Photo Exhibition on Dance in Cuba Reveals "Matria"

A selection of photographs of dancers from several of the country's leading dance companies will feature in the exhibition "Matria," by photographer Gabriel Dávalos, by invitation of Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba (LADC).

The audiovisual producer and publicist chose to intertwine dance, photography, and intimate land with an emotional connotation that transcends bodies, nature, and memories to denote "the place where one loves, fights, and dreams," as the Nicaraguan poet Gioconda Belli defined the term "matria."

Director Lizt Alfonso will once again transform her Malecón Art 255 headquarters into an art gallery to host this unique show, starting next December 5th. The photographer considers it an ideal destination because dance is actively practiced there, every day, in a revitalizing way.

In fact, Dávalos invites viewers not to settle for seeing the images on social media through phones, but to experience the work in person and in an authentic temple of Cuban dance movement.

For the first time, the journalist will exhibit a mixed selection of dancers from several of the country's main dance companies such as Danza Fragmentada, from Guantánamo; Codanza, from Holguín; the Ballet Santiago de Cuba; Danza del Alma, from Santa Clara; the Ballet de Camagüey; and Danza Espiral, from Matanzas.

Joining them, from Havana, are the Ballet Nacional de Cuba and Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba. Uniquely, the artists from each company posed in natural settings of the land where they reside, grow, and dream.

Through mutual coordination between Dávalos and master teacher Lizt Alfonso, tomorrow, December 2nd, attendees of the free, open class of the social project "Bailar no tiene edad" (Age is No Barrier to Dance), mostly grandparents, will have the exclusive opportunity to participate in a kind of pre-launch event devised especially for them.

The official opening of "Matria" will take place on December 5th at 4:00 PM local time. The exhibition can be viewed until August 16th, Monday through Friday, from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM, in the Malecón Art 255 building, located on the Malecón between Galiano and Blanco.

Throughout the coming months, the building will host sales exhibitions and diverse initiatives related to the themes that inspire the exhibition.