Guantánamo.- This Wednesday, December 3rd, the Danza Libre Çompany and guests, with a new generation of dancers and musicians, under the direction of professor and choreographer Guilberto Félix Díaz (Guille), presented the Wemilere, or Feast of the Orishas, a syncretic religious performance. on the eve of the 4th, the day of the celebration of Saint Barbara, worshiped in Cuba as Shangó, a deity of the Yoruba pantheon.
At the current headquarters of Danza Libre, located on Máximo Gómez between Mármol and Varona streets, formerly the courtyard of Artex, the vocal and percussion orchestra, teachers, and dancers will perform a ritual featuring ancient chants and dances associated with the most venerated orishas in traditional Cuban folk religion, including Changó, also known as the king of dance and drums.
The dancers, directed by the lead dancer and choreographer Marveyis Martínez Isalgué, bring to life deities such as Eleguá, Olofi, Yemayá, Ochún, and Babalú Ayé. With each step and the beat of drums, they filled the audience with the fun and the syncretic religious and cultural depth of the event, while simultaneously performing the cleansing ritual of purifying the spirits of the believers.
Every year, the Danza Libre company presents the Wemilere, or “Festival of the Orishas,” which celebrates the rich and diverse ethnic and religious customs of Cuba.
There, devotees from Guantánamo renew their promises of prosperity and health, celebrate their spiritual connection, and reaffirm their cultural and religious identity in a joyful atmosphere that recalls the attempt by enslaved Africans in Cuba to safeguard their faith, which was intertwined with the Catholic calendar of saints.
