• Submitted by: admin
• Arts and Culture
• Dance
• 10 / 07 / 2006

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By Omar Vázquez

 

The company will be presenting several works that have helped it to strengthen its prestige. Among those will be Fuerza y compas (1999), Ire a Santiago (1998), and Alas (2006, their latest).

On stage, the troupe will be accompanied by the Afro-Cuban singing group Sintesis, the Conjunto Folclórico Nacional(the National Folkloric Group), and popular Cuban singer Raquel Hernandez and guitarist Eduardo Martin.

The company formed on October 19, 1991, the evening before the Day of Cuban Culture. This was followed bynine years of struggle for the group and the country; this wasa time known as the "special period," following the collapse of Cuba's principal trade partner, the Soviet Union.

Weathering that storm, the troupemade its first tour of Spain In September 1998 with Sinceramente, FG. "We made thirty-two successful presentations."

Travelling to the United States inJune 2001, theypresented Fuerza y compas at the Summer Stage Festival inNew York and at the Columbia Festival of the Arts inMaryland. "These presentations have marked our international presence," said Alfonso.

"After that," she said, "everything has been easier and the company has enjoyedpositive reviews formthe critics. One of these came from a writer of The New York Times who wrote"This is a valuable and surprising company with its own festive style;" and another reviewer from theChicago Sun Times commented, "Lizt Alfonso, from Cuba, is a sensual mix of fire and spice."

"We are going to continue working whilemaintaining thissamequality asour premise," said the renowned artist.

Source: Granma