'Havana
Rumba!' hit the headlines as a certain 'Kily Manogue' (yes yet another
Ausie soap star in Edinburgh) joined the cast on stage on the first
Saturday night of the run. I
had already booked it in and was looking forward to seeing it. Having a
love for Latin-American music and even an attempt at Salsa dancing I
expected it to be superb.
Yes I had an enjoyable show, yes the dancing
was great and yes the band was superb, with all this mix I was still a
little disappointed.
Cuba's
salsa band La Calle could not be faulted musically but I could not hear
either the words of the musical numbers nor any narration until
virtually the end of the show. This eight-piece band played a wide
variety of musical instruments and the orchestration was excellent.
The
six dancers perform a variety of Latin-American dances including Salsa
and Chacha. I found it pleasant to watch but not phenomenal. They at
times almost seemed to be fighting the band for attention.
There
was a sort of a storyline but as we couldn’t heat much of the
narration it was difficult to say what was going on.
For
an overall spectacle and taste of Latin America it is one of the top
tickets of this Fringe.
****
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