What was Tropicana?

Founded in 1950s Havana, Tropicana was a pleasure dome, a dazzling and glamourous Cabaret show of singers and dancers in jaw-dropping sequined costumes who performed for some of the most prestigious guests of the time. Their influence placed Cuba on the map as one of the most desired destinations to visit.

This documentary is an opportunity to see behind the scenes of a dying and forgotten art, the Tropicana Cabaret Company. It captures a moment in history that has been neglected by the wider world despite the worldwide success of Tropicana. A culture with so much to show and yet so much hidden.

Czech-Swiss born award-winning filmmaker Madeleine Duba, nominated for BAFTA, short selection for the British Animation Award, winner of 12th Gold Prix Leonardo 2003, Maple Leaf Award 2009 Canada International Film Festival, CBS Jumbotron Time Square New York, her short films have been screened at International Film Festivals Worldwide.

Via an on-the- ground documentary style, this is an opportunity to open the doors to the Cuban national identity, a fusion that spans European, Spanish and African ancestry in its own unique nature and culminates in a stage show like no other. It showcases the full breadth of Cuban movements and rhythms from cabaret and street salsa to Afro-Cuban dance, from the classically trained ballerinas to the street dancers of Havana. (what else?). Produced by Cuban classically-trained Tropicana dancer, Homero Gonzalez, now a London based choreographer, we trace his life in Cuba, and that of several of the men and women he danced with, as he lives and breathes the art form and culture of Cuban dance.