Havana, September 1st
The part will be called Joyful We and was conceived by Jessica Lang exclusively for the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC). It will be a highlight of the Alicia Alonso International Ballet Festival of Havana, which will take place between October and November in this capital.
“This trip is a special experience,” the choreographer told a small group of reporters on Thursday, minutes before one of the planned rehearsals.
“Working with the BNC dancers has been beautiful, every day we see them arrive with such a pure heart and spirit, feeling so much love and showing so much talent, that we can feel it,” added Lang, who traveled to Cuba together with the associate creator of the work, the Japanese dancer and choreographer Kanji Segawa.
The work will have 24 stellar dancers on stage -12 women and the same number of men- from the island company and it was mounted on the piano concerto no. 5 in D major by Mozart, known as Salzburg, which will be performed live during the performances.
Lang said he chose the piece of music to bring a bit of brightness and clarity to audiences after years of global darkness due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My base is very Cuban,” Lang said emotionally, highlighting the influence of the island school on her career.
His teacher, De Saá, emigrated to the United States in 1964 and developed her career in Pennsylvania, after being one of the main young figures of the BNC in the 1960s, when the legendary dancer and choreographer Alicia Alonso began to build the company that currently, despite of his death maintains its world-class level.
De Saá, who died in 2017, was the twin sister of fellow dancer and teacher Ramona de Saá, who was director of the National Ballet School, a renowned hotbed for professionals in this art.
Lang stressed that in the context of the complicated relationship between Cuba and the United States, dance can be a bridge between the two nations.
“I hope that this work can bring a special connection,” he said when asked about the tense bilateral moment that both countries are experiencing after a tightening of US sanctions against the dictatorship. “That this ballet can bring light to this whole situation.”
Source: AP