By Alexi Cohan
Staff Writer
Dancing, workshops, lectures and performances were just a few of the activities lined up for the Cuban popular music symposium that took place on Nov. 5 where the Hofstra community had the opportunity to develop an understanding of Cuban music through many informative and unique sessions. Organized by associate professor of romance languages and literatures, Maria J. Anastasio and the Hofstra Cultural Center, the symposium lasted all day and served to provide discussion and insight into Cuban music.
Some of the events included a documentary viewing of the movie “Animals of Cuban Music,” a DJ session, and lectures like “Las Krudas, Queer Hip Hop and the Diaspora.” Zoe Gerowitz, a junior Spanish and Latin American studies major who attended the DJ session felt that the events appealed to some of her personal interests. “I’m really interested in the way Cuban music affects culture,” she said.
The variety of the lectures with speakers from all over the United States and Cuba provided a diverse offering of information, which Anastasio was happy to see as she has done a lot of work on musical practices. “Sound travels a lot and sound does not respect political borders. So I thought that being that Cuba was on national news it would generate more interest,” she said. “I certainly hope that it was worth it for the students who were part of it.”
The keynote speaker was Joaquin Borges-Triana, a music critic and author who traveled all the way from Cuba to attend and deliver a speech about alternative music in Havana. Borges-Triana had to get a visa in order to come here and received one that lasts five years, something that would never have been given to him before President Obama normalized relations with Cuba in December, and he is grateful of this political change. Borges-Triana says, “Cuba is known as the island of music because of the quantity of music that is generated in our country,” he said. “I hope they have learned that Cuban music is very diverse and it’s not just one type of music.”
