Havana's two biggest dance clubs,
                the Palacio de La Salsa and Ache,
                are in hotels on the waterfront
                promenade known as the Malecon.
                When it was owned by Meyer Lansky
                in the 1950s, the Riviera Hotel
                ballroom that now houses the
                Palacio de La Salsa showcased
                the best of Cuban dance music.
                While much of the hotel decor 
                remains unchanged since before
                the 1959 revolution, the Palacio
                de La Salsa now has a powerful
                set of JBL speakers to blast
                the latest in Cuban salsa.




                At private clubs, located far
                from the waterfront in residential
                neighborhoods, DJs miraculously
                pull full dance mixes from the
                most dilapidated sound systems.
                When one club changed venue
                recently, the DJ carried the
                (3' X 4') speakers on the 
                back of a bicycle.