Omara Portuondo is in the news again. The legendary Cuban singer known as ‘’La Diva Del Buena Vista Social Club’’, has just released a new video clip of the song "Sábanas Blancas’’ (White Sheets), a very special gift to Havana for its 500 years.
"Sábanas Blancas’’ is a song that immerses one into the daily routines of Havana, its culture, its people, all through the beautiful lyric that is so emotive for every Cuban that listens to it. That musical image of the Cuban capital, which expresses a Creole identity of national reality, is the authorship of Gerardo Alfonso. Mr. Alfonso declares that besides being a song that communicates the collective feeling of Cubans, it is also a theme that “has helped him survive all the in clemencies’’, because the artist's career and the ‘’demons to deal with are very hard, and when you no longer have the strength to continue, the songs always float and, as a lifesaver, you rely on them and you continue’’.
The producer of the video, Joseph Ros, with the version that Omara proposes now, has one of the most outstanding careers in recent years in the world of the national audiovisual. For the production of this video, it was necessary a whole year, a creative process to film and perform again the famous song.
According to Mr. Ros and some information on the Internet, breaking the usual styles and scenes in which you enjoy this icon of the Cuban song, Omara. He took her to the streets of Havana, to join ‘’comparsas’’ (a type of Cuban musical parade), to dance with people and remember the same places where Ms. Portuondo emerged, born in Cayo Hueso neighborhood in October 1930. The director explains that he wanted to get away from the common places, from the tourist postcards through which the city is usually reflected. He also wanted to place Omara in a different perspective, from Diva of the Buena Vista Social Club to a common Cuban woman, among the people, among those common places full of symbolism that saw her emerge.
Translated by Susel Esquivel
