Cuban traditions

There are various traditions that are particular to the Cuban culture.
The Guayabera and Straw Hat
The Guayabera shirt is the trademark of the Cubans. It is quite likely that you have seen a Guayabera shirt with your own eyes and perhaps even worn one without knowing what it’s actually called and where it comes from. This is because it goes by a variety of names such as the Havana shirt, cigar shirt and the Mexican wedding shirt.
The shirt itself is a rather cool open neck shirt that is traditionally made out of cotton. It features a set of large pockets which can range from two to four in number. Typically it is not a shirt that is to be tucked into the pants rather it is to be worn outside the pants giving the wearer a casual yet sober look. The shirt can be worn for weddings and other formal occasions as well as with jeans.
Havana style hat will sure go just fine with your guayabera. Cuban style hat is light and fresh. It helps to keep you cool while fashionable.
The Quincenera Tradition
In the Cuban culture the Quincenera tradition is a memorable experience. It starts when a young lady, who is referred to as the Quincenera, turns fifteen years old. The Quincenera is introduced to society by a means of a formal party. This party commemorates a girls’ passage into womanhood.
The idea of having a big, grand and usually outrageously expensive party still attracts many young girls to the whole “mentality” of the Quinceanera. Today, families continue to promote the fiesta as a coming of age party for their daughters. However, with the change of social ideas and values, the Quinceanera also takes on different characteristics.
In some cases, a new car or trip to Europe is sometimes exchanged for the typical fiesta, for all of these things cost about the same. For those who do choose the Quinceanera fiesta, large scale preparations—similar to a wedding—are to be expected. Some choose to have damas y chamberlains (female and male friends) to dance with her in the beginning of the dinner portions of the fiesta. The dancing requires weeks of preparation to ensure a perfect performance on the night of. Also, the change of dresses and symbolic gifts play an important role in the ceremony
Danzon: The Cuban Traditional Dance
The Danzon is considered the national dance of Cuba. This dance is a descendent from a dance of the French Court called Contredanse and was brought to Cuba by French planters fleeing Haiti during a slave revolt in the late 18th century. In Haiti, Afro-Haitians added a spicy syncopation called the Cinquillo to the Contredanse, which is also found in the Tango. The Tango is also derived from the Contradanse. By the mid 1800's, a freer more spontaneous dance had evolved into the simpler Danza or Habanera, which was also danced by couples. The popularity of the music and dance moved west, and by the 1870s the danza evolved into the danzon that is now considered the national dance of Cuba. From the 1870s to around 1916, Danzons were usually played outdoors in the town square by groups called Orquestas Tipicas, which were coronet led bands supported by clarinets and trombone, with tympani predominant in the percussion. Indoors, the same danzons were played by groups knows as Charangas Francescas (French Orquestras), or Charangas for short. These were composed of violins backed by a flute lead, and the tympani were replaced by the smaller timbales. By the 1930s, the Orquestas Tipicas were rare in Cuba, but Charangas abounded. Until the late 1920s, the danzo'n was limited to the upper classes at their private clubs and societies and separate from the black street music and Son of the Conjuntos. (http://hera/berkeley.edu/staff/social/cubatranscript.shtml)
In 1959 Fidel Castro's revolutionary forces took control of Cuba and many composers and musicians fled to America. In New York, the music of Cuba became inextricably mixed with the musical variations of Puerto Rico and American popular music. New styles of music, by new types of groups hit the Latin Club scene. New instruments were introduced and new sounds produced, giving a wild new interpretation of the Mambo. Trombones found a place besides trumpets, making the sound more brassy. The traditional instruments were relegated to supporting the rhythm sections. While Cuban exiles Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan and Arturo Sandoval continue to delight audiences around the world, Cuban music and Cuban dance would wield even greater influence if Cuban nationals were allowed to perform in the United States. (http://web.archive.org/web/20091027082138/http://geocities.com/sd_au/mambo/sdhmambo.htm)

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