Guantanamo.- Ladislao Navarro Tomasén, a master of Guantánamo dance, was among the Cuban artists honored with the Lorna Burdsall Award, presented by the Association of Performing Artists of the Cuban Writers and Artists Association (UNEAC). The award recognizes the contributions of dancers, choreographers, musicians, and researchers in this field, as announced in a post on the organization’s Facebook page.
Ladislao Navarro Tomasén, founder and director of the Danza Fragmentada Company of Guantánamo Province, and who is a renowned figure in the arts education and mentor to several generations of dancers from the region and the country, was among those honored this year with the award, which bears the name of and honors the memory of Lorna Burdsall, a pioneer of the Modern Dance movement in Cuba.
The post on this digital platform also noted that the following individuals deserved this award: Milián Galí Riverí, a master of folkloric percussion in Santiago de Cuba; Ángel Morán, a student of Ramiro Guerra; Yanni García del Risco, principal dancer of the Camagüey Ballet; Rafael Saladrigas, director and ballet mistress of the same company; along with researcher and teacher Noel Bonilla; Yadira Hernández González, general director of Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba; Guillermo López Clemente, a teacher with the National Folkloric Ensemble; and Israel Oliva Rodríguez, a percussionist with the same ensemble. and Lázara Nápoles, a performer and teacher with more than four decades dedicated to Afro-Cuban and popular dance.
The honorees were announced during a ceremony held at the headquarters of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), as a prelude to the World Dance Day, to be commemorated on April 29. The event was attended by Marta Bonet, president of this cultural institution; Marilyn Garbey, leader of the Performing Artists Association of this organization; and the National Dance Prize winners: Santiago Alfonso, Isidro Rolando, and Johannes García.
