Tropicana (Club)

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Tropicana presentation (2007)

The Tropicana is an open-air revue theater and nightclub in the Cuban capital Havana . It was opened in 1939 on an area of ​​24,000 m² in the Marianao district .

Advertised as the paradise under the stars , the Tropicana became known for its dancers , conga and salsa dance, and colorful productions. In contrast to European cabaret, the show's focus is on dances with a large number of participants. The Tropicana was u. a. directed by the choreographer Roderico "Rodney" Neyra.

Well-known stars were Xavier Cugat , Carmen Miranda , Nat King Cole , Josephine Baker and Roberto Blanco . Tropicana lovers were Édith Piaf , Ernest Hemingway , Jimmy Durante and Marlon Brando .

history

The first piece of land was rented from Guillermina Pérez Chaumont, known as Mina . The tropical gardens of her “Villa Mina” provided a lush natural backdrop for an open-air cabaret. Victor de Correa provided catering and entertainment, while Rafael Mascaro and Luis Bular ran a casino in the house's dining room . The club was opened on December 30, 1939 with a fanfare blow from the Orquesta Alfredo Brito .

Correa was pushed out of business when Martin Fox bought Villa Mina in 1950. Fox hired the architect Max E. Borges (1918–2009), who created the Arcos de Cristal des Tropicanas, parabolic concrete arches and glass walls to cover the stage. Construction lasted the whole of 1951. On March 15, 1952, the new air-conditioned cabaret building Arcos de Cristal was opened. In total, the Tropicana now had 1700 indoor and outdoor spaces. The building was awarded the Cuban National Prize for Architecture in 1953. From 1956 the Cubana airline offered a Tropicana Special with a return flight until the next morning in Miami . Shortly after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the company, like the other hotels and casinos , was nationalized without compensation by the new government under Fidel Castro ; the former owner Fox fled to Miami, where he died in 1964. In 2002 the Tropicana officially received the status of a national cultural monument.

Currently there are two shows with around 200 dancers every evening. When dancing the chandeliers , the dancers wear a chain of lamps with electric lighting.

The Tropicana is one of the most expensive places to go out in Havana and is mostly visited by wealthy foreign tourists. Under Fidel Castro's revolutionary government, it was a practice that had lasted for decades to give workers employed in state-owned companies free or heavily subsidized visits to the theater as an award for special achievements. This was ended in 2008 by President Raúl Castro with reference to the problematic financial situation of the state.

literature

  • Rosa Lowinger and Ofelia Fox: Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub. Harcourt, 2005 (English)

documentary

  • Thomas Wallner: Tropicana, cabaret of dreams. Canada / Cuba 2006/2009, 52 minutes

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Roberto Blanco turns 75 - and celebrates with the family. In: DerWesten . June 6, 2012, accessed August 29, 2018 .
  2. ^ Cabaret Tropicana. Website of the Cuban Council for Cultural Monuments, accessed on November 13, 2018 (Spanish)
  3. ^ Night Club in the Sky
  4. ↑ Tropicana nightclub turns 70. In: The Hollywood Reporter of December 29, 2009, accessed on November 13, 2018 (English)
  5. ↑ Lowinger / Fox: Tropicana Nights
  6. ↑ Resolución No. 178: Cabaret Tropicana. Declaration of the Cuban Council for Cultural Monuments of March 12, 2002, accessed on November 13, 2018 (Spanish)
  7. ↑ Tropicana cumple 70 años, in: RT Español of December 30, 2009, accessed on March 25, 2015 (Spanish).