Fifteen minutes before the agreed time we arrived at the headquarters of Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba (LADC) on Compostela Street between Luz and Acosta, in the same square as the old Belén Convent in Old Havana. Four days after the premiere of “Habana Fénix,” the general director of the Company agreed to an interview with OnCuba. She invited us into a small meeting room. In the Company-school founded by Alfonso in 1991 there is no bustle just impeccable order and cleanliness.
Some kids go up and down the stairs. The footsteps of a dancing group are felt. There are five rehearsal rooms, three small and two large, with their little wooden floors, mirrors and dressing rooms. We find ourselves in a cultural institution that has resonated for years on and off the island.
LADC “carries out cultural and academic exchanges, choreography productions, master classes, workshops, summer and intensive courses, among others, which lead to the growth and multiplication of work and its results in Cuba and the world,” according to its official website.
We did not notify Master Lizt that a photographer would also go to the meeting and she protests between laughs: “You’re not easy,” she says. “Did you understand why I wanted you to see the show first?” she asks me, referring to the interview request, days before its last premiere.
To advise us with any date or data, Yadira Hernández, régisseuse of LADC, is sitting with us.
For thirty years Lizt Alfonso has been running the company she founded when she was just 24 years old. The forcefulness in her speech reveals a woman sure of what she says and does. She does not hesitate and is direct in her speech. She sometimes illustrates certain themes with family anecdotes, from friends, or bangs on the table when she is passionate about the subject. She doesn’t gesticulate exaggeratedly. She laughs mischievously.
Lizt is a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and the Cuban Arts Fund. She holds the Distinction for National Culture and, above all, the respect of an entire people.
“I worry about everything and I deal with everything”
Since when you haven’t gone on stage to dance?
I do so every day with the kids, and I show them how to do things. In the rehearsal room, but I do go on stage.
I retired in 1998. It was the last time I danced. It is very difficult to manage everything, besides dancing and dancing well. It is very, very strong. In the Company, I have taken care of everything for a lifetime, from the hem to the well-being of the dancers. I worry about everything and I deal with everything; although I’m surrounded by a fabulous team. So you don’t have time for yourself, as an performer.
Also, it happened to me that people came to the shows to see me dance. I wanted them to come see the Company. Retiring from the stage was a decision made with all five senses. I moved out of the way and left the space free for that Company that you see today.
It is not yet fully achieved. The public is going to see “the show that Lizt Alfonso has prepared….”
But it’s not the same. They are not going to see Lizt dance, they are going to see the show, the product, the artistic result. It is something else. They are going to see what I have prepared as a choreographer, artistic director, project leader; that and that of performing are two different worlds. I don’t compete with my dancers, I never competed, on the contrary: I always had more than one cast in which I was usually the last.
The Company has tried to break away from Spanish dance. When did they make that decision? Was it some international contractual requirement?
No man no! There has never been international pressure here, nor have we accepted it at all. It is a logical development in the evolution of the Company as such.
We started by calling ourselves Danzas Ibéricas. We had various names, until we came to what we have today.
The change was driven by the need to express ourselves as what we are, not to imitate, but to be authentic in that expression, through dance and music.
LADC has made fusion, not only in dance, but also in music, a lot has been created and by very good composers and interpreters who today are young people who are ranked in different orchestras in the country.
It is a logical evolution of dance and music. We started as a company that studied Spanish dance and later ballet, popular Cuban and Afro-Cuban dances, Cuban culture, contemporary dance…. The mix we have here is so strong that it would be a shame to take advantage of it.
I realized during a scholarship in Spain that Spanish dance was not what I wanted to do. I returned and from there we immediately began to develop what we call “dance-fusion.”
At that time no one did. In music it was crazy and in dance, even more. Everyone told me that this would not get anywhere, that it would not have any results, and today the whole world “merges,” because that’s how it is with the world.
There are those who still do not accept or do not understand the term “fusion.”
I have never believed in purists, nor in inflexible and schematic things. It seems to me that there is a lot to do, a lot of places to go to. It is not that everything is already done, but there are always new visions that you can give about the same phenomena or discover others.
However, you coin the term “dance-fusion.”
Yes of course. It’s not that I go anywhere to defend it, it’s that day by day we are demonstrating that it exists, that it is done and that, furthermore, from the technical and interpretive point of view it has tremendous results. Also as a product, as merchandise. People identify with it wherever we go. Perhaps because they feel that in each of the shows there is a moment in which they see themselves reflected, wherever they are from.
“I continue doing because that’s my duty”
You define your story as a journey of stubbornness, disagreements, many “noes” and resilience. Does no one say “no” to LADC anymore?
(Laughter). Yes, yes. They keep telling us no and we keep saying yes. But now backed by the result of thirty years of work. That is, if you are telling me that it is not because you are trying to cover the sun with a finger. That’s impossible.
Did you ever feel harassed in your professional environment?
Harassment really exists and it is true that there are attempts. More in Cuba, which is a very macho country. I don’t deny that something or other has happened to me, but I never allowed it.
Right now in Cuba I’m happy because there are a lot of women entrepreneurs, creators who are also very strong. We are more united, organized. Thirty years ago I felt practically alone. Some women in the world of dance before me, like Rosario Cárdenas, Marianela Boán, Caridad Martínez, were tremendous examples, but now there are a lot of us and we feel embraced and very empowered, helping each other.
Are there rules or laws that prohibit any excess against dancers within the company?
But it’s not happening. Where I am none of that can happen.
I quote your words: “LADC was born with the cross of being independent.” What is the cross that you carry today?
The same, and I think that we are going to be carrying it all our lives. It can be seen in the very fact that, being a company that has demonstrated so much during all these years, it is not as recognized and promoted as it should be by cultural institutions. The people do.
Excuse me, Master, are you saying that you are not recognized?
Not enough, no. Do you want me to give you an example? We celebrated thirty years of being founded and we have not received congratulations from any institution. Therefore, I no longer expect anything. But I continue doing because that’s my duty, it’s what I love and it’s what I try to transmit to those who come after me.
However, the people do recognize your work….
People love us. I think they see in me the authenticity of what is being done. My commitment is with them, first and foremost. That’s why we emerged as a Company; that’s why a school was built; that’s why we do all the shows; that’s why we try to always keep our ears glued to the ground, listening to everything that is happening. And that’s why at a certain moment there were shows like Vida, Amigas, Latidos and today Habana Fénix. To the extent that you are consistent and authentic in all the steps you take, people identify more with you. There is no other way to be.
Some people recently asked me why, at such a difficult time, I premiered a show like Habana Fénix. And I tell them: precisely because of that.
We’ve been dreaming about it for years and this was the right time to do it. The moment when we all have to walk to the theater, on an electric motorcycle or whatever we have. The moment when you’re not sure what you’re going to eat the next day. In these circumstances we produce Habana Fénix, because we believe that we can rise from the ashes and that we don’t have to wait for anyone in order to do so.
Man proposes and God disposes. If everything is ready to move on, even in the most difficult conditions, why not do it? We were born, grew up and became strong during the Special Period and for nine years we were a Company totally independent from the entire cultural system in Cuba, and here we are. That is, if at moments like that we knew how to move on, why not now?
We now have this fabulous venue where we can rehearse, work and create. Ah, the problem is how people get to rehearsals. Well, they arrive, because they trust, they know that their future is in their hands and that they depend on this place, on this bubble that we have created here through art. That is why you see that there is a school with thousands of children and thousands of families who come every day to bring their little ones, because they know that life can change based on this school, based on dance.
It’s not that they’re going to be dancers, it’s not that they’ll become like Carlos Acosta, but they can be like him, they have the opportunity. This teaching system gives you the opportunity, it gets you ready for your future life in every way.
“I don’t like to accept that evil exists”
Do you belong to any religion?
I believe that God exists; he has shown it to me many times. Things do not happen by chance but by causality. Why Habana Fénix now and not before? Why was there a tour prepared at a certain time and it didn’t happen? And in this way I can tell you about a lot of things that, over time, have happened to us and that show you that there is “something” that pulls a few strings from above and that puts things in their place. I also tell you that sometimes there are forces that can destroy all that. But I don’t like to accept that evil exists, you have to wear armor against it. And the armor is simply love. It’s hard to turn the other cheek, but it’s the only way.
A BA in dramaturgy and theater, dancer, choreographer and entrepreneur. How is it possible to carry out all that?
They are not independent things; everything is mixed, and it was not because I wanted it that way. If it were up to me, I would be a choreographer and artistic director hired by any company, I would be very happy creating and nothing else. But to be able to do it, you need the weapons, the means and the only way to achieve it is by becoming an entrepreneur, creating your own funds to be able to develop.
People think that we have been given everything and it hasn’t been like that. Those who have known us for years know that everything we have achieved has been with a lot of effort and sacrifice. We are still the same today. For example, when we return from a tour we bring the fabrics and the elements that we need. The Ministry of Culture gives us a monthly salary and we are very grateful, although it is hardly enough for anything. We receive a salary for doing a task, which is not the only one.
I’m the director of the Company, I’m a choreographer, I’m a rehearser, I’m a teacher. I advise and supervise everything that has to do with public relations, promotion and many other things.
Yadira Hernández is the company’s régisseuse, teacher, rehearser, attends the artistic-teaching unit together with another teacher…. As you can see, we do much more and for these reasons we have to find ways to have the funds for the Company to develop. Since we don’t have them through the means from which they should come, we create them in another way.
That is where the entrepreneurial Lizt emerges and together with Juan Carlos, the manager of the Company and my lifelong husband, together with Diana, Yadira, Indira we look for international tours, we ensure that students want to take classes with us, that they want us to direct a show, that we organize events, contests…. Lots of things that can generate enough income for us to keep moving and provide us with that spiritual and artistic development to move forward. It’s not that I like it, it’s that I had no choice but to do it and along the way I’ve learned.
Does being an “inspirational and influential” woman force you to be a perfectionist?
I’m a perfectionist because I’m a Virgo and I’ve been like that all my life. It’s an unbearable thing that over the years I have tried to balance a little. It has to do with my personality. I’ve been like that since my mother combed my hair and made me the pigtails and one was higher than the other. So I learned to comb my hair, at the age of 7. The two pigtails had to be perfect.
Being inspiring and influential came over the years. When people started calling me “Master” I was amazed. For me, Masters are Fernando Alonso, Santiago Alfonso, Alicia Alonso, Ramiro Guerra…. But, of course, the years go by and those who come after see you as their master, I understand that.
“Our politics is art”
Should or shouldn’t artists talk about politics?
We artists are obliged to say and bring to the scene what we believe, but always transforming it into the weapon in our hands: art. If the rulers in the world were intelligent, they would work very closely with artists, because we can achieve things that a government directly cannot alone.
Who was going to tell us that one day we would be in the White House collecting an award given by Michelle Obama? Do you know how many things we could talk about there? We have danced in Israel and I don’t lose hope of going to Palestine. Artists are above all that.
Artists are not dictated by politics, we are mobilized by what is best for humanity: that there is no war, that there is freedom, that there is food for everyone. The general things that are needed for humanity to move forward.
Our politics is the art that, under no circumstances is going to tell lies, because it is always obliged to get hold of the truth and love. If people really gave each other a little more love, things would be different, and even if the world was ruled by more women, too.
I have always said that a country can be run like a house is run. Women, for example, manage the household finances very well to be able to move forward, as a family, all united, never against each other. Mom is the one who says: Sunday all together here for lunch.
I remember that when the events of July 2021 I wrote on my social media: “Cuba is mother,” and from there I developed my idea. Here there are spaces for everyone, it cannot be that for some yes and for others no. A mother accepts all her children equally.
Your company has been affected by the most recent wave of immigration. Does it hurt you when this happens?
Habana Fénix makes a very strong reference to the subject. In fact, the piece is called “Stampede.” We spent a lot of time doing table work with the kids when we were preparing that choreography. It is very hard for them to see what has been happening lately in the country. I explained to them that this is not from now. I told them that my mother and my aunt separated in 1967 when I was in my mother’s tummy. Later we experienced other similar crises.
What I’m wondering is, if we know that it’s happening, that we’re not doing the right things, why not change so that it doesn’t happen anymore? That is why I insist on continuing to work and not being afraid to show that we are right that yes, we can change. And prove it every day, little by little. It is very difficult, but it is not impossible. In fact, we are still here.
At the end of the premiere of Habana Fénix, you shouted: “For Cuba!” What else is needed for us to rebuild ourselves?
We just have to come together, all of us. To not be distracted with smokescreens of any kind. Focus on the fact that it is in our hands to make a better Cuba. We cannot give up, we cannot afford that luxury. You have to focus and keep working, even if everything is very difficult for us.
We already went through a Special Period, we don’t have to go through it again. But each one from their place, doing what they should and facing the demons, with love, but firmly: “I’m not afraid of you; don’t threaten me, I’m not afraid of you and I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. Whether you like it or not is your problem, not mine. And I know what I’m doing is right because look how many people are around benefiting. Therefore, I’m not afraid of you. Unless you want to clip all my wings, but then the problem is yours, not mine.”
Author
Jaime Maso Torres
