Rebeca Martínez looks back on the tense "Para Bailar" final, when a trophy nearly hit her face

October 27, 2026

Cuban dancer, singer and TV host Rebeca Martínez has again recalled the night she and Miguel Ángel Masjuán won "Para Bailar," the TV dance contest that made her famous across Cuba in the early 1980s. As reported by Cuballama Noticias on October 26, she said the final was very close because both finalist couples had big fan bases, and that the judges voted for them unanimously.

The verdict split the audience. Martínez said the security team hid her behind the curtain and told her not to go out on stage, but, worried about her family, she peeked out to see what was going on. At that moment, she said, a trophy flew very close to her face. She also recalled that in the days before, a crowd gathered at the foot of the FOCSA building, where the studios were, and that some people wanted to cut her hair, so her mother had to step in to protect her.

It is not the first time she has described that atmosphere. In an interview with OnCubaNews, Martínez called the contest "an all-out war" and explained that the win was not announced that night but the next day, because of a fight between the two couples' supporters. She said that when the crowd yelled at them, Masjuán would tremble, and she would tell him: "Stand firm, we're going to dance, and we're going to dance well."

After "Para Bailar," Martínez moved into musical theater and film, and for more than 25 years led Cuban television's on-air workouts on "Gimnasia musical aerobia" and "Ponte en forma." In the same conversation reported by Cuballama, she said she chose not to become a mother in order to focus on her career and that she is in love today.