Male artist crossing a bar for a dance in Cuba (8)
I believe the answer is:
habanera
'a dance in cuba' is the definition.
(I know that habanera country of origin Cuba)
'male artist crossing a bar' is the wordplay.
'male' becomes 'he' (he refers to a man).
'artist' becomes 'RA' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'crossing' indicates putting letters inside (to cross can mean to go over or around).
'bar' becomes 'ban' (bar can mean to ban or prohibit).
'he'+'ra'='hera'
'a'+'ban'='aban'
'hera' going around 'aban' is 'HABANERA'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for habanera that I've seen before include "Slow dance of Cuban origin" , "Cuban dance in slow duple time" , "Steps" .)