Meet the Performers
Isnavi Cardoso Díaz
Isnavi Cardoso Díaz (b. January 22, 1973) grew up in the Santo Suarez neighborhood of Havana. She trained in sports from an early age, first running track and later playing volleyball. She became interested in dance after high school and took classes in folkloric dance at a local cultural center. She was quickly invited to join an amateur company. Isnavi continued to study folkloric dance by joining rehearsals of a dance company that rehearsed near where she lived. Eventually, she landed her first auditioned with the professional company J.J. After that, Isnavi specialized in rumba, working with several of the top-line rumba groups in Havana including, Yoruba Andabo and Clave Y Guaguancó. She was a member of Oba Ilú from 2005 to 2010.
In her own words....
When I started in the politécnico I began to get sports training ... because in reality, my mom got me into swimming because of my fear of the water. But, when she moved to a new house and I switched schools to Emilio Núñez, then I had to take up sports because the school was sports focused. I ran track and I did pretty well. I placed second in national competitions, and won some other competitions... I was there until 9th grade (Cardoso, interview 2/4/11).
From there I went to the EPA, but because of personal problems I didn't finish. There, I was put into volleyball. I was the principal hitter (rematadora) and that was the last sport I played ... after that, I earned my degree in railroad switching. I never caught a train in Cuba, but I graduated. I never liked the major, but I did it because I was told that I had to graduate (Cardoso 2/4/11).
I left the Cultural Center because I was a professional at that point. I had started to work at the Antonio Maceo Theater. They were looking for dancers. I worked with a cabildo that participated in carnaval. I danced in the Yoruba part and the muñecones [giant doll puppets]. There I started as a professional and I finally got into J.J. But THAT was another level. I was a bit nervous because everyone was evaluated and it was a much bigger company (Cardoso 2/4/11).
J.J. was full, so I joined a rumba group and I stopped dancing Yoruba, Congo, Arará, and all that. At that time, folklore was Yoruba and all that, you didn’t see too much rumba. More recently it has developed into this furor that you see today. Before, there was only Yoruba Andabo, and Clave y Guaguancó. The rest were companies like J.J., Raíces Profundas, el Conjunto [CFNC], Baile folklórico. So, after I had the baby, I joined Agüiri Yo. They were newly forming; maybe they had been around for a year or two years. We played at the Lincoln [Hotel] (Cardoso 2/4/11).
What happens, since time has passed you have to enrich the dance. At that time, several rumba groups came out… and I understand from el Maestro [Hernández], one, because he lived it, two, because to me he knows more today about the rumba than anyone, and three, he has researched and investigated it. He is the one who can say ... it is different to live something than it is to read a book ... he has helped me to express my art to my students (Cardoso 2/4/11).
I dance columbia to show that women are capable. I am against men the many ways that men have shut women out of so many things, as if we can’t do anything. In reality, I dance in defiance of men. I enjoy doing it because I want them to put women in the place they deserve. In this sense, I have always been against men. … Men don’t understand that women can dance just the same as them (Cardoso 2/4/11).
Miguel Martínez Vallarte
Miguel Martínez was born on October 6, 1964 in Havana and grew up in the suburban neighborhood of Marianao. Martínez loved to dance from an early age and learned both popular and folkloric styles. He was largely self-taught until his late teens when he began taking classes at a local cultural center. There, he was invited to study modern dance and participate in an amateur company. He enjoyed the technical training and eventually went on to study with the Modern Dance Ensemble of Cuba (Danza Contemporánea de Cuba). Soon after that, Martínez returned to his true calling, which is folkloric dance and devoted himself to a professional career. He grew up watching Hernández perform with the CFNC and eventually joined Oba Ilú.
In his own words....
Dance came to me through my parents. They both danced very well. I noticed how people admired good dancers and I liked that. I saw my mom and my dad dancing. I learned from both of them. They danced very elegantly. Even though I was young, I knew what I liked and what I didn’t like" (Martínez 4/3/11).
I liked modern dance, but it wasn’t what I truly wanted. Folklore really called to me. So, one of my friends from the group knew another group. He invited me to meet them. Soon after that I started working with them in the Old Havana [neighborhood]. That was how I started in this world of folklore (Martínez 4/3/11).
At that time the Conjunto [CFNC] was excellent. In that era, it was like saying “Los Van Van.” The Conjunto was the Van Van of folklore When they had a concert, the theatre was full and people were left waiting outside. They handed out a synopsis and the show lasted from 8 to 10 pm with an intermission. I was a sponge at that point. I went everywhere to see the Conjunto. I saw them four days in a row and I always tried to learn I learned a little thing from every performance" (Martínez 4/3/11).
I learned a lot on my own. To dance you have to understand the music and the song. It is not dance for the sake of dancing. I had to adapt my ear to the toques [rhythms] – they were all the same to me at first. In this company they taught us how to dance the orichas [Yoruba deities/ancestor spirits]. I left the rehearsals practicing and dancing until my mom bought me an album of folklore. It was Oba Ilú, Jésus Pérez, the tambolero [batá player] of Danza Contemporánea. I spent all my time practicing. I would go to a folkloric show and capture something and come home to practice it. I went wherever there was dancing – if there was a tambor [fiesta de santo] I went I watched and I practiced what I learned. That was the way I did it. I went collecting details from here and there. I was a fanatic of the Conjunto [CFNC] in the time of Goyo [Gregorio Hernández Ríos] and all those people who were monsters (Martínez 4/3/11).
Gregorio Hernández Ríos
Gregorio “El Goyo” Hernández Ríos (1936-2012) came to Havana from Pinar del Rio, as a small child. He joined the founding generation of the National Folkloric Ensemble of Cuba (CFNC, 1961) and pursued a successful career as a performer, artistic director, and folklorist. Early on, Hernández distinguished himself as a dancer and singer and dancer of rumba and congo folklore. He performed as a featured soloist in the Congo Cycle (Ciclo Congo), as a lead singer of congo folklore. Furthermore, he earned stature in the rumba community. He went on to work as an artistic director, assessor of folkloric performances and a teacher of abakuá dance. He stayed with the CFNC for twenty-five years where he also directed productions including The Alafin de Oyo (the King of Oyo). After the CFNC, he went on to teach in the major music and dance schools in Havana, including the Ignacio Cervantes Conservatory, the National Art Schools (Escuelas Nacional de Arte), and finally at the Instituto Superior de Arte (now known as ISA-La Universidad de las Artes) and eventually led his own ensemble, Oba Ilú starting in 1995. A renowned rumbero (performer of rumba), Hernández was revered among the musicians and dancers in Havana rumba scene for his dance and vocal performances. In his later years, he maintained a rigorous schedule teaching and performing domestically and internationally.