Versatility in Caribbean Music-Spanish Speaking Countries

 Versatility in Caribbean Music- Spanish Speaking Countries

Oye! ¿Cómo están todos ustedes?

The final installment of this blog comes down to talking about versatility in Spanish speaking countries.  

I do not mean to make anyone hungry butt... let us look at Cuban cuisine.  Cuban cuisine thrives on the same diversity as the culture. The greatest influences on Cuban food are the Spanish, African, and other Caribbean cultures which in fact I think makes this versatile.  It has so many mixtures from different cultures that it includes a little bit of everything and is not just one single tasteless dish. This flavor mixture is the most precious treasure of Cuba.  Cuban dishes mostly contain a story and is treasured in Cuba.  So, you are telling me, I get a flavorful dish influenced by many cultures and there is a story about its making as well? Wow, shocking. Some common ingredients that you will see in a Cuban dish would be rice, beans, and plantains. Take a look at an example of versatile Cuban cuisine below:

Different   Traditional Cuban Foods 




In a video uploaded by Worldy Foods below this text, the hosts show us a lot of different Cuban dishes being prepared and displayed. I chose this video because it gave an array of Cuban foods, and you can see some of the influence other cultures had on some foods shown by familiarity. By watching this video, it shows that Cuban food is a fusion of Caribbean, Spanish and African cuisines. THE FUSION! You will see in the video all of the wonderful foods and ways they used different foods that we eat but cook in a different way.  Some of these Cuban dishes share a similar taste, flavor, and spices, techniques that are commonly used in African and Spanish cooking. This selection of traditional foods definitely shows that Cuba is not lacking in the diversity/versatility of cuisine nor being. 

Traditional foods of Cuba, Cuban Cuisine, Cuban Dish


The Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries display versatility not only throughout their food but also their music and other musical influences. Based on the assigned reading, in Cuba there is a local tradition called Afro-Cuban. Afro-Cuban music involves two main categories of music, religious and profane. Religious music includes the chants, rhythms and instruments used in rituals of the above-mentioned religious currents, while profane music focuses largely on rumba, guaguanco and comparsa (carnival music). So, backing off of that within this tradition, versatility is seen because there are sacred music and secular music. Virtually all Afro-Cuban religious devotion involves music and dance.



The video below does not state specifically what type of genre it is, but it gives me rumba vibes.  Rumba means “party” which gives the impression that Rumba is meant for fun, joyful and full of energy. I chose this video because I feel as though it gives a great example of profane music.  Even though we are talking about versatility, it is amazing how afro-Cuban music can be for basically fun and religion.  That is a real difference and shows that it does not just fit into one single category. In this video, they are enjoying themselves while passing along messages through the song or through the dancing.  As you will see in the video, there is a lot of dancing and smiling involved when it comes to songs of the genre Rumba.
An Afro-Cuban music group performing African rhythms drumming and dancing on Plaza de Dolores in Santiago de Cuba is shown below.

Afro-Cuban music and dance.



References
Béhague, G. & Moore, R. (2013).  Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 

Isha. (2020). 16 Traditional Dishes to try out when in Cuba. Bitemeup. Retrieved 7 October 2022


Ludo Kuipers. (2017). Afro-Cuban music and dance. [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved 7 October from


The Worldy Foods. (2021). TRADITIONAL FOODS OF CUBA | CUBAN CUISINE | CUBAN DISH.

           [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved 7 October 2022 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Thirdeyemom. (2014). The Rhythm and Twist of Cuban Rumba. thirdeyemom. Retrieved 7 October 


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