In a company like Lizt Alfonso’s, nothing seems to be left to chance with 30 years dedicated to pondering Cuban culture in all corners of the planet, hence Force and Compass was the show chosen for celebrate the anniversary by Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba (LADC), fits perfectly with the Work style that the renowned choreographer and her team have developed these three decades.
Well known are the LADC shows, where Hispanic dances are the link between cultures for staging, where the company goes through different styles to show that convoluted scaffolding that makes up Cuban culture.
On Force and Compass the interest in emphasizing how Cuban Lizt’s choreographies are, beyond the strong influence of Iberian dances and music that can be seen at the beginning of Force and Compassduring all the time we are in the presence of a very Creole spectacle.
And in that sense music plays a fundamental role, and Lizt knows that, who does not renounce the interpretation and accompaniment of live music in her presentations, another element that distinguishes LADC, and on this occasion they burst onto the scene with three choreographies at the Rhythm of malaguena, Andalusia and Gypsythree “Spanish” compositions by the Cuban Ernesto Lecuona, as a nod to what the public will see after this kind of prologue.
The musicians enter the scene and the splendor of dance-fusion, the company’s personal brand, begins —for those who haven’t noticed yet— with the piece de novoand from that point the viewer is enveloped in amazement, in an eagerness to be dazzled that forces him to remain anchored to the seat.
The music does its thing because, from flamenco and rumba as bases, the rhythms are mixed and accompanied to form a high-level accompaniment on stage, half-time between jazz and son, where the dancers talently raffle the beats of the sonorities that support them.
After the closing of the first act with the piece that gives the show its title, the second moment focuses on pieces that seek to highlight the identity of the company, with a more evident dance mixture as the end of the program approaches.
I’m leaving for Cuba and of land and air They close the night with a flourish, especially the last piece with music by Reynier Mariño, one of the usual composers who accompanies the company. In this choreography, Lizt closes the cycle with a more Hispanic sound with every intention of remembering the roots to which she clings and functions as the basis of her creation.
As an epilogue, the band of musicians takes their place again after the wave of applause from the public, eager for more, and LADC pleases with a staging, like a sort of discharge, where at times improvisation gives free rein to the interpreters demonstrate their worth on the stage, to the delight of those present who do not skimp on cheers and applause, as they have done for more than an hour.
Guitar and drum, harpsichord and piano, guaguancó and bulerías, flip-flops and heels, Andalusian and mulatto, the dancer and the dancer, strength and rhythm on the theater board, a dance as mestizo as it is Cuban, makes up this show that distinguishes the work of Lizt Alfonso and her companya seal that has honored Cuban culture for three decades.
