"For a few years now, we have been gathering to commemorate the premiere of 'Las Alturas de Simpson,' which took place on January 1st, 1879. We started at the José White Concert Hall at 7 p.m., which was the time this piece premiered, and afterwards, due to the influx of so many people, we began moving it to the Parque de la Libertad, always near the White Hall, so everyone could join us in remembering the beginning, we could say, of a long and beautiful history that the danzón has gifted us, from the hands of that quintessentially Cuban and matanzero Miguel Failde, who is the pride of this land."

"From there, we went to Limonar, the land of Miguel Failde, and for me it's very symbolic to be in Limonar on January 1st, to also play for the danzón community there."

Perhaps because they started on the right foot, doing what they love most, the young and talented musicians of the Failde orchestra, Ethiel can foresee a good year for the group he leads:

"This is going to be a beautiful year for the Failde Orchestra, at least that's how we are planning it. In 2025, we had the good fortune to tour Mexico, arriving at two important moments for us and being able to play in such an important place as Mexico City's Zócalo, for so many people, at the grand dance held for the declaration of the cultural practice of danzón as intangible heritage of Mexico City."

"I am very grateful to the cultural authorities because they thought, of course, about recognizing that the danzón is Cuban and bringing a group that has promoted the genre, in this case, the Failde Orchestra, young musicians, but we were also able to bring, thanks to the Mexico City Secretary of Culture, other bearers, representatives of the danzón community, the couple that won the Grand Prize of the International Danzón Meeting we hold here in Matanzas annually, we brought maestro Loyola who has done so much for danzón, a danzón devotee from head to toe, and also our provincial director of culture, who has always promoted danzón and is the general director of the International Danzón Meeting."

They made the most of their visit to Mexico, he assures: "From there we went to Veracruz, where we did some recordings, and those are some of the good news I wanted to share for this year. We took the opportunity to record a new album in Toluca, in a studio we really like. And that's what we're doing right now; we already have the first single ready, which will be a cumbia, a collaboration with La Sonora Dinamita, a Colombian group based in Mexico, which is very popular and widely listened to there. The single will be out on all digital platforms on February 6th. Then we will be releasing other tracks, including a merengue, and other international collaborations as well."

"At the end of January, we are going to Colombia for the first time; we will reach Cartagena. We had already been to the Cordillera Festival in Bogotá, a huge event, but it's the first time we'll be in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, so we are very happy. It will be on the 30th and 31st at Café Habana. We will return, of course, to Mexico; we plan to go to other continents as well, and it will be a very beautiful year, with a lot of movement for the Failde Orchestra and its international projection, in addition to the new album, which also makes us very happy and I hope people receive it with much affection, because it will bring other genres we have played live and that people have asked us, 'why don't you record those songs?' Well, there we are, still in that creative process, which is very rich, very enjoyable, and one enjoys it little by little."

2026 could be a very significant year for danzón, as the dossier is being prepared to inscribe it on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and the Failde Orchestra has played an active role for this purpose:

"Actually, we have been working for a long time to achieve it, but since last year we have been very focused on that goal. The first step was, on behalf of the bearer community of Matanzas, to ask the Municipal Assembly to ratify the declaration of danzón as heritage of this territory under the new Heritage Law and to take actions accordingly. It was approved, and from there, we started to set the machinery in motion."

"We had awareness workshops across the country, and we even managed to reach some. The first was here in Matanzas, taking advantage of the International Danzón Meeting, which is the great danzón festival in Cuba. We were able to bring representatives from many provinces, in addition to the couples who come to compete in the Meeting. There we conducted interviews and other awareness-raising actions. People have to understand what this whole process is about, which is long, a bit tedious, but in the end, we will try to include a cultural practice on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. We have to change a lot now about what we are talking about. We are not declaring danzón as a musical genre, nor the dance; it's the cultural practice and its associated knowledge, which goes beyond that. That is, it encompasses the music, the dance, but also the attire, the way of being, everything related to danzón."

The workshops have also been a space to give voice to the danzón practitioners of Cuba: "In these awareness workshops, we were able to have the provincial directors of culture listen to the danzón practitioners, so that the danzón community itself could listen to each other, because that is important. There were peñas (gatherings) that had been lost, and with the support of the Ministry of Culture—because it must be said, from Vice Minister Lisset who was always aware of us—we have been joining efforts so that a movement that is active across the entire country organizes itself. And yes, the majority are older people, but they must be heard, and we must try, more and more, to also listen to the young people, to those who are interested, opening up spaces for them that we have lost a lot in today's Cuba, so that all generations can say what they think and reach a common ground, because only the danzón community can make changes internally within the movement. That is, no one from the outside can come and say 'this is what must be done'; no, it is the danzón community that must empower itself and decide."

With reason, Ethiel points out that "the Failde Orchestra, for a long time, has been leading some actions. We had the 'Danzoneando' program that aired on Radio Taíno and that we later managed to make binational with Mexico. Unfortunately, in Cuba it couldn't continue, but in Mexico that program continued, in Veracruz. We promote the International Danzón Meeting, which is also a platform to promote danzón and make this city remember that it is from here, and there is the Miguel Failde Day, which begins in December—since Miguel Faílde was born on December 23rd and died on December 26th—and ends on January 1st. During this period, we take danzón to the neighborhoods, to the people..."

And with an enormous sense of belonging, he insists that this proposal reaches UNESCO "from Cuba and only from Cuba. Because while we know that danzón is danced in Mexico, that there is a large community of danzón practitioners there and that it is already heritage of Mexico City, having been passed down from generation to generation for a long time, we want to do it from Cuba for several reasons. One, because we have the right as people from Matanzas and as Cubans, since the dossier, moreover, is being prepared in Matanzas, and that is very symbolic, because it falls to us from Matanzas. It is a national-level dossier, but it is being prepared from this city."

"On the other hand, to be able to declare danzón as a world heritage, the country must have declared it two years prior. Therefore, Cuba is the only one that currently has that right and that possibility, and we are very happy about that. This year, in March, the process of preparing that dossier with the inventory, the safeguarding plan, and all UNESCO's requirements should be completed. Hopefully, we will have the good news this year; if not, next year. We'll have to see how that process goes."

"What I can tell you is that the danzón community is very organized throughout the country, and that has allowed us to make a very deep inventory. Moreover, it's not only about the dancers, because sometimes one thinks that the bearer community is only the dancers; no, there are also the composers, the people who listen to danzón, and others who don't dance, don't compose, but like to listen to danzón; there are the radio directors, the people who make fans... that is, it's an entire practice in the general sense, which remains alive on the island."

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff