We turn onto a street and I see this extremely colorful mural on the top floor of a 4 story building.
This must be the Santeria neighborhood.
We visit a Santeria house. The Santeria religion is a system of beliefs that merges the Yoruba religion (which was brought to the New World by enslaved West Africans sent to the Caribbean to work on sugar plantations) with Roman Catholic and Native American traditions. These Africans carried with them various religious customs, including a trance for communicating with their ancestors and deities, animal sacrifice and sacred drumming and dance.
The drumming starts and the first dancer leaps onto the floor
The jester-like figure moves at a frantic pace, leaping, whirling, stamping all to the pace of the drums. She jokes with her audience, grabs hats, pulls people into dance and seems to love every minute of it. Watching her bare feet pound the stones makes my feet hurt!
The trickster takes his turn to dance.
He grabs Joan and she gives it her all!
This stunning young girl swirls her skirts like the ocean…I hope my camera catches an image of her that I can paint this evening.
Suffering from “Watercolor Withdrawal” I decide to paint from the photos I took today instead of going out to a night club with my friends to hear a great Cuban band.
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