Santiago de Cuba

Santiago de Cuba is the second most important city in Cuba and a major hub for salsa and son Cubano. While most salser@s choose Havanna, Santiago is less touristy and has only half a million inhabitants making it a more relaxed city. Santiago de Cuba is full of history with notable influence from refugees from modern day Haiti and with plenty of musical roots and some of the most famous artists of social dancing genre.

Santiago and most importantly nearby villages have been hometown of many great musicians. Besides the above mentioned Compay Segundo, other Cuban music allstars like Eliades Ochoa is also from the area. The influence from Haiti and the afro-cuban influence is strong to this day. Catholic traditions and African believes are both active in the community - often not in competition but in synthesis. African Gods like the Orishas also resonate in the son and salsa songs.