Cuban music, dance celebration comes to Radford

The Havana Cuba All-Stars have performed all around the world, including France, the UK, Norway and Sri Lanka. After a successful 2016 debut tour of the United States, the Havana Cuba All Stars have returned for another North American trek.

Audiences can expect the performance to include the musical heritage of the son cubano style, which combines African rhythms with song structures from the Spanish musical tradition. Originating in rural eastern Cuba at the end of the 19^th century, son became a highly fashionable dance form, taking Havana by storm in the early decades of the 20^th century. In the 1970s, son became one of the key influences of salsa, which emerged from the Latin scene in New York.

The group will incorporate other Cuban styles into their show such as nueva trova, cha cha chá, changuí, pilón and guaguancó. Each of these distinct musical genres adds to the richness of Cuban culture through their own stories and context. Nueva trova, a contemporary ballad style featuring singer-songwriter troubadours, evolved from son, principally in Havana. Changuí emerged from a campesino tradition in and around the hills of the Guantánamo Province, while Guaguancó is an Afro-Cuban style originating in the marginalized communities in the dock areas of Havana and Matanzas. Cha cha chá evolved as a dance style in the early 1950s.