an all women’s rumba music group, and she signed a postcard I bought of her, which was touching. Although the dancing was less inviting to me at Callejón de Hamel, the art and music were beautiful. A downside of Sábado de la Rumba was that all of the musicians, all night, were men. At Callejón de Hamel, there were several wonderful women singers and dancers -- as there should be!
Most of our life is spent doing things; going somewhere else and leaving when things are over. But Sábado de la Rumba, and especially dancing with Julie, was an experience. Maybe Julie always dances with awkward foreigners, but she made me feel included in something special and bigger than just one dance. I wish someone had taken a picture of us, but I will just have to remember her without one. I hope that someday I will embody the same warmth and energy as Julie, or, at the very least, her dance moves.