REVIEW: When the Spirits Dance Mambo, 4/5 @ International House

Clearly When the Spirits Dance Mambo goes far beyond the colorful rhythm-driven typical Cuban music and dance documentary. Those elements are there, but shown in their natural place, as part of the religious experience. Anytime you have three practitioners of a religion you get four opinions, and the traditional African sects are no exception.

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REVIEW: When the Spirits Dance Mambo, 4/5 @ International House

POSTED: Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 3:30 PM

Filed Under: Events | Movies

"I've been 30 years" in the practice of the traditional African religion, proclaimed one woman during yesterday's Q&A with Robert "Bobby" Shepard, cinematographer and co-director of When the Spirits Dance Mambo. She was visibly moved while telling Shepard that she wanted to thank him, that she never thought she'd see her religion represented so fairly and beautifully on the screen. Shepard smiled broadly, crossing his arms over his heart to receive the praise, and as the commenter finished by saying she wished her mother, who had initiated her into the religion, was still here to see this, Shepard beamed, "She is." As Shepard allowed to another commenter, yes, being in the presence of so many spiritual people had a profound and lasting effect on all working on the movie.

Clearly When the Spirits Dance Mambo goes far beyond the colorful rhythm-driven typical Cuban music and dance documentary. Those elements are there, but shown in their natural place, as part of the religious experience. Anytime you have three practitioners of a religion you get four opinions, and the traditional African sects are no exception. The film does an excellent job of showing each opposing view in its best light. Some priests are thrilled that people travel from around the world to be initiated, paying fees for their instruction. Others say, this makes it nothing more than a commodity in the marketplace — cut to the orisha dolls being sold on the street. One batá priest mutters that everybody in Cuba is a drummer and no, batá drumming is not open to all comers. On one topic all spoke with one voice. They declare that no matter which branch you follow, this is a religion of caring for family and community. Bad actors are not welcome by true believers.

The film has been out long enough to be available on DVD, with both the original Spanish-only and the English subtitled versions in the same box. Seeing the exquisitely researched archive material, centuries-old ink drawings of natives and enslaved people in Cuba flash all too briefly across the big screen tempts the acquisition of a private copy for the chance to linger over the details at leisure. Lovers of modern Cuba will appreciate the shots of churches and shrines that accompany the discussions of how Yoruba religion was preserved by cloaking it in Catholicism. Watching the dancing scenes of the Fiesta in Santiago de Cuba, it is asserted that without the contributions from Africa, there would be no Cuban culture as it is known today.

Shepard is a warm and approachable man, and the winner of numerous awards for his cinematography. In the Q&A he happily shared production details. He and co-director, Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, to whom Shepard humbly gives all praise, arrived in Havana with a script. "After the second day we abandoned the script" and shot whatever the ancestors and the spirits lead them to. They ended with over 50 hours of film which they pared down to 90 minutes, working on it two or three times a week. "When we learned that the film had to debut in Havana in 10 days we looked at each other and said it's done." How often will you encounter that kind of candor from a star in the business? To learn more about the mechanics of shooting a documentary, attend Shepard's workshop tonight at Scribe Video Center.

The Art of Documentary-Style Cinematography, Wed., April 6, 7 p.m., $25, Scribe Video Center, 4212 Chestnut St., Third Floor, 215-222-4201, scribe.org.

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