♪ ERIKA: NO SHOES REQUIRED, JUST A GLOVE, BALL, AND BAT.
CUBA’S NATIONAL SPORT IS ON DISPLAY IN A CASUAL PICKUP GAME.
IN CUBA, BASEBALL EQUALS NATIONAL PRIDE.
. THE ISLAND NATION LONG DOMINATED WORLD AMATEUR PLAY AFTER FIDEL CASTRO BANNED PROFESSIONAL ATHLETICS IN 1961.
CASTRO USED SPORTS AS A POLITICAL TOOL EQUATING CUBAN STRENGTH ON THE FIELD AND IN THE RING WITH THE STRNGTH OF SOCIALIST IDEALS.
ON A NARROW STREET IN OLD HAVANA, TUCKED BETWEEN WEATHERED APARTMENT BUILDINGS IS THE OPEN AIR RAFAEL BOXING GYM NAMED FOR A STUDENT KILLED IN 1930, AND AN UPRISING AGAIN THENCE -- THEN
DICTATOR.
THIS IS WHERE SOME OF CUBA’S ELITE BOXERS HAVE TRAINED FOR DECADES.
LIKE THEIR BALLPLAYERS, CUBA’S AMATEUR BOXERS ARE SOME OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD.
AT RAFAEL TREJO, ALL AGES ARE WELCOME, AND EVEN THIS AMERICAN JOURNALIST.
SINCE FIGHTERS HERE CAN’T GO PRO, THEY ARE NOT COMPETING FOR A PAYDAY, BUT FOR THEIR COUNTRY.
>> [SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE] ERIKA: WILSON CALVO TALKS ABOUT SACRIFICES REQUIRED LIKE BEING AWAY FROM FAMILY.
BUT HE ALSO TALKS ABOUT THE HONOR OF A VICTORY.
>> [SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE] ERIKA: THE BOXING PROGRAM IN CUBA IS DEMANDING, PROMISING ATHLETES ARE IDENTIFIED AT A YOUNG AGE.
THE SPORT HERE IS HIGHLY TECHNICAL DESPITE THE THREADBARE EQUIPMENT AND TIRED FACILITIES.
TECHNIQUE, NOT SO GOOD.
COMPLIMENTS ON FORM DON’T COME EASY.
[LAUGHTER] ERIKA: UNO, DOS?
>> MAYBE.
ERIKA: MAYBE.
BUT CALVO’S SMILE DOES.
[LAUGHTER] ERIKA: IT IS OFTEN SAID BOXING IS AS MUCH OF A DANCE AS IT IS A FIGHT.
AND JUST AS IT’S ATHLETES ARE REVERED, SO ARE CUBA’S DANCERS.
>> JUST MOVEMENT IS PART OF THE LANGUAGE OF THE CUBANS.
WHEN THEY TALK THROUGH THEIR PHYSICAL LANGUAGE, THROUGH THE RHYTHM.
ERIKA: AS NELL DEL GATO IS THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF A CONTEMPORARY REPERTORY DANCE COMPANY UNIQUE IN CUBA BECAUSE IT IS INDEPENDENT.
DEL GATO GREW UP IN A DANCE FAMILY, STUDIED AT THE STATE RUN NATIONAL DANCE SCHOOL, AND GRADUATED A PROFESSIONAL DANCER.
>> IT IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.
. I KNOW MANY DANCERS, THAT THEY NEED TO LIKE DO OTHER STUFF IN ORDER TO SURVIVE.
IN CUBA, BEING A DANCER IS LIKE A CAREER.
MOST OF THE CUMIN -- CUBAN DANCERS, THEY ONLY DANCE.
ERIKA: FOR EIGHT YEARS, HE DANCED WITH THE NATIONAL MODERN DANCE COMPANY IN CUBA.
PEOPLE TOLD HIM IT WAS A MISSTEP WHEN HE DECIDED TO LEAVE, START HIS OWN COMPANY, AND PUSH THE BOUNDARIES OF CONTEMPORARY CHOREOGRAPHY.
SUPPORTED BY THE JOYCE THEATER IN NEW YORK CITY, IT IS ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT FTER CUBAN DANCE COMPANIES WITH A GROWING INTERNATIONAL PROFILE.
THERE TOUR LOCATIONS INCLUDE, YES, BOSTON.
>> WHEN WE GO BACK TO A CITY WE ALREADY KNOW, WE FEEL LIKE A FAMILY.
WE HAVE A VERY STRONG GROUP OF COLLABORATORS IN BOSTON.
ERIKA: DEL GATO REACHES BACK TO TRADITIONAL DANCE WHEN DEVELOPING NEW PIECES.
HE DESCRIBES THE EVOLUTION OF DANCE IN CUBA STARTING WITH COUPLES DANCES.
>> THE FIRST THING THAT I KNOW THAT WAS LIKE A TRADITIONAL DANCE -- LET ME SHOW YOU.
THEY WALK LIKE THE PART OR SOMETHING WITH A PARTNER.
THE MAN TAKES THE WOMAN IN THIS POSITION AND TRIES TO MOVE JUST SIDE, ONE, SIDE, ONE.
AND THEN THE SALSA, OR THE SONG THAT COMES AFTER, WAS MOST LIKE A FINDING THE TEMPO MORE STRONG IN THE LEGS.
SWINGING THE HIPS.
ERIKA: AFRO-CUBAN DANCE IS ANOTHER INSPIRATION.
AFRICAN RHYTHMS AND MOVES PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION WITH SPANISH INFLUENCES.
>> IT IS VERY IMPORTANT, THIS KIND OF TRADITION.
AS A GROUP, WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW THINGS ON FORM.
ERIKA: THE GROWTH OF INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATIONS LIKE HIS, PERHAPS EVIDENCE OF A SLOW EVOLUTION OF CUBA ITSELF.
ANTHONY: IT WAS CUBA’S FIRST THERE ARE OTHERS.
THEY TOUR AND A NATIONALLY.
SHAYNA: THEY ARE ACTUALLY COMING TO MASSACHUSETTS, AND THEY WILL BE HERE IN MARH.
ANTHONY: GO SEE THEM.
UP NEXT, IT IS DESCRIBED AS ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST PLA