SAN LUIS POTOSI, Mexico.- Candida Batista She was a woman who broke barriers and became a popular star with an extensive career, from the end of the 1930s until 2016, when Cubans mourned her death.
Cambric was born in Camagüey on October 3, 1916 and began his artistic career in 1932 with an event that would mark a milestone in the history of the music Cuban.
At just 16 years old, she sang in Camagüey as a soloist in the orchestra La Especial, directed by Victor Agüero Boza and Aurelio Cedé, thus becoming the first Cuban woman to achieve this.
Before a court composed of figures such as Adolfo Guzmán, Rafael Somavilla, Aida Diestro, Jesús Ortega, Isolina Carrillo, Armando Romeu, Mario Romeu, Fernando Mulens and José Ramón Urbay, she underwent an evaluation.
In 1937 he moved to Havana, and became part of Obdulio Morales’ orchestra, which performed with a company of artists blacks at the Martí theater.
In 1941, Batista performed on European and North American stages with figures such as Josephine Baker, Maurice Chevalier, Nat King Cole, Charles Aznavour, Lola Flores and Michel Legrand.
Later, as a member of the Batamú Company, she sang at the Teatro Lírico in Mexico City, alongside Yolanda Montes, Rosa Carmina, María Antonieta Pons, and Mary Esquivel. Numerous tours in America and Europe led her to record albums for the Columbia and Victor labels.
In 1959 she was hired in Spain to perform at the Casablanca cabaret in Madrid. She traveled through Germany, France, Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, and Denmark. In Germany she appeared, along with other figures of European cinema, in the film My Aunt Susana.
After 11 years he returned to Cuba, where he worked at the Teatro Martí alongside Candita Quintana and Carlos Pous.
He decided to settle in his hometown, where he had a club with the Camagüeyan troubadour Felo Torres and founded the Los Mokekeré orchestra.
His greatest success was perhaps his version of the song “Angelitos Negros” but his creations based on Cuban street songs are also memorable.
Candita was universally known as the “Black Star of Cuba” and received applause in at least 20 countries.
On February 1, 2011, he received the National Award for Lifetime Achievement, in recognition of his more than 75 years of artistic career. He also received the Alejo Carpentier Medal, the Distinction for National Culture and the commemorative plaque for the 45th Anniversary of the “Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz” University.
He passed away on April 1, 2016, at the age of 99.
