Contemporary Dance in Cuba: Técnica Cubana as Revolutionary Movement by Suki John (review)

This recent work on the development of the Cuban dance technique known as la técnica cubana, is an ambitious endeavor to offer various perspectives on the role of dance in Cuban life. Defined as a collective effort to synthesize external influences, such as U.S.-based modern dance techniques with internal artistic practices, such as orisha dances, la técnica cubana is a fundamentally Cuban dance form. For the author, the dance form and its bodies not only reflect the impact of political and historical developments, but also are prime examples of Cuba’s processes of transculturation.

John details the trajectory of la técnica cubana as it relates to politics and history, transforming these ideas and institutions into the dance form’s leading performers. The book’s structure does not follow a strictly linear or chronological sequence of events, but rather addresses specific themes as they relate to la técnica cubana. Chapters 1, 8, 9,13, and14 focus on the political contributions, while chapters 2, 3 and 12 discuss historical developments. The author highlights the ways in which sanctions, embargos, and revolutionary ideologies have paradoxically contributed to the formation of unique artistic practices. John provides a brief, yet thorough, discussion of Cuba’s history from colonization to its present state. Within that discussion, the author signals how past political, racial and social divisions have impacted Cuba’s current condition. Focusing on la técnica cubana, John argues that it could only have developed and flourished in the Cuban context, despite the country’s economic fragility and political restrictions.

In order to capture the complex relationships between dance, politics, and history, John explores how the National School for the Arts (la ENA), created and financed by the Revolutionary government, has facilitated rich developments in dance. Chapter 8 details how dancers possess an elevated status that facilitates their movement not only within Cuba, but also internationally. These bodies in motion transmit government-sanctioned content as models for community outreach and enrichment in places such as the rural countryside and factories. Connecting present-day Cuban policies and the arts, Chapter 12 explores the impact of gasoline rationing during what is known as the “Special Period” through the dance piece, “La espera.” Motivated by the way in which nearly every Cuban constantly waits for some kind of working transportation, John includes personal reactions, describing the languid bodies of the dancers and those on the streets of La Habana. The author creates the sensation that la técnica cubana does not only reflect daily life, but that daily life is experienced as a kind of dance, a series of stylized movements.

Outlining the development of la técnica cubana, John posits the dance form as an exemplary model for examining the syncretic facets of Cuban culture more broadly. From the first line of the book, the dance form is described as an effort to capture the essence of cubanía; the way Cuban bodies move “de cierta manera”. La técnica cubana relies on its dancers to synthesize formal training with corporeal knowledge that comes from distinctly Cuban experiences like cutting sugar cane or becoming entranced by Yoruban gods. In this sense, John presents the common way Cuban bodies move as stylized. In chapters 4-7 and 10-12, John provides details and concrete examples of the dance form’s movement vocabulary, training exercises, and descriptions of productions. Combining Afro-inspired dances such as rumba, folkloric dance practices such as the contradanza, and international influences such as the Soviet Imperial Ballet, la técnica cubana signals the embeddedness of Fernando Ortiz’s transculturation.

Employing academic, personal, historical, and current accounts of Cuba, John expressed the polyvocal quality inherent in many Cuban dance and musical forms. Through contextual historical and political developments, the author weaves personal reflections and interviews with dancers and choreographers to reveal la técnica cubana’s most important attribute: its ability to react and adapt to its...