Tropicana, Havana, Cuba 1956
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Born in Havana, Cuba, the distinguished artist Rita Longa (1912-2000) created more than 400 sculptures in her lifetime, many of which are still displayed on the communist island country in the Caribbean, located south of Florida and the Bahamas.
Los Venados, depicting a family group of deer, at the Havana Zoo (1947), the statue of La Virgen del Camino (1945) and her modernist sculpture Shape, Space and Light (1953), positioned at the main entrance of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, are just some of her works that still enhance everyday life for Cubans.
This graceful ballerina on the front of this menu cover from the iconic Tropicana nightclub in Havana is also tribute to the work of this largely self-taught sculptor who worked in bronze, marble and tile.
Cuban businessman and gambler Martin Fox owned the Tropicana during its 1950s hey-day and commissioned fellow countryman and architect Max Borges Jnr to carry out improvements on the famous garden estate and nightclub.
He presented the idea of a statue to Longa and on December 31, 1949, the marble Ballerina was placed at the main entrance of the famous cabaret as decoration for an illuminated water pond.
Some may have expected a sculpture of one of the Tropicana’s extravagantly dressed showgirls, but the delicate beauty of the graceful and fluid Ballerina underlined Longa’s belief that the spirit of dance has no boundaries.
Ballerina became the official logo and mascot of the Tropicana.
First opened on December 30, 1939, in a lush, tropical garden of six-acres, Tropicana was the height of glamour for visitors to Cuba in the 40s and 50s. The open-air cabaret was populated by showgirls in skimpy costumes and feathered headdresses and seated 1400 people, while full orchestras played to crowded dance floors that were both indoors and outdoors.
Celebrity revelers at Tropicana included Ernest Hemingway, Marlon Brando, Rita Hayworth and JFK.
Though Cuban-owned, the nightclub had ties to American organized crime.
On December 31, 1958, Cuba’s President Fulgencio Batista fled into exile with a reported $300m fortune - the panicked atmosphere at Tropicana that night featured in a scene in Godfather II.
Fidel Castro and his revolutionary forces took power the following day and closed the island’s casinos. The nightclubs, like almost everything in communist-led Cuba, became government property.
Tropicana still offers floor shows today that help showcase Cuban culture, mainly for tourists who can afford the price of entry, and Ballerina still greets every guest at the entrance.
This menu is from 1956 when the Miami-based Wylly’s Tours began operating popular multi-day vacations to Cuba.
Each order includes a print of the interior menu.
All printed in USA.
