The Cuban journalist and photographer Gabriel Davalos is convinced that there is no other place in the world where dance and the city have as much to do with each other as Havana and, therefore, this art seems the ideal language to describe the metropolis. His first photo book Habana Sensual (Sensual Havana) responds to this belief and, incidentally, exhibits some of the qualities that put the Cuban school of ballet in a prominent position globally. Many rooms in the capital seem to have conspired in some images but can anyone plan waves in the Malecón, the force of the winds and the provision of architectural designs of past centuries?
Sensual Havana will generate a tumult of opinions on Saturday October 25th during its presentation, open to the public at the National Museum of Dance, because it is a purely provocative piece. The artists display naturally and casually their talents, sometimes as we never before have seen them on stage.
This book has been receiving reviews online for a while, in the social network Facebook, where hundreds of fans discussed the poetry of images by Dávalos, the virtuosity of the artists, the charm of a city with few modern dyes and multiple fractures. Nevertheless, Havana activates emotions and feelings because, according to Gabriel, one can even taste it.
“Here dance is about the traditions and lifestyle of the people. The Cuban ballet mirrors the inhabitants of this city, “he told OnCuba and said he is in love with his hometown and finds pleasure in seeing the theaters filled with workers, farmers, doctors, people of all backgrounds.
A few years ago, one of the leading dance critics of Canada was surprised when in a taxi heading to the National Theater of Cuba, the driver asked what ballerina he was going to see and when he read aloud the name on the program, the driver replied “that’s not Giselle, you have to see dance so and so”, a different artist. “Things like that only happen in this island,” the man told me, laughing. That is one of the highlights of Havana; people applaud vehemently divas of salsa music and put the same excitement in receiving the dancer star of a function, even with gallant compliments.
The book will show in 60 photographs the skills of students of the National School of Ballet and soloists, principal dancers and leading figures of companies as the American Ballet Theatre, the English National Ballet, the National Ballet of Cuba and other foreign groups where Cubans work. At the top of these troupes have come Xiomara Reyes, Alejandro Virelles, Viengsay Valdes, Amaya Rodriguez, Grettel Morejon and Serafin Castro, among many others.
The birth of sSensual Havana occurred perhaps in 2005 when Gabriel borrowed a camera and invited Viengsay, dressed to dance, to walk around the Morro and the Cathedral. The first images of the passion between dance photography and the city, according to Dávalos were taken there, on the famous Malecón seawall and cobblestone streets of the historic center of the capital. From that session few intimate photos are preserved but the seed remained.
“This is the book of the impossible; I have long wanted to do it but thought it was impossible. Now I want to make another one, “the author said who once confessed on his Facebook profile: A few days ago they asked us: how do you want the future Havana to be?. One of us said, “Full of cybercafés and places to connect to the Internet and communicate for free all the time with friends.” But then the “black” of Veguitas came to my mind, who assured me that for her to be happy she only needed a tres for her son, who wanted to be a musician; Holguin cousins of Irma, journalist, from her little farm that often do not understand the verbiage she puts on TV; I remembered Mery the granny, who knows nothing about economic superavit and would have given anything for her grandson was not going to live –for good- in Canada in search of home. Then, I was sure; Havana of the future must be a city where there is room for all; with all…
