Cutumba's electrifying performances offer a soul-stirring journey into Cuba's authentic folklife and history. Our expansive repertoire recreates an entire cosmos of Afro-Cuban rituals, dance styles, rhythms and celebrations from the Oriente region's diverse cultural palette.

Imagine sacred Yoruba initiations like the Bembé a Oggún, where participants invoke the warrior spirit in ecstatic movement and rhythms. Or the fantastical, beaded characters of congas santiagueras playing out dream-like folklore scenes. Our recreation of Haitian-Cuban pastorals like Gagá honour the region's French Antillean roots, while feathered Iremepossessed maskers reenact ancient Abakua symbols and Apache settlers' garish Tajona dances. 

Each production showcases the seamless fusion of influences that define eastern Cuba's identity. Our signature Saga Loas, weaves an epic tale of Afro-Cuban spirituality through languorous Haitian dances and crisp Yoruba choreography. Meanwhile, drumming and vocals transform into primal conversations with the divine.

Attired in intricate, historically-faithful costumes, our dancers and musicians inhabit their characters with reverence and charismatic energy. Dazzling makeup, masks, painted floor designs and sets magically transport audiences to rural plazas and ceremonial temples. From rapturous Afro-diasporic celebrations to rustic kitchen dances, each performance serves as a living museum of Cuba's indigenous cultural legacy.

Performances and Events

We perform in theatres, community spaces, workplaces, schools, tourist centres, municipalities and on any national or international stage that meets our technical requirements.

● National Tours

Las Villas, Havana, Las Tunas, Camagu ey, Sancti Spiritus, Trinidad, Bayamo, Holguin, Cienfuegos, Ciego de Avila, Manzanillo, the Isle of Youth, Guantanamo andMatanzas. 

● International Workshops

Since 1996 with: USA, United Kingdom, Japan, The Netherlands, Italy, Ireland, France, Germany and Canada.

● Awards and Official Acknowledgements

1985 - Second National Prize for Dance and Choreography UNEAC

1987 - Third National Prize for Dance and Choreography UNEAC

1989 - First Prize at the National Monologue Festival

1992 - Olocún Order at the Rumba and Drum Festival

1992 - Medal FITEI International Festival Oporto, Portugal

1994 - National Butterfly Prize

1995 - Medal of Popularity, Cadiz International Festival, Spain

1995 - Distinction as Best Cultural Centre Nationally

1996-1997 - National Avant-Garde Group of Cuban Culture

1998 - Recognition at the International Festival of Caribbean Culture, Mexico

1999 - Diploma Confolens Festival. France. Italy

1999 - Recognition Latin Music Festival. Paris, France

2000 - Recognition NRW Dance Festival, Germany

2001 - Second Place Edinburgh Cavalcade Festival, England

2002 - Recognition New Zealand International Festival

2002 - Certificate African Dance Festival, New York, USA

2002 - Recognition Week of Cuban Culture in Turin, Italy

2002 - Recognition from the Mass Media in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York

2002-2003 - National Avant-Garde Group of Cuban Culture

2003 - Recognition Gala Eighth International Social Communication Symposium, for the Artistic Quality of the Work: ‘Saga Loas’

2003 - Lauro Gallery, April Santiago de Cuba

 

● Active Repertoire

  • Asicanica Batá

  • French Tumba

  • Gagá

  • Tajona

  • Papa Guede

  • Karinga

  • Cuban Tradition.

  • Rumba Triptych

  • Epiphany Day Procession

  • Cuban Fiesta

  • Saga Loas

  • Martí and Moncada Rumba

  • Rhythmic Cutarero

  • Rumba Cycle 

  • Scenes from the Santiaguero Carnival

  • Bembé to Oggun, to Oshun.

  • Santiaguero Street Cries

  • Masquerade on Foot

  • Crowning of the Master Machete

  • African Trilogy

  • Carmen

  • From Haiti, the Merengue

  • Merengue Maelé

  • Arará Heart

  • Baptism to Oggun Batala

  • Casino Wheel The Luck

  • Country Things

  • Ritual for a Challenge

  • Trival

  • Guirero and Elegua

  • The Chosen One of a Dream

Teaching/Workshops

Beyond our awe-inspiring stage shows, Cutumba is devoted to educating and inspiring the next generation of dancers, musicians and cultural ambassadors. We offer a diverse range of instructional workshops and intensives locally and internationally to share the rich traditions of Afro-Haitian-Caribbean folklore.

Our core faculty comprise highly experienced practitioners who have spent decades mastering the intricate foundation, techniques, rhythms, chants and symbolic meanings behind each traditional dance style from gagá to rumba. Whether village folkloric forms or popular Afro-Cuban genres like son, they impart the authentic movements and idiomatic performance norms to uphold rather than reinvent.

In our hallmark classes, students receive comprehensive training in Afro-Cuban percussion and vocals. Drummers learn to wield the batá and other sacred drums, while singers digest the intricate call-and-response chants in languages like Lukumí. Similarly, dancers become steeped in the ritualised Yoruba dances like Yagueta and folkloric blends like guaguancó.  

Expanded curricula cover festival styles like comparsa and secular Creole forms like the merengue from Haiti. But Cutumba's specialty lies in unearthing obscure rural fusions borne from disparate African and Hispano communities intermingling in remote villages. Lessons extend to the symbolic meanings and histories behind each dance or rhythm, so students inherit an encyclopaedic cultural fluency.

Hands-on workshops build ensembles to exemplify the communal songs and participatory elements at the heart of Afro-Caribbean traditions. For over two decades, Cutumba's ethnically-diverse instructors have trained international students from as far away as Japan and Italy to the UK and beyond, to uphold global awareness and preservation of Cuban folklore.

Every year since 1998 we have been organising two week dance holiday workshops based in Santiago de Cuba. Aimed at dancers from absolute beginner to advanced levels, these holiday programmes include 3 hours of Cuban dance lessons each day and accompanied nights out with Cuban dance partners to local dance clubs. Everyone on the holiday has their own professional Cuban dance partner for all tuition and nights out, and this allows everyone to not only learn at their own pace but also helps to boost confidence and dance ability. The trips are scheduled at regular intervals throughout the year and often coincide with local music and dance festivals taking place in the city.

For full details of these unique dance holidays, please contact Kath on kath@caledoniaworldwide.com or have a look at the website on www.caledoniaworldwide.com