I wrote this piece for BlogCuba, Val’s Cuban blogburst, two years ago. My heart still aches for our dear Celia when I hear her music, how she could never see her dream of a free Cuba become a reality. Our dear Celia gave us a unique and wonderful gift, and I enthusiastically await the day that her music is heard throughout the streets of a free Cuba. She will look down at her beautiful homeland and see the people dancing in the streets to her infectious music, and she will smile knowing that they have a future to sing and dance about.
If you are in the South Florida area, I urge you to visit the Celia Cruz exhibit, showing now through August 19th at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach. While I’ve not yet gone to see it, I am sure it is quite a fitting tribute to the Queen of Salsa. I expect to go in the next couple of weeks, and will post all about it then. Stay tuned!
2 thoughts on “¡Azúcar!”
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I don’t claim to be an expert on the subject, but I think the term “salsa” is not unlike the term “Hispanic.” It’s too generic and vague. It’s probably best to reserve it for a food item. At worst, the term serves to lump specifically Cuban musical genres into an impersonal mishmash that fails to give credit where credit is truly due.
asombra,
I agree wholeheartedly with your statement. There are certain terms associated with our culture that are simply a generalization of specific characteristics. As you will note, I did not use the term ‘salsa’ in my post, except as the term of endearment with which she was crowned, so to speak, so many years ago.