Tanda Corróns: There is not a day that I do not remember my beloved Cuba
/ INTERVIEW, PHOTOGALLERY / Tanda Corróns has been living in the Czech Republic for 25 years. Until then, she grew up in Havana, where, among other things, she wrote poetry. She became a singer in Prague. “The audience is a permanent friend to me, concerts are a great infusion into a vein.”
Cuban singer Tanda Corróns has lived in Prague since 1996.
| Photo: Mezcla Cubana
Are you already a Prague woman or still a Cuban woman living in Prague?
Emigration is a very complex life experience. From the point of view of a person who has never had to emigrate, it may seem easy, but for me it is a very strong and unforgettable experience. From my point of view, this is one of the most difficult phenomena one can encounter. It doesn’t matter at what age you will emigrate, whether you decide for yourself or your parents will take you when you are a child. Once people leave their homeland, they may feel incomplete and incompetent. There is certainly a need for each person to open their hearts and understand the nature and culture of the country to which they have moved and to respect its customs. I dare say that man’s home is the world. We create a home where we are well with the people we are well with. We live here and now, we are just people and there is no need to box up and name ourselves. But if you will, I am a Cuban living in the Czech Republic and there is not a day that I do not remember my beloved Cuba.
What places in the metropolis do you like?
I love walking around old Prague and all the places I was with my friends. I like to walk Štěpánská Street towards Wenceslas Square in the summer, especially when it is very hot. Just look ahead as far as the eye can go.
The Gallery of the Capital City of Prague is trying to make up for two lost years this year
And what about the Czechia? Do you have your places here too?
The Czech Republic is a very beautiful country. Thanks to concerts and traveling, I have visited many magical places here and in Europe. I love Olomouc, Brno, Tábor, Zlín and nature around the Bohemian Paradise and the Adršpach Rocks. When I was in the Czech Republic for a short time, I listened to others remember their past. Sentences such as: we sat here after school, we lived here and so on, they evoked memories of my native Cuba and I missed me a lot. Then I could help create beautiful memories here in the Czech Republic, and I try. But just as you, the editor, certainly remember your childhood, so I remember my own in Cuba.
For two years now, there has been a lot of culture and live concerts. How much did you miss singing in front of a live audience?
The audience is a permanent friend for me, the concert is a great infusion into a vein, a feast for the eyes, a great inspiration. Being at a concert and seeing people enjoying, laughing, talking, having fun and dancing watching us is something amazing. I love an audience that with open hearts and gratitude accepts music in any language, enjoys melodies and shares their joy with others. We are currently waiting for a concert with the band on January 22 at the Jazz Dock in Prague. I’m looking forward to meeting you there. Yeah, and did you know that the word enjoy in Spanish can’t be said? But I’m looking forward to it.
Who is Tanda Corróns
Born in Havana, Cuba in 1974.
She graduated from the Institute of Graphic and Industrial Design in Havana.
At the age of thirteen, they began writing their first poems. Later, some of her verses were published in the book Antologia cubana de poesía 1994 in Havana.
In 1996 she came to the Czech Republic with her family.
He has a 24-year-old son who is a writer and lyricist.
In 2009, together with her husband Roman Kryštof, she founded the band Mezcla Orchestra (now Mezcla Cubana), which plays a mixture of Cuban and Latin rhythms.
She is working on publishing a book for children in Czech, she completed the manuscript in 2018.