Rgh! I just tried creating the block a slightly different way and it worked. I hate it when this happens after I've already asked for help!

This time I made a line of cubes using special duplicate, then without deselecting or reselecting any of the cubes first (like I had done before) I just used special duplicate again on different axis until I had a block. I never even had to leave the special duplicate window.

But I do have a new problem. Turbulence does animate them when they are dynamic now, but I tried making a static dynamic cube and keyframing it moving through the block of active dynamic cubes, (trying to make a destructible block) and baking the animation (using default bake settings) but Maya crashed when the cube hit the block. I tried playing it without baking, but it took so long it seemed pointless if I couldn't bake it.

Is Maya usually unstable when dealing with calculation-heavy processes, or do I have a problem?

Thanks again!