Contemporary Dance of Cuba Celebrates Anniversary with Premieres

Havana, Dec 29 .- Contemporary dance of Cuba Company will celebrate the 56 anniversary of its founding with the world premiere of Mercurio, by Julio Cesar Iglesias and Reversible, by the Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, today announced the institution.

The program scheduled for next January 9 to 11 at the Mella Theater in this capital will end with Identidad a la menos uno, by Cuban George Céspedes, winner of the Ibero-american Choreography Award 2002.

The Cuban company received in 2009 the Luna Award, in Mexico, for a version of Céspedes by Carmina Burana, at the National Auditorium.

In 2014, the company successfully premiered Cristal, created by Iglesias with demands for technical and interpretive brilliance.

Meanwhile, López Ochoa this year staged Celeste especially for the National Ballet of Cuba and presented it at the 24th International Ballet Festival of Havana, with Sombrerísimo, performed in this Caribbean country by the Ballet Hispanico of New York.

The artist with experience in companies from Holland, France, USA, Spain, Colombia and Great Britain, among many, studied at the Royal Ballet School of Flanders in Belgium and knows four languages: French, Dutch, English and Spanish.

From the beginning, López Ochoa was hailed as a rising star in the Dutch press and the most prestigious Dance Magazine, from USA, praised her ability to translate powerful emotions in abstract movements.

But not all her work belongs to that mode, because in 2012 a personal version of A Streetcar Named Desire, for the Scottish Ballet received the South Bank National Arts Award for Best recent production and was nominated for the coveted Laurence Olivier.

Also British Critics' Circle National Dance Awards gave the piece the category of Best Classical Choreography.

In 56 years of artistic life, the company has proven to be more than a group of dancers in the service of a universal language; because its members hold a technical and interpretive quality praised in multiple stages in Europe and North America.

Under the direction of Miguel Iglesias, the company expanded its international presence and expressive possibilities after working with renowned foreign choreographers such as Jan Linkens, Kenneth Kuanstrom, Luca Bruni, Rafael Bonachela and Mats Ek, among other. (Prensa Latina)