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24th INTERNATIONAL BALLET FESTIVAL OF
HAVANA
Irene Rodríguez Dance Company:
Surprising, alluring, captivating
Mireya Castañeda / Photos courtesy Irene Rodríguez
Dance Company
Dancer and choreographer Irene Rodríguez
has
steadily become
a prominent figure in
Cuban dance.
Since
creating the company that
bears her name three years
ago, each performance has
surprised, seduced and
captivated the audience.
With an
imposing onstage presence, Irene
Rodriguez
is a friendly and approachable
young woman.
The participation of her
company
in the International Ballet
Festival
of Havana is nothing new.
At the previous festival,
in 2012, she displayed impeccable
credentials.
The staging
of her work
The
crime was in
Granada
(El
crimen fue en Granada),
won First Prize in the
VIII Alicia Alonso Ibero-American
Choreography Competition (CIC),
awarded by the Author’s Foundation
of the Spanish Society of
Authors and Publishers (SGAE)
and the
National Ballet of Cuba.
Alicia
Alonso, president of the
judges panel awarding the prize,
noted that
the choreographer
"brought together
flamenco,
Spanish and contemporary
dance in an original way in
a performance of clockwork
precision."
At the time,
Irene
Rodriguez noted that she had attempted to
capture the
essence of the
dramatic
poem by Antonio Machado,
published in 1937,
and dedicated to
Federico
García Lorca.
Focused
on "creating
new trends which
allow the Spanish
genre to evolve,
merging it
with
anything which expands the
language of the stage",
the director of the
Company accepted the invitation
- during a press conference
to present the Festival program –
to discuss the
world premiere
of the piece she has called
Aldabal.
"First
of all I
would like to say that it
is a great opportunity for
me to present this,
my latest
creation, during an event
of
international prestige, in which top
dancers
from many countries come
together. This year I have
once again been invited to the
Festival
by Alicia
Alonso,
which for me is a great
honor."
The choreographer
explained that this new piece,
Aldabal,
"comes from a
place
full of knockers
with which
doors are knocked" and is a
siguiriya,
considered the most essential
theme of the cante jondo (deep
song) genre due to the extreme
depth of the quejío
(lament)
and its heartbreaking
solemnity. It is one
of the styles of flamenco,
along with the soleá
and the bulería.
The piece
is performed by
every member of
the company,
with music from
our new
and talented guitarist and
songwriter, Noel
Gutierrez, who
has composed all the
music,
Irene Rodriguez added.
"You
will hear a flamenco
theme,
one of the rhythms
of the siguiriya style,
yet very inspired by
electro
acoustics, giving it that
contemporary twist
that characterizes
our company."
The choreographer
mentioned another
asset of the piece: "The
dancing is accompanied by
the use of castanets, so typical
to Spanish dance, yet lately somewhat forgotten by
different dance companies,
and I wanted to
rescue this in the most
virtuous
way possible."
Those who
have seen
her work know
that for Irene
Rodriguez there exists no
movement detached from
emotion, so this
world premiere
will not leave
the public unmoved
in their seats.
Among the pieces from the Irene Rodríguez Company
are: Al Andaluz (flamenco);
Asturias;
Guajira de Lucía;
la Danza Final del Sombrero de Tres Picos
(classic Spanish style); Allegranza; 5 x
Bulerías; Solera;
Emigrantes
(various dance styles such as
Afro-Cuban, neoclassical and flamenco) and the show
Coincidencias (diverse rhythms such as
flamenco, jazz and tango).
A unique highlight of the program is the concert
Spanish Symphony
from
classical to flamenco
with the National Symphony
Orchestra, conducted
by its director,
Enrique
Pérez Mesa.
This show
was included in the Book of
Honor of
the Grand Theater of Havana
after its
premiere there in
2012.
Almost
all of the works
are creations of
the
director of the Company
herself, as she is in
constant pursuit "of
our own style
within the
range of
companies who revere
our
Hispanic roots."
The Irene
Rodriguez Dance
Company
includes
ten dancers - five men and
five women - with
a broad command
of the different
styles of
Spanish dance, ballet and
contemporary dance.
Her
stage presence
is powerful, just
like flamenco,
and her works always
have
great energy and convey an
excellent bond between the
choreography and the
artistic elements.
Aldabal,
world premiere of the Irene
Rodriguez Dance
Company:
taconeos
and elegant arms, accents,
energy, rhythm and passion.
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