Rescuing, in difficult times, a multiple festival like La Huella de España is not a whim. It is actually a commitment to deepen cultural relations between two peoples, two nations that share much more than language and a common history. The links between Cuba and Spain are, above all, spiritual. And art builds solid bridges, which transcend even the ups and downs of politics and economy.

The great Alicia Alonso, founder of this event in the 1980s, knew it well. Her Festival was much more than a dance festival: music, visual arts, cinema and literature always came together in the programs, which had the strong support of cultural institutions and artistic companies from both sides of the Atlantic and from societies of Spaniards living in Cuba.

This is the line of work defended by the current management team of La Huella de España, led by prima ballerina Viengsay Valdés, general director of the National Ballet of Cuba, and with the artistic direction of Eduardo Veitía, director of the Spanish Ballet of Cuba.

The 30^th edition of the Festival will begin with the traditional parade that begins in the afternoon on Calle de Madera, in the Old Havana, and will conclude at the Havana Amphitheater. There, it will also take place the opening gala of an artistic event that will be held at different locations in Havana until June 16.

Dedicated to the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León, the event will give prominence to the Antonio Gades Foundation and Company. Invited dancers from that group will assume, together with dancers from the National Ballet of Cuba, the staging of the ballet Bodas de Sangre, by Gades.

According to Viengsay Valdés, it is about rescuing a jewel from the company's repertoire, which has been performing it since 1978. It is the famous choreography of the celebrated Spanish dancer based on the homonymous work by Federico Garcia Lorca. The performance will be carried out on Tuesday, at the Martí Theater in Havana, as part of the show "La Danza Española," in which representatives of the National Ballet of Spain will perform La Maja, Valencia Mora, Andalucía, Jauleña and Leyenda Asturias.

The Spanish Ballet of Cuba will also perform other proposals like Pasión, Alhambra and Luis Alonso's La Boda.

A few hours earlier, the José Nicolás de Escalera gallery, from the San Gerónimo University College in Havana, will open the photographic exhibition “30 years of the La Huella de España Festival” and the documentary “Antonio Gades, un legado para el siglo 21,” will be screened in the cinema of that institution.

Prensa Latina reports that the presentation will be enriched by a conversation with Miguel Cabrera, BNC historian, Eugenia Eiriz, director of the Antonio Gades Foundation, and María Esteves Flores, president of the Antonio Gades Foundation and one of the daughters of the Spanish dancer.

Spain has left more than a legacy in Cuba, since the culture of the Iberian nation is in constant dialogue with all the tributaries of the Cuban heritage. That circumstance is what the festival has always celebrated.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff