Guantanamo.- By candlelight and amid lilies and sunflowers, the headquarters of Danza Fragmentada opened its doors to launch the company’s thirty-third season—an event dedicated to artistic training, dance, and traditional Cuban music.
The program began with a folklore workshop led by renowned instructor César Reinier Simón Reyes. The workshop was designed for dancers from Guantánamo-based companies and students at the Alfredo Velázquez Carcasés Professional Dance School.
To the rhythm of drums and songs devoted to African deities, participants explored the techniques and distinctive elements of these traditions under the guidance of an instructor with an impressive career in arts education.
The event also featured Improntus del Cuerpo, a recurring program by Danza Fragmentada, with contributions from the companies Danza Libre and Ballet Folklórico Babul.
The performance presented a broad range of styles, from neoclassical and contemporary dance to folkloric forms and popular social dances.
The venue was packed throughout the event. The program also included Tú, mi regalo (“You, My Gift”), a work by the group Amanecer, led by musician Jesús Fernández, and performed with students from the Antonia Luisa Cabal Professional School of Music. This segment was created specifically to promote knowledge and appreciation of Cuba’s rural, or campesino, traditions.
During the performance, the young artists shared the stage with accomplished singer Yaneisis Oquendo, presenting a repertoire that included songs associated with iconic figures of traditional Cuban music, including Compay Segundo, Los Compadres, and Celina González.
Under the direction of dancer and choreographer Ladislao Navarro Tomasén, Danza Fragmentada thus opened its thirty-third season. The program will continue tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. at the company’s headquarters, which will once again welcome Danza Libre and Babul, along with the Génesis dance-theater project, students from the School of Dance, and dancer Felipe Adriano Cátala Balón.
On Saturday, the program will move to the Rubén López Sabariego House of Culture, where a performance for children will be held at 4:00 p.m.
