More than Divas: Chinese Cuban Women, Opera Performance, and the Construction of Alternative Ways of Being and Belonging in Cuba

In this article, I explore the social and cultural impact of Cantonese opera as a signifier of Chinese identity at the intersection of gender and class in Cuba between 1930 and 1960. In particular, I explore the role opera performance played in advancing an alternative definition of the “Cuban woman” category that challenged dominant, mainstream discursive articulations. To this end, after discussing attitudes toward women as exemplified in the idea of “la mujer moderna” and their social and musical consequences, I describe the musical and social relationships between opera actresses and their mentors (e.g., teachers and musicians). I then analyze how the activities of these music makers constituted a space where extant social ideas and values were renegotiated to make room for alternative ways of being Cuban and being a woman.I argue that the cultural work of Chinese Cuban opera actresses is among the earliest efforts in addressing the issue of gender equality at the intersection of class and race that preceded postrevolutionary struggles by three decades. Although I acknowledge the collaboration between male and female actors within the practice, I focus on the role women played as they endeavored to continue, preserve, and transmit Chinese opera in Cuba in the decades leading to Fidel Castro's socialist revolution. Little is known about Chinese Cuban culture; the existing literature attends to the history of the Chinese diaspora,1 and more recently two documentary films have been produced that focus on the so-called “Divas of Cantonese opera” in Havana.2 The term “divas” has been used exclusively to describe two surviving members of the opera scene by documentarians, local authors and scholars, and, informally, among community members; however, I emphasize the complex cultural contributions of a cohort of Chinese Cuban divas as they navigated power dynamics and questioned dominant narratives through their music-making practices.The use of the term “divas” is problematic in a few ways. It attempts to sanitize practice and practitioner by putting them in conversation with Western standards associated with the term. In another sense, the term implies a lack of seriousness and professionalism by conjuring stereotypes inflicted on female singers, which reduce the activities and contributions of Chinese Cuban actresses. While I do not think “divas” is an apt term to describe these music makers and their activities, introducing a new term would create confusion given that the term has become part of the vocabulary associated with the practice and scholarship surrounding it. My aim in using this term is to demystify it by giving visibility to the equally significant contributions of an opera theater collective. My discussion of these themes within the context of Cantonese opera in Cuba speaks to its relevance and value as a cultural signifier at the intersection of gender, race, and class that pushed the boundaries of what it means to be Cuban and to be a woman.I have addressed the saga of Chinese migration to Cuba and the emergence of the opera scene in Havana elsewhere in detail.3 Nonetheless, I begin by attending to this history in broad strokes to give context to the state of Chinese theater in 1930s Cuba. The emergence of Cantonese opera activity in Cuba can be traced to the activities of a group of Chinese impresarios with ties to San Francisco. These businessmen arrived in Cuba via New Orleans and Mexico around 1860, during the second largest wave of Chinese migration to the island, escaping American anti-Chinese sentiments and laws (e.g., the Anti-Coolie Act of 1862). In the span of ten years, the combined efforts of former Chinese coolies and businessmen created the conditions for the formation of a stable, thriving community, one that “boasted one of the most-known Chinatowns in the Americas.”4Between 1850 and 1900, the Chinese population increased from 1,840 to 5,244, spreading throughout the Havana province in Jaruco, Santiago de Las Vegas, Bejucal, San Antonio de los Baños, Regla, and Guanabacoa. Many members of this growing community worked as longshoremen and in sanitation. The Chinese continued relocating further east beyond the city of Camaguey, where there was a total of 340 coolies by 1862. The underdeveloped sugar industry in Santiago and east Cuba did not yield sufficient job opportunities as did the west, yet as many as 631 Chinese migrated to the region in the 1830s looking for work in El Cobre, a British-owned copper mine lodged in the Sierra Maestra in Santiago.5 In 1858, the first Chinese workers arrived in Santiago, making stops in Sagua La Grande, Nuevitas, Gibara, and Baracoa.6 In general, Chinese workers on the western half of the island from Pinar del Rio to Trinidad, whose numbers were estimated to be 16,386 by 1859, were concentrated on sugar plantations.7 On the east side, between Bayamo and Las Tunas, there were a total of 715 male Chinese workers, out of whom 456 lived in Santiago and the rest in El Cobre.8 These communities made up the audience for a prosperous Chinese theater industry in Cuba.In 1873, the formation of the first Cantonese opera troupe in Havana signaled the significant impact of Chinese culture on the island. The high demand for operatic works was met through the activities of local and international family networks and general import businesses, who were engaged in a trans-Pacific Chinese opera business linking Vancouver, San Francisco, Honolulu, Lima, and Havana. 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