Joaquín La Habana
Habana in 1986
Born
Havana, Cuba

Joaquín La Habana is a queer singer, dancer, actor and drag artist.

Early life and education

Joaquín La Habana was born in Havana, Cuba. In 1966 he emigrated to the US, studying music and dance at Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts (1967–1971) and Boston Conservatory at Berklee (1969–1971), with teachers such as James Truitte, Geoffrey Holder, Talley Beatty and others.

Career

In the early 1970s La Habana moved to New York, where he took small roles as a dancer on Broadway and in musical films such as Hair and The Wiz. At the same time, he began to explore the genre of drag, and for a short period lived a female identity in his everyday life.[1] He performed at Studio 54 with numbers alluding to artists such as Josephine Baker.[2] La Habana worked with the queer theater avantgarde of La MaMa E.T.C., with artists such as Charles Ludlam and Jack Smith. La Habana starred in the queer experimental film Love Thing.[3]

Since 1981, La Habana has lived in Berlin. He performed with the Chez Nous theater, performed in stagings of La Cage aux Folles, and in various films of Rosa von Praunheim, notably City of Lost Souls.[4]

In the 1990s he started working on a series of performances exploring his Afro-Caribbean heritage, which he presented in venues such as Ethnological Museum of Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt and Werkstadt der Kulturen, as well as in the frame of Karneval der Kulturen.

La Habana practices as a Santéria priest and regularly teaches workshops and classes in Afro-Caribbean music and dance.[5]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ↑ Documentary film Joaquín by Serge Raoul, 1972.
  2. ↑ Cobler, Veretta, New York Underground 1970–1980, 2004.
  3. ↑ "Love Thing Movie Credits".
  4. ↑ Interview with Joaquín La Habana on the artistic research site We're In This Together, conducted in winter 2020/21.
  5. ↑ Rossbach De Olmos, Lioba (2014). "CaribBerlin: Multiple Paths in the Religious Life of a German Oricha Priest". Timm, Rauhut, Kummels, Rinke: Transatlantic Caribbean. Dialogues of People, Practices, Ideas. Transcript: Bielefeld, 231-232.

Further reading

  • Larrain, Gilles, Idols, 1973.
  • Cobler, Veretta, New York Underground 1970–1980, 2004.
  • Male Performance, 1986, edited by Norbert Kosmowski and Ronald Dittrich.
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