Flamenco dancer Irene Rodríguez performs during a dance class at La Escuela Nacional de Ballet de Cuba in Havana. Photo by Brian Canelles.
Inside a Cuban Dance School
The mambo, the salsa, the rumba, the cha-cha-chá — with both Spanish and African influences, music and dance are at the heart of Cuban culture.
While in Havana, Geoffrey Baer enlisted one of the city’s most accomplished flamenco dancers and choreographers, Irene Rodríguez, to introduce him to the art form.
She says she loves flamenco because “I can show my sensuality and sadness and at the same time how strong a woman can be in everything, and I show it with my feet clapping.”
See her in action below.
Take a deep 360-degree dive inside one of Irene’s classes at the Escuela Nacional de Ballet, or National Ballet School.
