Salón Rosado de la Tropical Ballroom: A DANCERS PALACE IN HAVANA

Text and Photos: Rolando Pujol

Located close to the intersection of 41 and 42 Avenues, just limiting Nuevo Vedado, Miramar and Playa districts, the Salón Rosado “Benny Moré” Ballroom is considered by many as Havana’s Dancers Palace.

Its history begins in the fifties of the past century born as a grand outdoors ballroom capable of accommodating 10 000 people, occupying part of the Pedro Marrero Stadium area, hosting weekend festivities and social balls. In 1985, the Benny Moré Artistic Agency assumes La Tropical reopening project leading to a rebirth of the premises and a new era of great popularity. There, main Cuban orchestras present their premieres of musical interpretations that will become unprecedented successes later on. It is said that if a dancing music number is accepted in La Tropical it is coined as a categorical success elsewhere.

The New York Times compared La Tropical to the New York Palladium and the Afro Pop World Wide qualifies same as one of the anthological discos of its type in the world. Live recordings of videos, documentaries, and films of American and European film and television companies have been recorded there.

Casino, timba and salsa as dancing expressions of typically Cuban son rhythm roots have many passionate performers worldwide who yearly, in November, occupy the Salón Rosado Ballroom during seven hallucinating nights of music and movement as part of the famous dancing event known as: Baila en Cuba. Organized by the Paradiso Cultural Tourism Agency it includes different levels of dancing lessons of various traditional rhythms of Cuban dance heritage. Participants all over the world dance all week long until exhausted forming together with Cubans, an awesome international tasty salsa (n. t. sauce).

Thus, overcoming time and hosting new and old Cuban and universal music with equal enthusiasm, La Tropical will remain for many years to come as Havana’s Ballroom during a full week in November.