Now that the anticipated return of Alicia Alonso from her Spanish tour has raised endless speculation, the return of whom many consider the successor of Rudolf Nureyev excites Cuban ballet fans: Russia’s Vladimir Malakhov will perform in Holguin.
The minute people knew the news they went for their tickets in the City of Parks, to feast in December pleased to see the towering and soft mannered blond that three years ago made the public in Mella and García Lorca theaters to stand up in an endless ovation for his masterful interpretation of a male version of the Dying Swan.
This fulfills the old dream of Malakhov and his people, to act again for the Cuban public, in a project that was initially rejected the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC), for reasons only they know, but he found warm welcome in the Contemporary Dance and Codanza companies, the latter directed by Maricel Godoy in Holguin.
Under the title “A gift from Malakhov” the Eddy Sunol theater will host the veteran of the American and the Bolshoi theaters on December 6 and 7, as guest of Codanza. According to the project developers, Cuba will give away a gala to Malakhov, with members of the Ballet de Camagüey, Endedans, and Ad Libitum of Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo Broken Dance and Chamber Ballet of Holguin companies.
In Cuba we learnt of Malakhov through a video of Le Corsaire filmed for television, and the documentary “Born to be Wild” (2003), dedicated to the four kings of the American Ballet Theatre at the time: the Russian Malakhov, Cuban Jose Manuel Carreño, the Spanish Angel Corella and American Ethan Steafel.
People freaked out with that stuff, but it came to a head when they saw the Russian dance at the Festival of 2010. The ability to dance at his side thrilled BNC consecrated that now must settle for participating in a master class that he will teach just on December 4, significant date for the Afro-Cuban religion, day of the King of Thunder and Drum: Shango.
The creation and organization of the show lies in the hands of Paul Seaquist, one of the great entrepreneurs of Ballet in Europe, Malakhov agent and promoter of this project that inexplicably was rejected by the BNC.
The vast career of Malakhov includes gold medals for his technical mastery and the coveted “Benois de la Danse” the world’s most important ballet award. He is also one of the most acclaimed dancers of Ballet Festival in Tokyo; the best paid in the world and therefore attracts the most stars. Alicia Alonso went to the first two editions, and then Cuban Viengsay Valdes has been the only guest due to the thoroughness of the event.
One more detail: the imposing Bunka Kaikan theater in Tokyo, when Malakhov comes it’s like the Beatles arrived, and the Russian shines in the interpretation of the classics, as in the famous Funny Gala dance in which men dressed as women, wildly fun but far more demanding than most.
Well then it is a privilege and an honor that he wants to come to Cuba, and give us his masterful performances, exquisite technique, his presence…
