BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB

Review By Celia Ipiotis

Temperatures rise to the heat of the danzon, son, and bolero rumbling out of the instruments of a wildly talented group of musicians re-issuing the music made famous by the Buena Vista Social Club documentary based on the 1966 recording.

Converted to a musical by Marco Ramirez and directed by Saheem Ali at the Atlantic Theater, the Buena Vista Social Club story spins around the recording session organized by a young Cuban record producer Juan De Marcos (Luis Vega) intent on capturing the classic days of Cuban music from the 1950’s-60’s, before Castro’s rule.

With the lights still up, musicians filter onto the basic set enhanced by a wrought iron style balcony designed by Arnulfo Maldonado. Soon the whole cast swirls in. The music bubbles up through the brass, piano and strings while the dancers rhythmically respond to the syncopated beat leaning forward and back in counterpoint to the spirit-lifting music.

Swinging back and forth in time from the present audio studio, to Havana of the 1950’s, Ramirez’s  story centers on the career of Omara (the robust Natalie Venetia Belcon) a legendary singer of the era. It’s through her singing career in the old Tropicana, that the audience is submerged in the music and politics of the pre-Castro era. 

Omara, along with her sister Haydee (Danaya Esperanza), are the featured “sister act” at the old Tropicana. Artistically dissatisfied, Omara slips away from the glitzy club catering to tourists and steps into the gritty Buena Vista Club — home to the local musicians.  Alas, Haydee fears for Omara’s reputation and safety, but Omara, (who could be a metaphor for the working class people of Cuba), finds her heart and Cuba’s musical soul in the Buena Vista Club.

Flashbacks reveal the onstage musicians’ relationships and celebrated careers on the physical margins of Cuba’s tourist tract but at the center of the Afro-Cuban sound that seeped into the world and most importantly shaped American jazz.

Some of the most compelling moments arrive when the social dance links to the music. Reminiscent of the Lindy Hop, female dancers swing onto men’s hips, and then flip off soaring in mid air as the men drill their heels into the ground. Hips rotate as easily as one breathes, hands press against the heart and feet corkscrew to the uneven beat. All the couples spew an electric energy that ramps up the music’s pulse.

Whereas the club dances jolt the senses, the balletic entries by dancers doubling as the main characters, lack the same juice. Of course, the open dance space is quite limited, so the dream-like ballet sequences are restricted. But more importantly, the pristine ballet duets flatten rather than expose emotions. Credited to two dancers from a ballet background, Patricia Delgado (formerly of Miami City Ballet) and Justin Peck (NYC Ballet Resident choreographer),  the choreographers have worked together on projects for a number of years. 

In fact one of the breakout scenes features a young musician, Hery Paz, who plays a killer flute solo. Appalled by the idea of including a “non-traditional” instrument, Omara threatens to quit if the producer allows the flute solo on the recording. Despite the command, the flutist breaks protocol and plays a ravishing improvised solo that seduces Omara into dancing — hips rounding, arms floating and feet shuffling forward and back in line with the music.

All in all, Buena Vista Social Club’s sizzling cast generates some of the best live music on stage outside of NYC’s famed jazz clubs.

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Celia Ipiotis