Cuba's danzon is 'medicine' for older dancers who hope its rhythms live on
Andrea Rodriguez,
Canadian Press
HAVANA (AP) - Luisa Herrera donned her very best dress, a long, black
shiny number, for the genteel Cuban dance known as the danzon. She
completed her outfit with an elegant hand fan to cool her 60-year-old
skin, her hair gathered high atop her head.
Not to be outdone, her dance partner, septuagenarian Felipe
Vasquez, wore a resplendent guayabera dress shirt over his dark pants
and spit-shined shoes.
"Dancing this rhythm requires you to look your best, as
beautiful as possible," Herrera said as she prepared herself for last
month's International Danzon Festival in Havana, bringing together
dance couples from Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela and other countries.