Critical Review - "Dancing with the Enemy," Deborah Pacini Hernandez

In "Dancing with the Enemy," Deborah Pacini Hernandez examines Cuban music fits into the world music scene, particularly with regard to perceptions of race and authenticity. She summarizes the history of the music since the Cuban Revolution - in short, despite great musical diversity supported by governmental programs, Cuban music's commercial viability on an international scale has been limited by the U.S. embargo. In fact, Cuban music considered "traditional," as opposed to popular/commercial, has had more success abroad as a result of policies that only permitted tours of groups whose music was considered to have educational value. In particular, Cuban music with prominent African influences has been sought out by world music labels, a tendency Hernadez attributes to American exoticization of blackness.

Hernandez notes that, in order to succeed commercially, Cuban bands "are even adopting the 'whitened,' percussion-poor salsa romantica currently dominating Latin-music networks" (120). At the same time, she discusses the world music scene's taste for the exotic. At what point does the music sound too commercial to be sold as "world music"? I would have thought that the rhythmic complexity of Cuban music would be a draw for listeners in this context.

Also, did anyone notice that Hernandez's language was sometimes loaded? She calls salsa romantica "percussion-poor," for example, an unnecessary judgment. And when talking about musicians trying to succeed internationally, she sets up a simplistic stylistic split; Cuban audiences "like their rhythms hot," while foreigners are "unlikely to understand the sophistication and nuances" of the music, so groups "are forced to tread a fine line" between the two. This whole section states the obvious - it's nothing new or surprising for musicians to change their style in order to make money.