Near the central corner of Galiano and Malecón you can feel the hubbub, like a productive beehive that does not stop its work. When evening falls and for many it is the end of the working day, at Malecón Art 256 the day begins.
The headquarters of the local development project Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba Plus (LADC+) is a space for the arts, although at the moment dance is the main protagonist of this new headquarters, it already presents new features in its structure.
The main purpose of this local development project will be to increase interest in culture, in its different manifestations beyond dance: theater, cinema, music, literature, fashion and more will have a place in the Malecón location, to connect knowledge and that the public that attends the workshops mainly comes to have fun, without abandoning the rigor involved in teaching each of the subjects.
This was commented by Lorena Flores Dieppa, principal dancer and regisseur of the company, at the head of this initiative. “We have just started but the goal is to continue growing to create a space where anyone can come, because here you will learn, enjoy and receive the subject they want.”
“Unite different people with different visions”, that is how he put it for OnCuba the young dancer and teacher, who assumes this new responsibility after having gone through various stages of the company’s cycle Lizt Alfonsowith more 30 years of work.
Keep the rythm
The starting point in this resistance race that LADC+ represents could not be other than dance and, similar to what happens at the main headquarters of the companyday after day dozens of students arrive at Malecón Art 256, although now from another perspective.
As a novelty, urban dance classes are inserted, widely accepted today with the rise of reggaeton and urban music, in addition to the subject of popular dances, in great demand even among adults who attend every afternoon.
Now in this space, from 5-year-olds to older adults converge, all with the same energy and desire to learn: “Son and salsa are the most popular rhythms and in the case of adults I have students from 30 to more than 60 years of age here, and sometimes the hall is filled with almost 30 participants, including foreigners”, confesses Miguel Ángel Herrera, professor of popular dances.
In the case of urban dances, it is the youngest who seek to fill the classrooms, explains Claudia Fernández, one of the teachers of this modality. “This is the first time I teach this type of dance and I love it. In the group there are girls and boys between 6 and 10 years of age more or less”.
She points out that sometimes it is a bit complicated “because this style of dance is very free and it is difficult when it comes to telling the children how I want each dance movement to be”. I always urge you to enjoy it a lot, always. It doesn’t matter if they come without any basis of dance, the important thing is that they enjoy it”.
In the case of Luis Mario Miranda, a teacher and dancer in the company, the experience is similar, since he had not taught classes of this rhythm either: “I came from teaching flamenco classes in the company’s teaching unit, what I feel most is the change of rhythm in the dynamics of urban dance classes”, but in the month that he has been a teacher in this place, he has been getting used to it and seeks to make fun more important.
Unlike the teaching unit of the company, where the rigor increases due to the characteristics of a school, here the aim is for students to flow at their own pace, without neglecting the discipline that dance entails, a bias that teachers do not abandon, thanks to the base they bring.
This is stated by Thalía Martínez, the company’s flamenco fusion teacher, who now teaches this dance in its purest style, to differentiate it somewhat from what is learned in the company, she points out.
“When I was 15 years old, I started teaching classes as a monitor with my first group, because they prepare us as teachers from very early on, apart from the training we receive, we are always teachers,” she explains.
Despite her experience as a teacher, she acknowledges that “this is totally new. I give classes to little girls in the teaching unit, from the age of eight and as such, I had not taught flamenco, at least the pure style, in addition to the fact that the students here are older and everything that one is giving, they receive it very quickly and the result is seen faster”.
Even female students from the teaching unit have shown interest in receiving some of the classes taught at Malecón Art 256. “Mostly they ask me to come to the urban dance classes, or complement them with the flamenco ones, some even only come to see the dynamic before fully entering the workshops, and that is very nice, to see all this connection that we are creating here”, says Flores Dieppa.
With little more than a month of creation, LADC+ has reserved the best of its potential, which promises to grow as more people get involved in this initiative that promises to be an ideal corner to link experiences and knowledge, always for the benefit of the community.
