A "large urban dance gathering" organized in the Parque Céspedes de Manzanillo as part of the celebrations for the 234th anniversary of the city became the target of ridicule and criticism on social media this Saturday, after the images posted on Facebook sparked a wave of ironic comments that quickly went viral.
Loumaris Lopez, art instructor, shared photographs from the event on her profile with the message: "Great urban dance gathering at Céspedes Park, as part of the celebrations for the 234th anniversary of the city."
The event, apparently organized by the Casa de Cultura of Manzanillo, brought together dozens of dancers who performed reggaetón, dancehall, and street dance in front of the historic neoclassical building in the park, in front of an audience that included children, young people, and adults.
The most circulated comment was from a user who wrote: "The little girl who comes out first looks like she's being exorcised," 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 person 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 abundant. One commentator evoked the Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solís with the question, "Where are we headed?" while another wrote, "Oh, Martí, if you get to see this."
Zoological comparisons were not absent: “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. "What horror, so much malnutrition, so much lack of everything. I don't understand these absurdities when the lack of electricity, money, and food is consuming everyone. Today, July 11, celebrating misery and hunger," wrote a user.
Another summarized the situation in three words: "That's the lack of power."
"For God's sake, where did those awful things come from? They have such bad taste. Until when? Poor generation," concluded a user, summarizing the predominant tone of a section of comments that, in many cases, revealed more about the mood of Cubans than about the dances themselves.
The controversy is situated within a recurring debate in Cuba regarding the presence of the gender distribution in public and institutional spaces.
Similar cases have sparked 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 triggered massive criticism.
Céspedes Park, the historical heart of Manzanillo and designated a Local Monument in 1991, is home to the famous neo-Mudéjar 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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