CUBANS DELIGHT WITH ISLAND RHYTHMS.

CUBANS DELIGHT WITH ISLAND RHYTHMS BAN RARRA ODC THEATER SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA FEB. 22-MARCH 10, 2001

During their second U.S. tour, Cuban music and dance ensemble Ban Rarra quickly heated up San Francisco's ODC Theater with their infectious energy, despite chilly spring temperatures. They gave concerts and conducted workshops during their extended Bay Area stay, which was sponsored by ODC. The Havana-based company of eight dancers and ten musicians is choreographed by Artistic Director Isaias Rojas Ramirez. It offers a unique presentation of popular Cuban dances and traditional folkloric dances from Cuba's eastern side--Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba--that exhibit Haitian and African influences.

Throughout the concert, the dancers were accompanied by melodious voices, percussion, and tres (a Cuban guitar-like instrument with three sets of strings). Energetic couples entered the stage for El Guateque, a country gathering of family and friends, and changui, a traditional rhythm and dance. They were dressed in traditional white costumes with red accents. The couples constantly flirted, smiling and showing off steps, leaps, turns, and jumps. The singers cajoled and coaxed the dancers.

For the mambo, cha-cha, merengue, and the traditional rhythmic dance the son, each dancer moved vigorously yet effortlessly, even as the tempo changed. Their salsa piece opened with the men dancing next to one another in a series of complicated steps and turns. The women joined the men and the couples formed a circle for rueda (a Cuban relative of American square dance, done in a ring with a caller). Elaborate turns and twists by each couple and tricky steps by the group as a whole had the audience calling for more. Whether it was the men powerfully shaking their bare backs and shoulders or the women sensuously circling their hips and waists, African and Haitian influences clearly shaped their movement.

Ban Rarra ended the first half with a heightened spectacle in a Carnaval-like atmosphere. They blew whistles, drummed exuberantly, waved flags, and teased viewers with their colorful costumes as they danced a tajona in celebration of St. Joaquin. The dancers braided colorful ribbons around a pole, like traditional Maypole dances of the U.K. As they wove around one another, and then reversed to undo the braiding, the men leaped and pushed themselves off the pole with great height and agility.

The second half of the program featured more of the traditional flavors of Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba. Tumba francesa (literally French tomb) depicted a formal courtship dance with French and Haitian influences. The movements were smooth and the steps small; the dancers always held their upper bodies regally. Each couple emphasized footwork as they moved together and with the group.

Los Guaracheros de la Loma featured the group dancing in chancletas, wooden sandals with a single leather strap across the front of the foot, which added a high-pitched sound and additional rhythm to the live music. With short, ruffled tops and skirts and headpieces for the women, and large, ruffle-sleeved tops and white pants for the men, the group danced conga oriental, a common diversion during Cuba's Carnaval. The dancers challenged one another to perform complex steps and turns in friendly competition. Principal dancer Luis Castillo Duverger appeared as a cemetery spirit in Loa del cemetario. His expressive movements were especially keen in this dance. Whether dancing furious footwork, leaping, or shaking his entire body, Duverger was pivotal to the company's choreography and presentation.

To end the concert, Ban Rarra danced gaga a ritual piece with origins in Guantanamo and Haiti. In this exuberant finale, the dancers leapt, somersaulted, and waved flags and machetes. The women waved and twirled their long skirts while they flirtatiously beckoned the men. Jealousy flared between the men, and machetes were drawn as threats. Duverger arrived again, holding in his mouth a small, wooden table. He placed this in the center, and another man jumped off it. One of the women jumped up on the table, then all the men took a corner of the table in their mouths and lifted it, moving in a circle, as she twirled two machetes and continued to dance. Viewers went wild as they set the table down.

The company's enthusiasm was consistent throughout the concert. Under Ramirez's directorship, they clearly presented spectacular, precise Cuban-Haitian movement and dance that left the audience whistling for more.