BALLET IN FESTIVAL: Diversity is the watchword

The first weekend of performances of the 27^th Alicia Alonso International Ballet Festival of Havana concluded and the premieres in the Avellaneda Hall of the National Theater confirms the inclusive vocation of the event. Three performances, three companies, three styles.

Canadian Peter Quanz staged with the National Ballet of Cuba a choreography for five dancers, Tríptico, which is articulated in the alternation of scenes of a male trio and a couple of a woman and a man. Each subgroup defends a particular intensity, which in some way come into opposition: from the playful nonchalance of the trio to the decided lyricism of the duet.

But in the end, it is all about highlighting the individuality of each dancer, after the group scheme is broken at a certain moment. There is a neoclassical aftertaste in the vocabulary that the structure itself and certain movements try to lessen. The intentional ludic vocation does not allow rounding out strong dramatic nuclei. Ultimately, it is a celebration of dance, without great metaphorical pretensions or melodramatic raptures.

Susana Pous is really interested in the moral. In Edén-6, the proposal for her dance group MiCompañía, she evokes the relationship of three people that is resolved in the reaffirmation of a cycle. It is an authentic piece (in the dramaturgical sense) that recreates perfectly identifiable motivations and feelings, and with a certain narrative vocation.

The clear characterization of the characters (very well defended by the dancers) and the effective specification of actions pave the way for communication. The audience can glimpse more than one story. Pous knows how to thread incidents into an always coherent discourse.

Acosta Danza premiered Performance, a creation by American Micaela Taylor that focuses, in her own words, on the complexities of performance. Dancers must embrace a heterogeneous pattern, which ranges from a Chaplinesque self-confidence to a hieratic pose, going through hip hop dynamics and attitudes.

It is a show that wrecks preconceived notions of scenic beauty at times... to recompose them immediately, following more recognizable lines of contemporary dance.

Malpaso company took the stage this weekend too, with two pieces from its repertoire, Nana para un insomnio, by Daile Carrazana, and Mujer con agua, by the famous Mats Ek.

On October 28, the anniversary of the founding of the National Ballet of Cuba, the performances will resume in the Avellaneda Hall, with the first performance of the season of the classic Giselle, one of the best pieces of a company founded by Alberto, Fernando and Alicia Alonso.

That weekend's program will be extended to the Covarrubias theater and the Sauto and Terry theaters in Matanzas and Cienfuegos, respectively.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff