CUBA - Music Study Camp
Date: Jan 17-27 2025
Venue: Havana and Matanzas, Cuba
Leaders: Jesús Bello, Adriana Letamendi & Obini Bata, members of Grupo Afro Cuba & Los Muñequitos, artist collective El Almacen and Karla Mundy
Price: $1850 CAD + $100 CAD Registration Fee + GST - based on double occupancy (covers in country costs but does not cover airfare)
*Single supplement is an extra $300 CAD
REGISTRATION WILL OPEN AUGUST 10th at 11:00 am PST.
SongRoutes is offering an intensive musical study trip in Matanzas and Havana designed for people who love to sing and dance. This trip will serve as an introduction to several singing and dance traditions. Applicants must be hearty & easy going travellers who love to learn music by ear and dance every day! Due to the difficult economic situation in Cuba, we will be prepared to be flexible and adventurous.
Cuba is famous for the incredible richness of its musical traditions and innovations. It truly is one of the world's musical hot spots. On this trip we will be exploring popular & folkloric singing styles - (Son, Trova, Rumba and Afro-Cuban folkloric) and dancing traditions (Rumba, Afro-Cuban folkloric and Son). We will also get to experience some of the incredible choral music scene in Cuba by enjoying 2-3 choral performances.
Our study portion of the trip would consist of..
-5-6 singing workshops with Jesús Bello -highly respected singer and educator from Santa Clara. Jesús will be introducing us to Son and Trova singing - working on lead and harmony singing. Read more about Jesús below!
-5-6 dance classes, drumming and folkloric singing classes in Havana and Matanzas (salsa dance, Afro-Cuban dance and drum. In Havana we would study with members of Obini Bata (all women Afro-Cuban music and dance group) and in Matanzas we would study with past and present members of Grupo Afro-Cuba and Los Muñequitos de Matanzas.
-a workshop in Rumba 'coro' singing with one Matanzas' lead rumba group.
Other activities would include
-attending several performances of some of Cuba's best professional choirs in Havana & Matanzas and folkloric ensembles in Matanzas.
-Havana city tour plus optional museum visits, meeting and working with the amazing Artist Collective 'El Almacen' , 
going out to La Fabrica and enjoying a beach day in Varadero.
In Havana, our times will be spent studying with Adriana & Obini Bata and visiting professional choirs. A typical day in Matanzas will have one singing workshop, either a dance, drum or Afro-Cuban singing study and some kind of cultural/social event. We will spend the first three days in Havana (Jan 17-20) and then we will head to Matanzas for the next week (Jan 20-27).
Venues
We will stay in case particulars (private homes) in Havana and Matanzas- the best way to experience Cuba! In Havana, we will stay in a collection of homes that are all close to each other in the heart of the famous Vedado neighbourhood. We will be several blocks away from the famous Hotel Nacional and the Havana University. In Matanzas we will stay in another collection of homes all near the main street, close to the beautiful main city square. In Havana we will eat many of our 
meals in our casas whereas in Matanzas we will eat as a group in several restaurants. Breakfasts and Dinners are included and Lunches will be on your own.
In Matanzas we will be holding classes in the beautiful Sala White (famous as the birthplace of Danzon, Cuba's national dance)
Matanzas
Havana is the well known capital of Cuba - famous for Old Havana, the malecon and landmarks such as the Hotel Nacional.
Matanzas is a lesser known city but is vibrant cultural centre - famous for it's rich Afro-Cuban folkloric culture and home to a thriving arts scene.
Matanzas is about 100 km to the east of Havana and 45 km to the west of Varadero - famous for some of Cuba's best beaches.
REGISTRATION WILL OPEN Aug 10th 2024
Cost covers all accommodations, class tuition, all breakfasts, all dinners, museum entrance costs, all workshops and concerts.
Flights to and from Cuba are not included.
INSTRUCTORS
Jesús Bello
Jesús Bello hails from Santa Clara, in the centre of Cuba and is steeped in the Cuban son tradition. Throughout his career Jesus has combined life as a professional musician with education. Accolades include winning the Cuba-wide competition “Sonero del Año” as a singer, several years touring the world with Cuban L’aud Maestro Barbarito Torres of Buena Vista Social Club and 7 years as the lead singer of renowned Cuban son band Sierra Maestra.
Whilst he has gained fame as a vocalist, Jesus is a talented multi-instrumentalist and has taught music at the school of arts in Santa Clara for over 20 years. One of his recent projects, which has gained national recognition, is to train a band of students in traditional Charanga style. He is currently director of Raices, a son group from Villa Clara. You can check them out HERE and Jesús is the lead singer playing the bass
Obini Bata
Obini Bata is the first group of women in Cuba who play the Bata drums professionally. Bata Obini Yoruba religion means "Women who play bata drums."
This instrument came to Cuba from Nigeria in the eighteenth century, in the time of the slave trade and for a long time women were forbidden to touch due to religious and cultural beliefs.
This group of women led by Eva 
Despaigne, one of the founders and director over 20 years ago today, are qualified and experienced professionals Cuban percussion instrumentalists. They dance, sing and in addition to bata drums, play a variety of Cuban percussion instruments in his show: drawers of rumba, conga, chequere, maracas, claves, bells, bongos, guiro with a repertoire of Cuban popular music. Mixed rhythms, songs and dances on a great show identified with their African roots in a clear, melodic and with a definite feminine essence in musical and scenic presentation. Our lead dance teacher will be Adriana Letamendi.
Grupo Afro Cuba & Los Muñequitos
We will be working with various past and present members of Grupo Afro-Cuba and Los Muñequitos de Matanzas.
They will be teaching us Afro-Cuban dance, rhythm and singing during our week in Matanzas.
Both of these groups are legendary and extremely important to the musical foundations of Matanzas.
We will be introduced to Rumba and Orisha songs and dances.
El Almacen
El Almacén, Matanzas' first independently owned and operated recording studio. Our headquarters are located in the heart of the city known as the cradle of Afro Cuban music and culture. El Almacén operates as a true arts collective, bringing together the finest musicians, painters, visual artists, sculptors, and theater artists that Matanzas has to offer. El Almacén is a professional recording studio dedicated to bringing the vibrant and unique musical landscape of Matanzas to the rest of the world. For years in Cuba, we have dreamed of presenting our music the way that we hear it, and for the first time ever that dream has become a reality. We seek to empower musicians to become the agents of their own creative identities and to bring to the world what until now have been our own hidden treasures.
El Almacén are working to build our study experience in Matanzas and without their guidance and friendship this trip would be impossible.
You can learn more about El Almacen HERE