Gender prejudices characterize the teaching of ballet in Latin American, but Cuba is the exception. In the Caribbean archipelago, there are increasingly more boys fighting for the scarce places for ballet schools. Worldwide recognition of the Cuban ballet school dates from five decades ago and at present there are Cuban dancers all over the world, even in Africa where four Cubans recently conquered four medals –two gold, one silver and one bronze– in an international contest. Two of them are already working on a company in South Africa, while the youngest are finishing their senior year at the Cuban National Ballet School, institution that will host the 20th International Meeting of Ballet Academies from April 13 through 26. “Generally, the academies taking part in the event are for girls, they never have the chance to do some training with boys and here we are able to give them that opportunity, which is the main demand in the event”, noted Elena Cangas, vice president of the Organizing Committee of the event. “During the meeting, the participants take lessons on classic duets and with Cuban boys, something that isalways new for the girls and make themost of it, though they get more...

Cuban producer Alejandro Perez will shoot his popular video clip “Bailando” for the third time so that Jamaican singer Sean Paul can join it. However, there is no need to worry because the cast of the second version will remain the same: Enrique Iglesias, from Spain; Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona, from Cuba. This production will be premiered this week in Los Angeles, in the United States. Its director already travelled there to make the final arrangements for the next shooting, which will be in English in an attempt tobringing the video closer to the Anglo Saxon audience. Alejandro is very famous in Cuba right now, though no one recognizes him on the street. His profession keeps him behind the camera, wearing wide pants and a cap, always comfortable. It is difficult to find such a common name in Google, but precision arrives by the hand of awards and praisesjust by thinking about the photography in films such as Viva Cuba, Habanastation and Conducta, the latest Cuban films. He is distinguished by quality and a heart that takes him far away not letting fame get up his head, as we would say in Cuba. Some days before departing for the...

Frank Fernandez wrote a piece for Alicia. He didn’t do it on a stave, but on his mind, he told me. “Do you think Viengsay Valdés would dare to dance a piece I dedicated to someone else?” Of course, I answered right away. “And who can make a worthy choreography for it?” Without too much gloating I suggested Tania Vergara, director of contemporary dance company Endedans, because her perspective on contemporariness takes the best from classic techniques, the language in which Frank considered fair to pay homage to Alicia Alonso. He asked to meet with Vergara personally so that he could make a decision based on two qualities: the creator of the dance steps should be a spiritual and sensitive person. Tania came from Camaguey province with her characteristic warm smile and elegance. I few minutes sufficed the maestro to see something in her and he invited us to come into his studio. He said: Julito, start recording, to his sound technician. And with Tania sitting a few inches from him he said: Something like this is what I have been writing in my mind. The piece was not rehearsed; it was just born out of the first try, in...

As if 70 years means nothing, a few hours before celebrating his birthday, Cuban pianist Frank Fernandez promised to study and work harder to become better as an artist and a human being. While critics from Europe, Asia and Latin America speak highly of the technical virtuosity of this man who started to learn music even before he had consciousness, Cubans identify his geniality for the passion diluted even in his more complex score. If an artist is fully committed with his work and is able to portray his temper to every performance; that’s Frank Fernandez. Crowds applaud the interpreter and composer; a few people know his physical suffering due to many hours in front of the piano, the single exercise that makes his bones disappear and his soul flourish. His own family is amazed by seeing him study until 3:00 and 4:00 am, “someone that just a few hours earlier was suffering from strong pain, rubbed with some cream and ice in a seat meant for the lumbar area, but when he gets into his study he simply forgets he has a body”, said his oldest daughter, pianist Liana Fernandez. This maestro insists: “My language is sounds and silences”...

After Jesus, the figure of Napoleon Bonaparte is among the ones that bring out the biggest passions among collectors from different continents and generations. The conquests of the French general transcended the geographical , military and political fields and surfaced in culture and still live in many countries, even those that emperor never set foot on. That’s the only explanation for the International Napoleonic Society to choose Cuba to host its upcoming International Congress, an event dedicated to sharing research results. To the surprise of many, this little island in the Caribbean Sea treasures one of the most impressive collections of Bonaparte, unrivaled across America, but Napoleon ties with the country are not limited to very personal and unique pieces as one of his cocked hats and spyglass, the death mask and a molar , among many relics. The links between Bonaparte and Cuba are only beginning to be revealed, or so thinks the director of the Napoleonic Museum of Cuba, Sadys Sanchez. In the opinion of the scholar, the 12th International Congress to be held in Havana from July 7 through the 11 gives them the opportunity to show the world how close we have the ruler who sat...

Cuban television said nothing about it, but fortunately there is the internet for some while most Cubans only know it by name. A better reason then: the most watched news media in Cuba should have talked about the four Cubans who just took high the name of their country in the medal standings of the fourth International Ballet Competition in South Africa. The event is unique of its kind on the African continent. The Cuban school of ballet, mainly founded by Alicia and Fernando Alonso, remains unique in Latin America. None of the four winners have deserted the island; in fact, the two of them who are students will arrive shortly to continue the school year. Yet television news and newspapers ignored the news transmitted by Prensa Latina News Agency and replicated by CubaDebate and Cubasí websites and some radio stations. Thanks to the radio, some of the people found out that Cuba won the most medals in the International Ballet Competition held recently in South Africa with two gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Students Rafael Quenedit and Francois Llorente won gold and bronze respectively in the junior category, while the professionals graduated from the National School of Cuba...

Carlos Varela sang like an angel to present a book that portrays Cuba, a time and the feelings of generations of countrymen throughout the planet. The publication of "Habaname: The musical city of Carlos Varela " validates the ability as a chronicler of a singer who transcended media silence periods and somewhat controversial lack of understanding within their island because he sang dissimilar texts and sad but valid, very real reasons. As if time didn’t pass over him, with the same look of crafty gnome, the songwriter revived “Como los peces”, “Muros y puertas”, “Árboles raros”, “Habáname” and “Siete”, among other great songs of his own creation in which he never lost sight of a nontrivial maxim: people always dream. With dreams of his generation Varela dared to weave heartbreaking, rebellious and yet romantic songs. Varela, a few hours ago invited on stage other greats like Frank Delgado and Gerardo Alfonso to pay tribute to his recently deceased friend Santiago Feliu, prominent troubadour of the same strain. "We lost a cardinal point," he lamented . The musician urged that each of the people in the audience to lift any luminous object while everyone chanted "like an angel", the chorus of...

Again the bell tolls by Viengsay Valdes and the stellar ballerina instead of calling the press to provoke it with technical displays she cultivates as a religion, she puts her shoes away, wears a dress in keeping with the tropical climate and asks permission to thank the spirits that helped her in her formation, even in times when many were wary of her. The prima ballerina of the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC by its Spanish acronym) presented the electronic version of a book about her life , authored by Carlos Tablada, with a title illustrating the needed mettle in a career like hers, "De acero y nube ." The sociologist and 1987 Casa de las Americas Award met Viengsay in 2001 when she sculpted her body with physiotherapist Miguel Capote and at the doctor's house he proposed her writing a book about her artistic experience. The girl, who had not yet reached the rank of prima ballerina and who saw herself as petit, thought the man was joking or hallucinating , because she thought she was worthy of such a thing and forgot the proposition. The author of "Che’s economic thought" proved once again his visionary capacity. That tenacious...

Some Cuban migrants found in dancing a way of living despite not being professional dancers. Throughout Latin America there are schools of Cuban popular dances where most instructors do not hold academic degrees but simply they are from the island and live to teach how to dance salsa, mambo, cha cha, rumba, among other dances that almost strange within the Caribbean country in these times. In Cuba, finding a young man who can move to those rhythms today is difficult. On the rescue of these traditions Marta Bercy goes with the realization of the modern and Afro-Latin dance international workshop WORKUBA, which will run from February 15 to 23 at the America Theatre in Havana. The event, open to domestic and international people, both professional and amateur dancers, offers workshops and master classes in contemporary dance, ballet, Afro-Cuban folklore, rumba, salsa, cha cha, “rueda de casino” and also bachata, Argentinean milonga and folklore, which although they are not Cuban have African influence. In early 2000s, the contemporary dancer researched on Latin dances and found that the common element in all was the African influence. "I had the experience of CUBALLET maître Laura Alonso began organizing that since 1991. With her...

The American choreographer Pedro Ruiz embraced Camagüey city when he wrote "Momentos en el viento" (Moments in the wind) for Endedans Contemporary Ballet. When weeks ago he publicly declared his charm by this city in the central region of Cuba, he was not saying courtesy compliments but genuine euphoria by that province founded as villa 500 years ago. A public mostly made up by Cubans and Americans that traveled to the island specifically to watch this season fell into a state of intoxication before the technical and dramaturgical excellence of the group led by the renowned creator Tania Vergara. Ruiz knew how including in "Moments in the wind" that mobility and dynamism feeling that invades the walker in this labyrinthine city, located about 500 kilometers from Havana. While Endedans dancers gave t hat perspective rhythm, sensuality and brilliance in the execution of the steps, which enhanced the uniqueness of this province with its intricate streets and architecture surprised by a mixture of styles from colonial to the mysterious depredations of 21st century. Lots of applause confirmed the successful start of the staging in three consecutive days of performances culminating on Sunday January 26 at Camagüey’s Principal Theater. Endedans long ago...

A space crisis forces the Cuban theater group Gigantería to grow between limits and dangers. Its actors and musicians, sometimes walking and others on stilts, dressed in a style reminiscent of medieval minstrels, have spent 14 years performing in the streets of Havana’s historical center. The group retraces the city acting for the public, some may believe they come from some of the colonial castles, but never imagine the little room of four square meters where 18 artists store their flamboyant costumes and instruments, among other belongings. "We have a crisis of space we need to pass to keep growing; we are the image of the big tree planted in a flowerpot, prevented from growing while without land. A tree with great potential contained by mud walls", the group's director, Roberto Salas, who likes to see himself as the elephant leader of a herd, living thanks to perseverance, says. The wealth of the group comes in part from the various formations of its members; one is graduated from fine arts, other from percussion, and other-as Salas –from theater. Each brings initiatives from his branch and besides the studies; the director recognizes the value of self-education on years of experience on...

Cuban designer Yailín Alfaro made it into a stage during a function of the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC) and from this strange perspective that the scenes facilitate, shot the picture recently chosen by the organizing committee of the International Ballet Festival of Havana as image representative of the next event. She decided to show dancers behind the curtains of the theater, waiting for the exact second they hit the scene just as the nerves can play tricks and when older unforeseen occur as a button or a dislocated unstitched part in the locker room among many variations that can send to run more than one person out without anyone knowing. That moment, the opportunity to go dancing that people are waiting and not everyone gets, has also for the photographer a particular charm and, in her view, is a key function of time, interest in the amount of tension out of public sight. "I like the idea of what no one can commonly see from the outside and have worked for years, rehearsals, classes, training routines, as it goes beyond pictures of dancers known to all," the 30 year old designer said. In the last edition of the Festival,...

Laurita emigrated as a girl in pursuit of a dream, like many Cubans. But unlike most, her dream just led to cross provincial boundaries. Of course, as every immigrant, she surrendered to a life of sacrifice and oddities. The “infiltrated " from Ciego de Ávila never lost sight of the dream and today the name Laura Rodríguez arouses admiration in the provinces where she has been able to prove her talent as classical dancer. It would have been probably more noticeable if she integrated the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC), as the media devote more space to this company than any other country, but the Ballet de Camagüey (BC) was fortunate to attract her. “As I have spent my whole life in the ballet, and you can say I'm more from Camagüey than from Ciego. My mom is a frustrated dancer, loved to dance and she planted the bug in me. Since I was a little girl she played instrumental radio and started dancing until one day I started to dance with her, “the current Camagüey Ballet soloist says. Ro that central province of the island she came because there was no art school in Ciego de Ávila, so she...

On the street, Silvina Fabars seems to have lots of children and grandchildren. Generations of Cubans hug and kiss her, devote smiles and words of affection, while the slender and very smug mulatto disguises her 70 years of age with the grace and joy that she walks on stage. The prima ballerina of the National Folk Ensemble still dances and ensures she will dance for a long time to come. The warmth of this Cuban woman contrasts with her attachment to the discipline and tradition. "Folklore has its line, just like when you are dancing Swan Lake. Versions may exist but the key point of the work will always be in all and that the same happens in folklore, has its line, its ethics, its codes, I try to teach my children, as I call the students - they should do things as pure as possible. As it is well known the origin of matter, we can interpret in different ways without losing the roots. I am a folklorist, I fell I am the daughter of Rogelio Martinez Fure (National Dance Award 2002) , " she openly declared. Fabars shares her knowledge because she understands as a religious duty to...

Maricel Godoy again made history in Cuba with the recent presentation of the great Russian dancer Vladimir Malakhov in two galas along with Codanza company. The group she founded in 1992 became the benchmark for others in the island and after two decades of work it just reaffirmed its commitment to a dance free from prejudice and elitism. The director and choreographer opened Holguin doors to receive in that city from the east the recognized artist of Ukrainian origin, star of American Ballet Theatre in the United States, and director of the Ballet of the Opera of Berlin, Germany. It also welcomed with a bow directors and dancers of the Ballet of Camagüey and Endedans, of the same province, Ad Libitum from Santiago de Cuba and Dance Fragmentada from Guantanamo, who attended her art festival. Although no one formally thought of it, the event had range of a fetsival . Malakhov taught stretching classes for all dancers, danced in two of the three functions and the various companies presented works and artists of portentous qualities. The Lyric Theatre gave a concert for Holguin participants which delighted some emblematic arias of operettas and operas as The Magic Flute, The Merry Widow,...

Helena Bayo speaks these days the language of dance, aware that she will mark the history of the prestigious National Ballet of Cuba ( BNC) . Grand jetés and twists attract the attention of the first director of Spanish orchestra invited to work with the company. The proposal by Alicia Alonso helped her warm up quickly, first by the excitement of what it considers a privilege, after the trip to Havana, where away from the cold European winter each artist observes and studies the details of the choreography. First four dancers will perform Giselle next Decembe 19-22: Viengsay Valdes, Anette Delgado, Yanela Piñera and newcomer Amaya Rodriguez. They mean distinctive personalities on stage, four different beats to take the same ballet. "There's always some peculiarity that differentiates one from another dancer, one has more spin , another is faster , another jumps higher , and this kind of details you must know ," this very well informed of the technical demands of the staging professional says . "Within the diversity, the conductor tries to fit the most of every moment and have a bit of variability in the function to try to go for the dancers and if they need...

Four days of classes and three performances seemed few to Russian star Vladimir Malakhov and Cuban dancers who shared their dream of returning Cuba to dance. That desire took them three years to materialize and not only dancers worked for its consummation, but something joined all: dance, which lived with humility and respect, and shared rather than lived, generates infinite possibilities of multiplying large-scale art . For the success of that energies conspiracy, Malakhov will return to Holguin in a few months with his sweet and restless baby face. Surely all those who enjoyed the classes of the current director of the Berlin Ballet Opera and his performances on December 5, 6 and 7 at Eddy Sunol Theatre will also want to return to that city from the east of the island. "This has been a great week , but it rained today," the guest said from the stage at the end of the last gala, the audience fell silent when listening to him. "These are tears of happiness. This is not the end but the beginning of our friendship. My heart is yours now. I do not say goodbye, but see you soon, "he noted with a gesture of...

The Contemporary Ballet Endedans sprouts in winter, music by Liuba María Hevia snuggles it to heaven, that "something" that one day the singer found for songwriting able to touch the soul of any mortal . In the Karl Marx Theatre’s lobby, Endedans director, Tania Vergara , works on accents, softens expressions and adjusts gestures with the pace of work , depending on the choreographic discourse Pepe Hevia ordered hours before for the troupe. This painstaking work is just a detail of the great concert that Liuba , as everyone calls her , will offer on Saturday November 30 in this theater. For Vergara, Latin American Choreography Award 2008, to observe the work of other artists is enriching pleasure and dancing again with Liuba oxygenates the soul she says with a long sigh middle of a rehearsal. “The lyrics sung by other people are not the same, when she sings becomes something else," the teacher says totally seduced by music composition and voice. For three previous concerts, Tania choreographed on works like “Angel and habanera ",” Someone is waiting for me ," " Havana in February " and " Short Song " among others . The fourth call is special celebration...

The first time Miguel Angel Quintana attended a ballet performance was he felt he was flying. Since then, he has painted in ecstasy landscapes of ballerinas and dancers that cause insomnia. A living legend inspired the first frames, the shock of seeing Alicia Alonso greet the audience that night from a balcony and the Grand Theater of Havana surrendered at her feet corroborated the seductive power of the stars. When the lights aimed at the mystical and the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC) danced Giselle, the young man finally believed in other worlds. The dancers, the costumes, the music, the drama, the scenery, everything attracted him. “Ballet is a complete art form where aesthetics predominates and that motivates me," he confessed. The first solo exhibition in 2012 showed glimpses of his fascination with dance. The works returned to the scene with the most important female figure of the Cuban ballet, imagined Alicia Alonso in Giselle and Carmen. According to the 29 year old painter, Alicia took him out of a big bump and conveyed him the knowledge that he may never leave art. The disciples of the Cuban prima ballerina came quickly to the canvas. Loipa Araújo , Viengsay Valdes,...

Viengsay Valdes has a lot of passion, but only two defining: loves to dance, no matter whether as a sun, a bird, a statue, some fairy, princess or peasant dance. And if anyone recognizes in her dance a breath of Cuba, then she is completely happy. International criticism places this prima ballerina  among the best in the world, while she being accused of " incendiary " in the scene , " sweet " , " intense " , " tireless " and possessing a " staggering virtuosity " - lives with pride the passions she chose for her life. According to Viengsay, any public demand can be answered. Those who do not know her might believe that typical Cuban boast urges her to throw phrases like that in the streets of her native Havana. Valdes boasts elegantly, but delivers. Someone who always believed in her gave her a card: “success is constancy of purpose." One message written by her teacher Mirta Hermida, on the school graduation day, accompanies her home, along with her most valuable possessions, hundreds of shoes and tiaras from a universe of creatures: swans, princesses, fairies, spirits and girls from other times. In recognition of the dedication,...

The show is world of smiles, vigor, overflowing joy, no one from outside can calculate it as a sacrifice, tumult of effort or storm or concentration camp, in which you survive or perish according to the limits of the body. "We have to dance and dance every day, before a different audience in different countries, away from your family, friends, your partner, with the health problems that can happen to anyone. Almost always when someone is busy a show after another, and then you see him very sedentary, because not everyone holds that pace. Sometimes you do not know what day of the week it is, or what country you are, metabolism changes, especially in women, " Lianett Rodriguez dancer at Ballet Revolution says, a project that was born as a spectacle and has been taking a company shape. "Lia"-as everybody call her, were for three years a member of  Danza Contemporanea de Cuba after graduating from the National School of Art in 2007. Her attraction to musicals led her to participate in the show Lady Salsa and the staging of two new at the time: King of salsa-which was mainly soloist and Ballet Revolución. "With Revolution we start a...

Alihaydée Carreño resurfaced in Cuba to reaffirm her class as prima ballerina. Although if you ask her, she danced to give herself a treat, pamper old friends, feel the warmth of her home. The presence of this ballet diva at a gala music, on September 20 and 21 attracted a host of admirers at Teatro Mella, despite not being a promoted show. The crowd enjoyed her success as the artist took the stage during the four songs that she accompanied. Out of 32 only four, but it was enough to hold all the way to an anxious people. "Come to the Festival," begged fans after each gala, while the dancer responded with gestures of distress and helplessness. She wished. The once first figure the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC) showed that there are no small parts if the talent is great and a torrent of love adorns it. Alihaydée took two ballads, a tango and merengue with the same alacrity of Giselle, a Diana or Odile in Swan Lake. She danced on pointe with the courage of her generation, with mad attitude, poise and delivery that are currently scarce. The minimum scenario space left by the orchestra of the Cuban...

Tamara Rojo exceeds her own existence. The extraordinary Spanish dancer years ago ceased to be a person to multiply into many, valuable all of them, and to enter dance history as a great one. Rojo, 39, has returned to dance in Havana. All local ballet lovers think: I hope in the theaters, but these have not even been able to accommodate the summer features by the national company, for unexplained breaks. Rojo groped steps for a week in the halls of the National Ballet of Cuba, in a country where the public has worshiped her many times and where she enjoyed a holiday in her own way, among family, friends and some work. Just a year ago the young professional, at the top of her art, accepted the challenge of leading the second most important company in Britain, the English National Ballet (ENB), and the multiple roles of her repertoire she incorporated director. When the Royal Ballet in London couldn’t still get over the loss of a supreme dancer, one of its mainstays, the Romanian Alina Cojocaru, left the company and agreed to join Rojo in the cast of the English. British newspapers, authors for years of funny fables on...

José Manuel Carreño, one of the best-known Cuban ballet dancers in world, has risen to the top of another U.S. ballet company: he is now the director of the Ballet San Jose in California. Local newspapers reported this event as a completely natural thing, given that his onstage brilliance as a star of the famous American Ballet Theatre (ABT) has been reflected in the media innumerable times. Along with his 18-year career with the top U.S. ballet company, Carreño has performed in festivals and other events and has taught at various national and international academies. While his name is included among the greatest stars of the late 20th and early 21st century, in his family, Cuba’s most illustrious ballet dynasty, Carreño is one of many. The glorious history of Cuba’s top ballet company, the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, features his uncle Lázaro, his brother Joel, and his cousin Alihaydée, all of them former stars of the BNC. And his uncle Álvaro was a soloist in the company for decades. José Manuel is one of a handful of dancers who have been rewarded with the possibility of having an international career without losing their ties to the Cuban school of ballet....

Jose Manuel Carreño, one of the most recognized Cuban dancers worldwide, will lead the San Jose Ballet, in California, USA, starting next September 3rd. The Mercury News newspaper recently broke the news quite naturally because Carreño was a member for 18 years of the star cast of the leading American ballet company, the famous American Ballet Theatre (ABT). His talent on stage was reflected by countless media, and he has also performed and taught at various schools in the country. Although his name appears among the biggest stars of the late 20th and early 21st centuries -Carreño is one more within his family that gave Cuba the greatest dynasty of dancers. When mentioning the glory pages of the Cuban National Ballet (BNC by its Spanish acronym), his uncle Lazaro, his brother Joel and cousin Alihaydée, all former leading figures of the institution, may not be excluded. Not even his uncle Alvaro, soloist at the same company for decades. José Manuel was one of the few dancers awarded with the possibility of making an international career without losing his connection with the school where he was born. The ABT hired him as leading dancer in 1993, which allowed him to enhance...