Dance, Nana, Dance / Baila, Nana, Baila
Cuban Folktales in English and Spanish

These folk stories teach the deep-hearted wisdom of the Cuban people.

Like a warm sea breeze, these tales will sweep your imagination away to the tropical island of Cuba. There you'll meet a stingy old lady who owns the only fire in the world. She's just skin and bones, but she can dance for three days and nights without stopping. She'll give you a bit of her fire if your music is good enough to keep her high-stepping that long.

And- as if one wild dance weren't enough - at another fiesta you'll hear the animals playing such good tunes that you'll be dying to get in - because you can't enter if you head's still attached to your shoulders!

You'll also find yams that talk and a rose bush that sings a beautiful song - and an old devil man who leaves hairy footprints wherever he goes.

Like the green island of Cuba, these thirteen tales are full of warmth, laughter, magic and wisdom. Have fun reading and re-telling them yourself. Then you'll be participating in the wonderful spirit of Cuban storytelling.

Joe Hayes is one of America's premier storytellers. His bilingual Spanish-English tellings have earned him a distinctive place among America's storytellers. Joe has published over twenty books. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and travels extensively throughout Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

Mauricio Trenard Sayago was born in Santiago de Cuba in 1963. He was raised in a home that was closely linked with art and was surrounded by the artistic debates sustained by the various artists and art history professors in his family. This environment strongly influenced him. Mauricio came to the United States in 2000, and now lives in Brooklyn.