Los Van Van er på USA-turne no og her er ein stemningsrapport frå Florida:
Los Van Van celebrates Jose Marti with Key West performance
It is not that Juan Formell, the leader of Los Van Van, Cuba's most famous dance band, doesn't have any political views. It is just, he says, that he doesn't come to the United States - or to Miami, where Los Van Van play Sunday night - to promote them.
``We came here to do music, just music, and nothing more,'' Formell said Thursday afternoon as he sat on the patio of the Doubletree Grand Hotel in Key West, where he and Los Van Van were slated to play that night. ``We didn't come to the U.S. to do any kind of politics or ideology or anything like that,'' he said.
``If you ask me a political question, I'll answer you - I'm not a mute,'' Formell said. ``But this is not about sharing an idea or an ideology - you can think in one way, I can think in another. But we're talking about music.''
The mood at Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park on Thursday night, where Van Van performed in a concert honoring the 150th anniversary of the birth of José Martí, the hero of Cuban independence, was also resolutely, joyfully musical. The people packed in front of the outdoor stage were mostly young, Cuban and adept at winding their hips; those behind them were largely older, Anglo and amateurs at salsa motion. But they had a similar attitude towards Van Van's music.
``I love [Van Van's] music,'' said Key West resident Bernard Ames, 83, there with his wife Rosalee Sprout, 71. ``I love all kinds of music.'' Sprout, who said she'd traveled to Santiago de Cuba, screwed her face up in distaste when asked about the political implications of Los Van Van's visit. ``It's NOT political,'' she said. ``This has nothing to do with politics.''
Standing next to the corner of the stage, Ray Rodriguez, 44, who'd come from Cuba to Miami five years ago, took a break from dancing to agree with Sprout's sentiments. ``I'm Cuban,'' he said, when asked what brought him to the show. ``Music has nothing to do with politics. Anyways, I live in a democratic country, don't I?''
Formell said he'd had doubts when John Cabañas, the Cuban-American owner of C&T Charters who had brought Van Van here and was producing the Key West and Miami shows, suggested performing in the city where Van Van's 1999 concert caused so much turmoil.
``I was a little afraid that the same thing would happen - `oh yeah, Miami again, the same story,''' Formell said. But he said he'd been surprised by the reaction when they arrived at Miami International Airport on Wednesday. ``Before the press was very aggressive, but this time it was very peaceful. There was a dialogue.''
Formell credited Colombian rock star Juanes' gigantic Concert for Peace in Havana in September with changing his mind about returning to Miami - and the political ambiance on both sides. ``There are always going to be people against this,'' he said. ``But I thought that it's possible to do [a Van Van] concert here in a way that's more peaceful, and I said, ok, let's do Miami.''
Formell also credited younger Cuban-Americans with more interest in the island's culture - and said he was eager to reach them. ``There are a lot of Cubans born here in the U.S. but with parents born in Cuba, and they're just as Cuban as they are on the island, and they're followers of our tradition. There's a big group of young people that are coming with another idea, and you can see the same thing in Cuba too. It seems like this tension is lifting, and things are changing.''
Issac Delgado, a celebrated Cuban salsa singer who defected three years ago and now lives in Miami, was on hand in Key West to get a dose of his native culture. ``I'm here to'' and he mimed injecting himself in both arms.
In the concert, Van Van celebrated a Cubanidad defined by sensuality and enthusiasm, rather than political philosophy. ``If you're Cuban, show me some feeling!'' called Formell's daughter Vanessa, a singer who lives in Miami who came to make an appearance with her father's orchestra. ``I don't care if you're from here or from there!''
And singer Mario ``Mayito'' Rivera dedicated Soy Todo (I'm Everything), a famous Van Van song that invokes the spiritual and African roots of Cuba as part of every Cuban, to "all the Cubans who've come to the United States."
"Are we or aren't we!?" Mayito called out, asking the crowd if they too embodied Cuban culture. The crowd shrieked back ``We are! We are!''
Formell made a surprising offer to Cuban-American musicians in Miami, who have complained that cultural exchange between the U.S. and Cuba is not a real exchange; because although Cuban musicians are once again being allowed to come to the U.S., they are not able to go and perform in their homeland.
Formell said that if Willy Chirino and Gloria Estefan would forgo political statements in the same way that Formell has when he comes to the U.S., he would push to bring them to Havana.
``If these musicians, Cuban artists that could work in Havana, assume the same position, I think they can count on the support of Cuban musicians that live in Cuba,'' Formell said. ``I can push a little to start this idea that artists at the level of Gloria Estefan or Willy Chirino or many artists that are in Miami that want to go to Cuba, but they will respect the ideology of Cuba.''
Kjelde: BY JORDAN LEVIN
MiamiHerald.com
