Cuba! Experiencing the Performing Arts

Dancers from Rosario Cardenas Dance Company

Visiting different performing arts venues was one of the many highlights of our trip to Havana. And we didn't only get to watch performances. Because we were on a "people to people" tour, we often had the chance to talk with the dancers and actors as well. It was wonderful.

Our first studio visit was to the Rosario Cardenas Dance Company. The dancers were full of life and joy as they performed for us. (Click here for a snippet of their performance. I didn't miss my calling as a videographer.) After watching them dance, we had the chance to get in on the fun as we were led through a seated movement exercise. It was enjoyable but kind of made me feel old. I can dance standing up, right? Then Suzanne and I were selected to hit the floor with the male dancer in the video. You might notice that I didn't shared a photo of that part of the visit. Suffice it to say I was more adept at the seated movements. 

After the performance, the dancers came and talked with us. I chatted with the exuberant curly-haired woman who's featured in the video clip. Her English was excellent, which was a gift since I have zero Spanish language skills. And what a small world it is. I discovered she has a brother who lives in my hometown of Panama City, Florida. Seriously, what are the odds? I wish we'd had more time so I could have found out how he ended up there. We learned after leaving the studio that the Company had recently performed in Spain and five of its leading dancers defected while there. It's hard to fault them for their choice, but I hope the Company will be able to survive without them.

Dancers from Lizt Alfonso Dance Company 

From there we were off to the Lizt Alfonso Dance Company. The dancers gave us a taste of what they do when they hit the stage. Their work is a fusion of ballet and Spanish styles of dance like flamenco and salsa. Their performance was beautiful and exciting and left me wanting more. You can see a bit of what we experienced during our in-studio visit by clicking here. But of course it doesn't capture what it felt like to be in the same room with these incredible dancers.  

Having now read about Lizt Alfonso and her company, the skill and professionalism of these dancers is no surprise. Since the company was founded in 1991, its dancers have performed in more than 20 countries, introducing more than two million people to their unique style of dance. They have appeared multiple times in the United States, including at the White House during the Obama Administration. Alfonso was recognized in 2018 as one of the BBC's 100 Women of the Year. To read an interview with her in which she speaks eloquently about both dance and politics, click here. As she said, "Artists will always be the best ambassadors of our countries...because art does not need words to have power and because art builds bridges and opens doors." And for more on her company, click here. 

Some of our young actors (in their roles as the Beatles) 

The outing that gave me the most joy was our visit to the La Colmenita Children's Theatre (also known as The Little Beehive). The theater was created in 1990 by Carlos Alberto "Tim" Cremata and some young theater school grads as a place for all types of children -- including those with disabilities -- to express themselves. The original idea was for the troupe to perform in pediatric hospitals and rural areas where the culture isn't as rich as it is in Havana. But over time the talent of the Little Bees -- and the joy they bring to those who see them perform -- led them to the international stage. As Cremata said, "It's a political statement without making a political statement." 

Actor who played a cat 

Our visit included a rehearsal of the bilingual musical "Cinderella according to the Beatles" that the group was about to take on the road to a children's theater festival in Turkey. Oh. My. God. You have never seen anything so adorable. My face literally hurt when we left from smiling so broadly the entire time. The cast featured these four girls as the Beatles, with the littlest one on the right taking on the role of John Lennon. The show uses lyrics from Beatles songs to tell the tell the story of Cinderella. Think, "I wanna hold your hand." Click here to get a sense of how much fun it was. We evenutally all got in on the act, dancing with the young actors after their rehearsal was over. (There was a lot of dancing on this trip!) And in case you're wondering, the group did make it to Tukey for the festival where they performed both "Cinderella" and "La Cucharachita Martina." (The latter title translates into "Martina, the Little Roach." I'm just as glad we saw "Cinderella.") For an article about their international performance, click here. 

Last, but certainly not least, was the mesmerizingly beautiful performance we saw at the Cuban Art Factory. I was of course excited to see more art. (I am nothing if not predictable.) But Pedro said we should check out what was happening in one of the performance spaces first. We didn't leave there until our evening was over. The concert began with the leader of the group playing a hauntingly beautiful and dramatic piece on a grand piano. I would have been satisfied just hearing him play, but there was much more to come. 

Performance at the Cuban Art Factory

The pianist grabbed a guitar and moved to the center of the stage where he was joined by a number of other musicians -- and a flamenco dancer. Sometimes they "just" played their music, which was so beautiful it struck a chord deep within me. Sometimes there were vocals so filled with emotion there was no need to understand the words. And sometimes the dancer joined them on the stage, moving with a nearly impossible amount of beauty and feeling. It was an experience that can never be replicated and that I will never forget. To get a sense of the performance for yourself, click here. 

I am grateful for having had each of these experiences. Collectively, they were a reminder of the power of the arts to reach across our differences and connect us as humans who laugh and cry and experience beauty and wonder. And while there's more I could share about our trip, this seems like the appropriate place to end my musings. Thanks for coming along with me on my journey.