Juan Formell: ’Just don’t ask me to dance’

“I don’t dance.“ This simple statement by a Cuban always takes people by surprise. But coming from the director of the most famous dance band in Cuba that has become part of the musical history of the island, it is almost unbelievable. Juan Formell—bassist, composer, arranger, trovador, innovator, and above all, the man who has led Los Van Van for 42 solid years—welcomes us at his home, a beautiful house whose backyard is the joy of his grandchildren. He tells us that in terms of dancing, he is like a baseb