Eduardo Arrocha, the great master of Cuban stage design

The outstanding designer and painter Eduardo Arrocha, one of the most leading figures in the performing arts in Cuba, passed away on Tuesday in Havana. With a career spanning more than six decades, Arrocha left an indelible legacy on various theatre and dance groups, particularly on Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, a company to which he dedicated a large part of his creative journey.

His work, which combined a profound artistic knowledge with inexhaustible creativity, proved to be a turning point in stage design and costume design in the country. He was a teacher of entire generations of professionals in that field. In fact, few Cuban designers have been protagonists of so many milestones in the performing arts. Few have found that perfect symbiosis between movement, lyrical proposal and plastic framework. Arrocha is a classic.

Born on May 17, 1934 in Havana, he graduated in 1959 with a degree in painting from the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts. His training was enriched by studies in stage design and painting under the tutelage of teachers such as Rubén Vigón, Agustín Fernández and René Portocarrero.

In the 1960s, he had contacts with European professors, who cemented his style, characterized by careful attention to details, a unique sensitivity, a determined investigative vocation and the ability to integrate visuality with the spirit of the works for which he designed.

He created hundreds of stage, costume and lighting works for theater, dance, opera, film and television. He worked with the most prestigious artistic groups in Cuba. There is no major Cuban dance company that has not included his creations. His work is one of the most celebrated designs for Swan Lake by the Cuban National Ballet. Or the Giselle that won the Grand Prix of the Villa de Paris. And he also designed for the Conjunto Folclórico Nacional, the Ballet de Camagüey, for musical shows and for important theatre groups.

A close collaborator of maestro Ramiro Guerra, he was one of the main referents of the great movement of modern Cuban dance. This duo achieved a perfect confluence in the creative processes they undertook. And they achieved it through an intense dialogue and a shared notion of culture. Maestro Isidro Rolando has said: Ramiro created modern Cuban dance and Arrocha filled it with color.

Some of his works explored unknown paths for stage design in Cuba, such as the famous Medea y los negreros, by Ramiro, which broke with conventions of stage representation. Arrocha was also the designer of emblematic works, such as Súlkary or Okantomí.

His art crossed borders. He participated in international productions in Mexico, Bulgaria, Poland and Austria, and in prestigious events such as the Prague Quadrennial of Scenic Design.

Recognized both in Cuba and abroad, he received numerous awards, including the National Theater Award (2007), the National Design Award (2013) and the National Dance Award (2022), in addition to the Alejo Carpentier Order.

His legacy goes beyond his countless creations; Arrocha trained generations of artists and contributed significantly to the cultural projection of Cuba in the world. He was a kind, cultured man, a lover of good conversation, open to exchange.

Today, Cuban culture bids farewell to a titan, whose work will continue to mark paths on the stage. It is a great example of how design can make the theatrical experience a unique experience, from the plastic projection. Arrocha is an unavoidable figure of Cuban culture.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff