© Margaret Willis Valdes in reviews Osipova in reviews Benjamin in reviews Letestu in reviews Schandorff in reviews Vasliev in reviews Martinez in reviews Bocca in reviews Carreno in reviews Acosta in reviews Reviews of dance in Cuba Festival website (in Spanish) Festival Pictures by Jorge V. Gavilondo more Margaret Willis reviews

For ten exhilarating days in early November, dancers and guests gathered from all over the world to participate in the bi-annual festival of ballet organized by the country’s indefatigable founder and prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso. Internationally famous stars from France, Russia, South America, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the UK, flashed their stuff for excited audiences offering the latest pyrotechnical wizardries, while western choreographers showed off new works created especially for the festival. However, the highest accolades of the event go to members of the Ballet National de Cuba (BNC) who were required to take on the Herculean challenge of performing full-length old classics most nights—Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote—as well as demonstrating these new and often technically complex western works. With performances of classical ballets at the National Theatre at 5pm, and the gala evenings at the Gran Teatro de la Habana at 8:30pm, many in the company were required to zip smartly across town to make their next entrance. Young dancers who had soared in solos and turned vigorously with perfect posture and pointed feet suddenly found themselves bent over, feet flexed, still spinning and leaping with amazing energy. On the final evening, prima ballerina and darling of the Cuban Ballet, Viengsay Valdes, finished her physically and mentally exhausting Swan Lake at 7:45pm and was on the gala stage a few hours later, with a smile on her face, performing in Pas de Quatre. And all this after 9am classes for all dancers and rehearsals throughout most of the days.
 

The young had their fair share of moments to shine—the youngest being the new Russian whiz-kid, Ivan Vasliev, who at 17, has just joined the Bolshoi. The floppy haired, always smiling youngster partnered the spunky 20 year old Natalia Osipova who scored high ratings in London this summer and the combination set the stage alight. Vasliev lives to dance and is constantly trying out new moves whenever he has a chance. In the two pas de deux—Flames of Paris and Don Quixote—he tossed off whirling dervish tours a la seconde which he suddenly slowed down mid way, only to speed up again, while the leaps and tricks in his manege and his final double-barreled endings were thrilling to watch. Osipova wasn’t going to let his take all the glory and did her 32 fouettes absolutely spot-on with no traveling, while using variations of arms and number of turns. The audience adored them and for many they were the highlight of the festival. He is certainly a star in the making – many saying he was a new Barishnikov.
 

Then there was the gentle and welcome reminder that dance doesn’t just belong to the young. Matz Ek and Anna Laguna performed two of his delightfully skittish short works, ‘Potato’ and ‘Memory’ with great poignancy, timing and humour and with wonderful ‘senior moments’ of forgetfulness, silliness and feeling young in an old body. Carla Fracchi, still graceful and elegant exuded languid lyricism in a piece “Naked Light of Love”, especially created for her for this festival by Alicia Alonso in which she remembered three suitors from varying periods in her life.
 

In the middle and ‘very elevated’ of these two age groups came the returning local lads Carlos Acosta and Jose Manuel Carreno. Both brought up in the school and studios of BNC but so different in looks and styles, they were greeted like heroes by everyone connected with the ballet, all eager to see what they would dance. Carreno was his elegant self, demonstrating his super-silky technique in Giselle where he partnered Sadaise Arencibia, making her debut in the role.(His half brother Joel Carreno, a principal with BNC is also a great dancer and performed most nights.)Acosta surprised everyone by choosing the final moments from “Mayerling’ which showed off his great dramatic skills rather than his fireworks. (We did get to see those later in the Diana and Acteon pas de deux when his forceful barrel-turns which ended with a fouette from the inside leg just before landing had the audiences shooting out of their seats with the thrill. Alas he didn’t get the expected competition that evening from Valdes, who collapsed with flu and asthma mid way through. But the gallant Acosta ‘rescued’ her, supporting and lifting her until the music ended.). Looking like Clark Gable with smarmed down hair and moustache, Acosta partnered the lovely eloquent Leanne Benjamin as Mary Vetsera while Ricardo Cevera’s Bratfisch was neatly and strongly danced, hat and all. The Royal Ballet was well presented with this trio and the Cubans loved them, clapping enthusiastically at the graphic sex scene and gasping at the suicides. Showing off a different form of seduction was the Argentinean heart-throb Julio Bocca back at the festival again with his tango team. Most importantly however was his farewell performance in ‘Swan Lake’ in which, twenty years ago at the 10th Festival, he had made his debut. His warmth and added touches brought a bit more sense to this production. When the curtains finally closed, there was a short film of Bocca’s achievements—astounding—and then his Siegfried took one last bow alone.
 

Other highlights were Maximiliano Guerra’s powerful interpretation of Othello in Brian MacDonald’s “ Prologue to a Tragedy’; the flamenco dancer, Maria Jancal whose heels tapped faster than a woodpecker searching for grubs; the earthy stomps of ‘Compania Farruquito’; the Paris Opera’s Jose Martinez and Agnes Letestu in his super-refined “Delibes Suite’ with chic costumes designed by her; Royal Danish Ballet’s Silja Schandorff’s feather-light dancing in La Sylphide: Spanish Goyo Montera’s “The Day of Creation’ which won the V-Ibero-American Competition of Choreography 2006 and was one of nine new works (including three by Alonso,) for the festival. His ballet, performed to a voice talking about parts of the human body, was slick, charged with emotion and physically attacking, while still being lyrically smooth. Canadian choreographer, Jean Grand Maitre offered ‘Solitaire’, a new work for BNC dancers which showed off the particular skills of Raul Mazora as the loner among the happy couples. And there were many more memorable moments.

But the final and brightest spotlight must focus on the indomitable Alicia Alonso who graced all the gala performances with her presence and worked from early morning with BNC duties, helped at rehearsals, gave interviews and greeted all her guests graciously. The true queen of Cuba, she received a standing ovation when she entered the auditorium to take her seat for the evening performances. Now nearing 85 years of age, she is still very energetic despite being totally blind, and was elegant and regal in her flowing chiffon shifts, colourful headscarves that bound her hair and her ruby-red lips. Her courteousness, inward charm and genuine interest in others won many admirers.
 

The Cuban Festival is a dance-lover’s dream, offering glimpses of the world’s many differing styles and bringing contact with some of the great names in the annuls of ballet— this time, Jean Babilee, Cyril Atanasoff, and Alonso herself. The atmosphere is stimulating and joyful since dancers and guests live together in the same hotel and so the conversation of like-minded people flows. The whole set-up was very well-organised and carefully planned and its workers always willing and helpful, caring for the guests’ every request. Normally shut doors (such as access to the school and company headquarters) are opened wide and everyone kisses you and smiles! As a critic I know my report should be two sided and I should disclose the negative as well. But here I admit failure, as I found none!