Eric Turro Martinez, of Buena Vista Social Club fame, has got a brand new show that is playing this June for one night only at The Palms.
Buena Vista Dance tells the story of Cuba’s golden age through narrator and dance and will be a fascinating look at Cuba’s culture. Martinez, the king of Cuban dance and icon, will take the stage for a night of Cuban history expressed through dance and his story in Cuba through the 90s. Martinez is credited with having brought Cuba’s traditional dance to the stage and is an internationally acclaimed star on the scene.
Martinez describes the show as an amazing cocktail of Cuban music and dance – a tribute to the golden age of Cuban music as well as a view of one night in Havana.
Dance and song have a strong tradition for Martinez who was influenced by family members at the tender age of 9. He credits his mother, Golligta, and grandfather, Teodoro Martinez, as well as ‘The King of Rumba,’ Lousi Chacon, as hugely influential in forming his future path.
Martinez says he still has strong memories of those amazing times of his youth and is eager to follow in his mentor’s footsteps. Martinez says that his inspiration for today is seeing the students who learn from him perform and succeed.
Martinez says that music and dance is everything in life and his way of expressing himself to the world.
“As I find happiness and I fix my illness through my music and dance around the world,” he says. “It’s the best medicine. It’s an amazing element – how you walk and think and feel and talk and listen.”
In the show, Martinez takes the audience on a trip through the struggles of the embargo in the 90s and The Golden Age of Cuba the Havana of the 50s. The story invokes scenes of fancy hotels and casinos in the Caribbean for the rich white elite and celebrities both famous and infamous of that era. The Social Clubs gave birth to some of the most famous performers in Cuban history. These were traditionally a place for Cuba’s more humble, poor people.
It is no surprise then that the thing that inspires Martinez is close to his own life, culture and childhood. Dance, music and touring is what Martinez loves and he hopes to continue to keep doing it for many years to come.
He credits performing in front of an audience since he was 9 as life changing and says that his personal identity was carved out in those early, formative years and is something that he now is excited to share with the world.
Martinez would like to be remembered for dancing on the stage – for keeping the body and the heart of social Cuban dance alive – but he plans to keep going and doing what he loves for a long time yet. Touring is still a big part of his life – he loves coming to Australia, he says.
Says Oscar Zuniga, Executive Producer of the show: “We are so excited about Eric Turro Martinez’s show in Melbourne. This is a show for anyone interested in Cuba, Latin American culture or even just a great night out.”
Premiering at Crown Casino, The Palms, on June 17, this is a show that invites the audience into Cuba for a night of history expressed through live music, dance and story.
https://www.crownmelbourne.com.au/entertainment/live-shows-and-concerts/shows/dance-buena-vista
