A "great urban dance event" organized in the Parque Céspedes de Manzanillo as part of the celebrations for the 234th anniversary of the city became the target of mockery and criticism on social media this Saturday, after the images posted on Facebook sparked a flood of ironic comments that quickly went viral.
Loumaris Lopez, art instructor, shared the photographs of the event on her profile with the message: "Great urban dance gathering in Céspedes Park, as part of the celebrations for the 234th anniversary of the city."
The event, apparently organized by the Casa de Cultura de Manzanillo, brought together dozens of dancers who performed reggaeton, dancehall, and hip-hop moves in front of the historic neoclassical building in the park, to an audience that included children, young people, and adults.
The most widely circulated comment was from a user who wrote: “The young girl coming out first looks like she's undergoing an exorcism,” a phrase that ended up naming the video on social media and garnered a significant portion of the reactions.
Other internet users turned to sarcasm to express their bewilderment.
One wrote: "Honestly, I don't know what to say, so I'm going to count from one to a thousand. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...". Another was more straightforward: "Bread and circus...". A third asked sarcastically: "But were they the dancers or the audience?".
Cultural references were also plentiful. One commentator evoked the Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solís with the question "Where are we headed?", while another wrote: "Oh, Martí, if you ever see this."
Zoological comparisons were not lacking: "Peter's sister the eel" and "The tiringallos when they are given the Abate" were two of the most shared.
Several comments linked the celebration to the crisis facing the Island. "How horrendous, so much malnutrition, so much lack of everything. I don’t understand these foolishnesses when the lack of electricity, money, and food is consuming everyone. Today, July 11, to celebrate misery and hunger," wrote a user.
Another summarized the situation in three words: "That's the lack of electricity."
"For God's sake, where did those calandracas come from? They have such bad taste. How long is this going to last? Poor generation," concluded a user, summarizing the prevailing tone of a comment section that, in many cases, revealed more about the mood of Cubans than about the dances themselves.
The controversy is part of a recurring debate in Cuba regarding the presence of the gender distribution in public and institutional spaces.
Similar cases have generated viral reactions in recent months, such as a teacher who danced with her students or young people who starred in a controversial video that also sparked massive criticism.
Céspedes Park, the historic heart of Manzanillo and declared a Local Monument in 1991, houses the famous neo-Moorish gazebo inaugurated in 1924.
The celebrations for the 234th anniversary also included activities for children and other cultural proposals held on the same Saturday at various locations throughout the city.
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