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Street life meets spectacle in DANZABIERTA’s passionate and rousing 'contaminated dance'. Words: Moira Jeffrey
In the quiet administrative district of Havana known as the Vedado, a group of young dancers are going through rehearsal. They are the independent company DanzAbierta and, as a group who start their morning warm up with Tai Chi, they clearly have a global outlook.
Cuba has a vibrant, ambitious and international scene for dance and theatre. When one of the country‘s top contemporary choreographers Marianela Boén struck out on her own in 1988, she brought her own unique spin on both.
Dance for DanzAbierta is a means of storytelling and it's not just for an elite audience of specialists. Boan calls her style 'contaminated dance'; it continually blurs the dividing line between dance, theatre and song. The aim is for accessible, immediate dance that has its heart in everyday desires and expression. The company is bringing two productions to Edinburgh: ElArboly el Camino (The Tree And The Road) and El Pez en el Asfalto (Fish In Asphalt). Both
combine the spectacle and energy of the country's dance heritage with street life, contemporary music and elements of the daily grind. El Pez was a breakthrough in Cuban dance, a work that young dancers admire for its emotional charge. This is a company that knows its history and that can do rumba along with the best of them. ‘Everything we do is genuine,’ says manager Alejandro Aguilar, stressing the rigorous training of the team. ‘Nothing is fake.’ But, DanzAbierta likes to push things a little further and as a result it has
They start the day with Tai Chi and finish it with Cuban exuberance
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pushed back the boundaries of Cuban dance.
DanzAbierta is being brought to Edinburgh by Universal Arts, a team with an astute record of Fringe hits, most recently the runaway success of The Water Carriers. This year it is celebrating its move to the new Gateway Theatre on Leith Walk. With this Cuban company, it may have found one of this year's stars in the principal dancer Alexander Varona, who as the towering presence on stage, has real charm. As well as the Gateway performances, the company will be strutting its stuff at Salsa Viva (11 and 18 Aug), Cuba Norte (12, 19 and 24 Aug) and Siglo (8, 15 and 22 Aug).
Watching the group at work, its style seems to echo the complex position of modern Cuba. The search for an identity that is neither inward looking, nor merely a lacklustre imitation of America. It's a crisis that most of us are facing in the age of globalisation, but has a particular poignancy in a country that faced dramatic economic hardship in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The result is an eclecticism and an energy which is finding favour with a loyal home crowd and with audiences from Latin America to Japan. By the end of August it should be able to add Edinburgh to that list.
El Pez en el Asfalto (Fringe) DanzAbierta Of Cuba, Gateway Theatre (Venue 7) 317 3939, 6-15 Aug (not 9) 7.30pm, £12 (£10). Preview 5 Aug, £6.
El Arbol y el Camino (Fringe) DanzAbierta 0f Cuba, Gateway Theatre (Venue 7) 317 3939, 17-28 Aug (not 23) 7.30pm, £12 (£10).
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The Cubans are coming
It’s a nation that has been fought over by the Spanish, the British and the Americans, but these days the roles are reversed and the proudly independent country exports is Grammy. winning culture to a grateful world. The Cuban cultural invasion is here: we've shown you the frontlines, now we highlight some important local skirmishes.
Lista de Espera (The Waiting List)
A whimsical movie set in a crumbling bus station where the buses never stOp. This is the first solo outing from Juan Carlos Tabio, who co-directed the classic Strawberries And Chocolate, and it’s a metaphor for the spirit of contemporary Cuba.
I Lista de Espera (Film Festival) Juan Tab/o, Cameo 7, 76 Aug, 5pm, 77 Aug, 8pm, f7/f4.50.
Cuban Cigar Night
The Spiegeltent swings to the rhythm of salsa, for two evenings of politics, poetry and the sounds, sights and cigars of Cuba. With readings from Mike Gonzalez and Chris Dolan and late night dancing.
I Cuban Cigar Night (Book Festival) The Spiegeltent, Charlotte Square, 624 5050, 77 and78 Aug, 8.30pm, £7.50/f5.50.
Fiesta De Cuba
After providing the grooves for Lady Salsa, Cuba’s Sonara la Calle let their hair down for a bit of a jam. The Festival Big Top makes an ideal setting as one of Santiago’s most popular bands provide an essential nightly Shakedown for lovers of Latin. I Fiesta de Cuba (Fringe) Garden Party (Venue 50) 226 2428, 6—27 Aug, 27 and 28 Aug, 77.30pm, £5.
Good Morning Havana The Cuban Brothers’s scurrilous late night comedy cabaret featuring tight slacks, bongo mania, nudity and Hawaiian shirts. Lovers of genuine Cuban culture take note: this show is 100% inauthentic. I Good Morning Havana, (Fringe) The Cuban Brothers, Gilded Balloon ’5 Cave, 226 2757, 4—28 August (not 74, 75, 27, 22) midnight, £8/f 9.