CONTEMPORARY DANCE IN THE CARIBBEAN
_Cuban dance starts its "battle for modernity" in 1959, just after the revolution, when the Departamento de Danza Moderna del Teatro Nacional (Department of Modern Dance of Cuba) and later the Conjunto Danza Nacional de Cuba were created. Ramiro Guerra, director of the Conjunto Danza Nacional, was the first Cuban teacher and choreographer, who, without prejudice, amalgamated the country’s whole universal heritage.
The path that has been opened by Ramiro Guerra was followed by his disciples, who in different ways have contributed to the creation of the so called “Cuban modern dance technique”, a technique, school and also style, in which our artists have been trained for so many years.
The first years with only one group, the Compañía Nacional de Danza, were times of research for an expressive identity in terms of movement, interpretation and composition technique. Since the end of the second half of the eighties, Cuban dance started looking for new paths of creation in which the critical and theoretical discourse start to guide its perspectives towards contemporary dance. And so started dance productions which intended to create a contrast with the classical and modern dance traditions that had been produced in Cuba until then.
Nowadays contemporary dance in Cuba has managed to legitimize its interests, co-existing with the greater tradition and preference of the public for the development of academic ballet. This can be explained by the influence and real power of Alicia Alonso.
In Cuba the cultural Project of the Revolution supports and officially centralizes the training of dance professionals and their employment after having received their diploma in the arts schools; all artists are linked to the Ministry of Culture in a way and there are no independent companies in the country. In that way all actions; festivals, events, seasons, etc. for professional artists or dance amateurs are organized by institutions that belong to the Ministry of Culture.
The most important contemporary dance events in Cuba are the Festival Los Días de la Danza (22-29 April each year) and Festival Habana Vieja: Ciudad en Movimiento (during each Easter Week). Both festivals include in their program the best of Cuban dance and foreign guests.
The Second Biennale of contemporary dance will take place in la Havana from the 23rd to the 28th of March 2010. In 2008 the festival showcased work of Caribbean, African and Latin American artists and numerous international guests were present. The biennale is an initiative of Culturesfrance, the French agency for cultural exchange, in association with the Ministry of Culture of Cuba. It was follows the path of previous 6 biennales that were started in Africa and the Indian Ocean by Culturesfrance. More info at http://www.culturesfrance.com/afrique-caraibes-en -creation/presentation/de4.html.
Other events that present the youngest contemporary Cuban dance are competitions and showcases like Solamente Solos and Danzan Dos, which are held every two years. Both happen over five days in October outside of La Havana, the first of them in Ciego de Ávila and the second in Matanzas. Due to the fact that they are competitions dedicated to Cuban artists, it is a platform of utmost important for the voices of young artists from the Cuban contemporary dance scene. These events also provide space for foreign invited guests to perform alongside the competition.
At the Mella Theatre in Havana, there is a permanent program with contemporary dance pieces. Apart from being the main base of the Festival Los Días de la Danza, there are also seasons with national and international companies which are invited to perform in Cuba. Other spaces in the country like the theatre of Guaso (Guantánamo), Heredia (Santiago de Cuba), Bayamo and Manzanillo (Granma), Principal (Camaguey), Terry (Cienfuegos), La Caridad (Santa Clara), Sauto (Matanzas), Milanés (Pinar del Río), etc. are used in the runs and tours of national and international groups.
The Cuban economic restraints make it impossible to pay for the tours of dance artists, teachers and professionals from and to Cuba. The great majority of the Exchange projects, as well as the festivals and special runs of foreign artists on Cuban stages, are a result of the artists own efforts. Eventual logistical and production support of co-operation agencies, cultural services of embassies or from the government themselves, have made many actions possible. In that sense it is worth mentioning the support of the Agencia Española de Cooperación Cultural and the Oficina de la Unión Europea in Cuba, the British Council, the Instituto Goethe, the Alliance Française, the Brownstone Foundation, etc.
There are 49 professional dance companies which belong to the Consejo Nacional de las Artes Escénicas, 19 of them are contemporary dance companies, 5 classical ballet companies and the rest are traditional and folkloric dance companies. Many professional artists were in the fringe scene before.
In practically all provinces of the country there are contemporary dance groups, but Havana is the main centre for their development and promotion. Some of the most important are the Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, DanzAbierta, Danza-teatro Retazos and Danza Combinatoria. They are the ones who maintain the growing interest in research and contribute to the contemporary choreographic discourse.
All dance artists linked to the Consejo Nacional de las Artes Escénicas, receive their monthly salaries in Cuban pesos. Those salaries would represent ten to thirty dollars in the present exchange rate and vary according to the artistic level (thirty dollars is the salary that a scientist or a doctor may receive). Due to the permanent economic crisis that is on going in Cuba, many dance professionals have to teach in different arts schools in the country. This is also the reason for the exodus of much of the country’s talent which has been pushed to outside of Cuba.
The Consejo Nacional de las Artes Escénicas (CNAE), depends on the Ministry of Culture and is in charge of dance and theatre professionals. It pays and represents artists judicially and is responsible for all the production, promotion, touring and programming of performances.
Dancers that have been trained in Cuba have a powerful technique, which has made them respected in the best dance scenes in the world. Approximately 10 years of a demanding and solid training assure an extremely prepared dancer. Neither the lack of resources in our schools, or difficult access to updated information on the internet, nor the little exposure to international events etc., have limited the will of the Cuban artist in challenging the present with creativity. Nevertheless Cuban dance still needs to invest more in risk, research and choreographic speculation.
The Consejo Nacional de las Artes Escénicas and the Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba, organize systematic meetings with workshops and analysis between critics, choreographers and dancers to enhance the potential of dialogue, thought and research that may contribute to the development of choreography. The workshops generally happen before dance production openings.
There are 14 schools at the elementary level (students between 9 and 14 years), 5 at the secondary school level (between 14 and 18 years) and the Facultad de Danza de la Universidad de las Artes (ISA) has BAs in contemporary dance, ballet and folkloric dance. At the ISA there are Arts masters in Dance and a PHD in Sciences about art.
The educational, instructional and cultural level of the Cuban population is very high if compared to the average of the other Latin-American countries. As a result, there are high quality cultural publications and magazines on the market even with the economic difficulties faced to finance their production.
danzar.cu is the main Cuban publication dedicated to contemporary dance. It is edited by the Consejo Nacional de las Artes Escénicas and directed by the professor and dance critic Noel Bonilla-Chongo. Bonilla works as a Dance Advisor for the Consejo Nacional de las Artes Escénicas at the Ministry of Culture, from here he organizes the dance schedule on Cuban stages. danzar.cu has a printed and a digital version on the web at www.danzarcu.cult.cu.
Other publications dedicated to the promotion of dance are Cuba en el Ballet and Tablas. Whilst cultural publications like la Gaceta de Cuba, Revolución y Cultura, La Jiribilla, El Caimán Barbudo, Temas, etc. also dedicate space to dance. The Ballet Nacional de Cuba maintains a web page at www.balletdecuba.cult.cu.
There is still discrete editorial production responsible for the publication of important texts by Ramiro Guerra, Miguel Cabrera, Fidel Pajares, Francisco Rey Alfonso, Roberto Méndez, etc.; there it is also possible to find historic and theoretical information about Cuban and universal dance.
Text by : Noel Bonilla-Chongo, August 2009