Dancers in Old Havana

These days, the dancers have once again taken to the streets and squares of Old Havana.

From Friday until this Sunday, the historic center of Havana hosted the 28th edition of the International Festival of Dance in Urban Landscapes Old Havana: City in Motion, one of the traditional artistic events of the Cuban capital.

JJ Traditional Dance Company, at the International Festival of Dance in Urban Landscapes Old Havana: City in Motion 2024. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Cuban and foreign companies have gathered at the event which, as usual, has featured dance presentations, parades, theoretical sessions, and dance and choreographic composition classes and workshops.

Among the foreign groups present are the Capoeira Malta Group, from Brazil; the Kinames Group, from Mexico; the also Mexican School of Contemporary Dance of the Ollin Yoliztli Cultural Center; the Contemporary Dance Group of the Pontifical University, from Ecuador; and the Spanish Monterroso Society.

Contemporary Dance School of the Ollin Yoliztli Cultural Center, from Mexico, at the International Festival of Dance in Urban Landscapes Old Havana: City in Motion 2024. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

For Cuba, among others, the JJ Traditional Dance Company, Danza Voluminosa, Asiart-Dance and Danza Teatro Retazos, host group of the event, stand out.

The latter, led by the prestigious teacher and choreographer Isabel Busto, will close the festival this Sunday at its headquarters in Jardín Las Carolinas, with the presence of several of the participating groups.

Retazos Theater Dance Company, at the International Festival of Dance in Urban Landscapes Old Havana: City in Motion 2024. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Emerged in 1996 and integrated three years later into the Dancing Cities International Circuit, the Old Havana Festival: City in Motion is organized by Danza Teatro Retazos, the City Historian’s Office and the Havana Theater Center.

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In parallel, the 18th edition of the International Video Dance Festival DVDanza Havana, Movement and City has been in session, dedicated this time to the 10 years of the Dancing Technologies Creation Award.

Capoeira Malta Group, from Brazil, at the International Festival of Dance in Urban Landscapes Old Havana: City in Motion 2024. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

With this, and other confluent activities, such as concerts and actions in the digital environment, Old Havana has once again become a city on the move for art and dance in particular.

And our photojournalist Otmaro Rodríguez has been there again to leave testimony with his lens of the performance of Cuban and foreign dancers in such an emblematic place in the historic center as the Plaza de Armas.