Celeste Mendoza Beltrán

Celeste Mendoza Beltrán. Distinguished Cuban singer. Emblematic interpreter of guaguancó who knew how to convey in her voice and body movement the sensuality, playfulness, and emotionality that the genre demands.

She was born in the city of Santiago de Cuba on April 6, 1930, in the popular neighborhood of Los Hoyos.

In 1943, at thirteen years of age, she moved to La Habana where she became known in an amateur radio program for her interpretation of El marañón, a creation by Julio Cuevas.

She received dance lessons taught by her cousin Jorge Beltrán, with whom she later formed a dancing partnership.

In 1950 she performed at the Teatro Martí as a dancer for the Compañía Batamú. She also performed at the Cabaret Mi Bohío located in the beach area of the Marianao neighborhood.

In 1951 she joined the dance corps of the Cabaret Tropicana, under the direction of Roderico Neyra; where Mendoza, during the visit of singers Josephine Baker and Carmen Miranda, made brilliant imitations of them, with which she won the applause and admiration of the audience present. That same year she joined a vocal-instrumental quartet with Omara Portuondo, Gladys León, and Isaura Mendoza (her sister), under the direction of pianist and composer Facundo Rivero.

In 1952 she began as a solo singer and performed in the program Alegrías de Hatuey broadcast by Radio Progreso, accompanied by the orchestra conducted by Maestro Ernesto Duarte.

In 1953, she made her television debut in the program "Esta Noche" on CMQ, directed by Joaquín M. Condall. She sang as a duet with Miguel de Gonzalo. She was one of the first to perform the bolero ranchera, especially when she sang "Que me castigue Dios" by Mexican José Alfredo Jiménez, accompanied by the orchestra of Ernesto Duarte, and her interpretations, of any genre, she performed in guaguancó time.

She performed at the Teatro Blanquita and had contracts in various nightclubs in La Habana where she popularized songs in the style of Soy tan feliz. Her very personal interpretation became a broadcasting success.

She performed alongside Benny Moré, Fernando Álvarez, and Blanca Rosa Gil; also with Los Papines, the Aragón orchestra, and the Conjunto Sierra Maestra. She appears in the Cuban film by filmmaker Rogelio París: "Nosotros la música".

She participated in the popular music festivals of 1962 and 1963.

She toured Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Panama, and the United States, and performed at the Olimpia Theater in Paris, the Soviet Union, and Japan.

She continued with artistic tours through European and Latin American countries and intense activity in radio programs and shows where she had the opportunity to share the stage with such famous figures as Benny Moré, Ignacio Villa (Bola de Nieve), Edith Piaf, Ninón Sevilla, Carmen Miranda, Josephine Baker, and Pedro Infante.

She was part of the cast of the Music Hall that performed in the French capital, featuring groupings and figures such as the Aragón Orchestra, Los Papines, and Elena Burke, in 1964.

She signed contracts with French television and performed before audiences in Berlin, Moscow, and Leningrad.

Upon her return to Cuba she was acclaimed in theaters and cabaret shows and became the protagonist of four other documentaries produced by the ICAIC. She also acted in a film with Tin Tan, Tin Tan en La Habana, and a musical short for French television.

In her records, reissued in Venezuela, France, and Canada, rumba occupies a very prominent place, as well as other genres and authors of Cuban and Latin American songwriting.

In her long artistic career she received numerous accolades. At the International CUBADISCO Fair in 1998 she was awarded, along with the musical group Los Papines, for the album El reino de la rumba.

Discography
DC: La soberana
(LD-GEMA): Celeste Mendoza (1106), 1962;
Celeste Mendoza, la reina del guaguancó (1148);
(LD-SEECO): La voz de Celeste Mendoza (9217), 1961;
(All LD-EGREM): Aquí el guaguancó (3174), 1966;
Celeste Mendoza (4378);
Celeste Mendoza, la reina del guaguancó (5426), 1988;
Celeste Mendoza con Sierra Maestra (4669), 1990;
Celeste Mendoza y los Papines.
(All DC-EGREM): La Reina y el Bárbaro (022), 1992;
El reino de la rumba (236), 1997;
Celeste Mendoza con Sierra Maestra (303), 1998;
La soberana (517), 2001.

Interpretations
The Cuban people remember the interpretations she made of works such as:
Échame a mi la culpa,
Que me castigue Dios, and
Papá Oggún
But above all, her skill in handling guaguancó, guaracha, or for assuming generic combinations in which boleros or rancheras increased their musical and dance interest based on rhythmic structures characteristic of mambo and rumba.

As Rita Montaner said
..."a true Cuban artist, who expresses in vocal and choreographic form, with spontaneity, without pretense, our popular and folkloric music". The Queen of Guaguancó!
She died in La Habana on November 16, 1998.