Old Havana: City in Motion

The 23rd edition of the International Festival of Dance and Urban Landscapes to run from Wednesday 11 to Sunday 15 in the oldest part of the Cuban capital, which opens its streets, houses, squares and the most unknown corners to the vanguard dance movement. In addition to the daily performances in dissimilar spaces of Havana’s Historic Core, its program will include exhibitions and workshops, among other proposals.

This festival, founded and directed by Isabel Bustos, will bring together very diverse contemporary dance styles and trends, as well as companies and dancers from different continents, and numerous Cuban artists and troupes from several provinces.

Running parallel to this dance fiesta there will be the 13th International Video Dance Festival “DV Dance Havana: Motion and City”, born right from the Dance Festival in Urban Landscapes. The performances will take place at the Dance Center, the headquarters of the Dance Theater Company “Retazos”, La Sala de la Diversidad (Diversity Hall), the Visual Arts Development Center (CDAV), Lumiere Cinema, the Cuban Art Factory (Fábrica del Arte Cubano) and the Pabellón Cuba (Cuban Pavilion).

This dance event, which fosters the intermingling with other artistic expressions, will propose dissimilar shows that will occupy the Arms, Saint Francis of Assisi and Old squares; Rumiñahui and Simón Bolivar parks; and the Oswaldo Guayasamín, Benito Juárez, Simón

Bolívar, Africa, Asia, Poetry, Obra Pía and Wallonie museum houses.

Performances will also reach Mercaderes, Oficios, Amargura and Obrapía streets, as well as the Hispanic American Culture Center, the Diversity Hall, the Cuban Art Factory and the Visual Arts Development Center. Of course, the event’s daily activities will close at Las Carolinas, headquarters of the Dance Theater Company “Retazos” –located on Amargura Street between Mercaderes and San Ignacio streets-. As part of its program, the theater of the National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA), housed in its Cuban Art Building, will host a concert by singer-songwriter Pedro Luis Ferrer, on Saturday 14, at 7:00 pm.

The inaugural gala will take place at Arms Square on April 11, at 9:00 pm. A bit earlier, at 4:00 pm, a passacaglia will open such exhibitions as “De la serie Barricadas” (From Barricades Series), by Yohandrys Suárez Peña (Yohy), and “Liquid Heat in Havana”, by Jessica Ángel, both at the Oswaldo Guayasamín Museum House. The children’s programming of the festival will run at the squares of the Historic Core on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The closing gala will also take place at Arms Square on Sunday 15, at 9:00 pm.

Every representation of this dance fiesta, held at the aforementioned Historic Core, is a creative dialogue starting from Havana’s architecture. These festivals are organized by the Dance Theater Company “Retazos”, directed by choreographer Isabel Bustos, 2012 National Dance Award winner, together with the City Historian’s Office, in collaboration with the Centro de Teatro de La Habana (Theater Center of Havana).

“Old Havana: City in Motion” is a different and unusual event that brings the spectator closer to a combination of artistic manifestations inspired by the history, architecture and design of one of the most beautiful parts of the city, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Translated by Jorge Mesa Benjamin / Cubasi Translation Staff