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The culture of Cuba?s easternmost province, Guantanamo, is strongly influenced by the Haitian refugees who settled there starting at the end of the 18th century. The Ban Rra Rra dance troupe, performing.

Ban Rrarra is a truly great Haitian roots group originally from Oriente and now based in Havana. They have a very strong show and are heavily into their traditions.

Seven members of Ban Rra Rra completed their first tour in the United States in September,1999. They toured California and the Mid-west and were well received by audiences and critics alike. The group is currently rehearsing and making new costumes in preparation for their upcoming tour of the US in the winter of 2001 in collaboration again with ODC Theater of San Francisco and Dimension Dance Theater of Oakland. This incredible group of dancers and musicians, originally from Guantanamo via Havana will arrive in the US in mid January, 2001 for their first ever performances outside Cuba. Many participants in Caribbean Music & Dance workshops over the last six years have been delighted by their performances and folkloric dance workshops.

BAN - Band or group of people organized with a determined outcome.

RRARRA - Costumed People; in a group characteristic of Cuban Carnival

Grupo Banrrarra was formed in 1994 by Isaias Rojas Ramirez. He is the group's choreographer, researcher and also a musician and dancer. Sr Rojas is a graduate of the Instituto Superior de Artes de Cuba. The lead dancer is Yacelis Sanchez.

In the late eighteenth century, many refugees from the Haitian Revolution settled in eastern Cuba. These refugees, both black and white, started coffee and sugar cane production in eastern Cuba. They also brought their Afro-French culture and religions to add one more ingredient to the Mulato culture of Cuba.

Sr Rojas and the entire group come from Guantanamo, the most eastern province of Cuba, and are descendants of these Haitian refugees. His research specialty is the investigation of Vodu in Guantanamo. Ban Rrarra performs the results of his research, displaying the Cuban-Haitian traditions that are alive in eastern Cuba.

The group consists of thirteen individuals, six dancers and seven musicians, some of whom also dance. The group, while performing dances and music handed down from previous generations is also highly trained. The dancers are all graduates of the dance program of the Escuela Nacional de Arte.

Sr. Rojas formed the group in Guantanamo and moved them to Havana three years ago. Ban Rrarra rehearses four days a week, unless there is a show that day. The group has one regular gig per week, pool side at the Hotel Villa Panamericana on the outskirts of Havana. They also do workshops and shows for foreigners on occasion.

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Haiti has a strong presence in Cuba, dating back to the late 1790's after the Haitian revolution, when many French moved to Cuba and took the kidnapped Africans with them. From this wave we get the Tumba Francesa and the Haitian roots music in Cuba. Haitian tradition contains a strong strain of Dahomey and Congo, both of which are present in Cuba. Haitian Rada is Cuban Arara, the Dahomey tradition.

More recently, Cuba is perhaps the only country to have welcomed so many Haitians fleeing the persecution of the Generals and their savage regime. There are reportedly over 300,000 recent arrivals in Cuba. And Creole, which is still spoken by descendants of the earlier waves, is Cuba's second language, with a Creole radio station in Havana. There are a number of Haitian roots groups playing in Cuba, including Ban Rrarra and Desandann.

Today, Cuba has several viable Haitian cultural organizations, including Bannzil Kreyol Kiba.