Spanish Dance Company Closed Havana Theater Festival

The Antonio Gades Company closed the 14th Havana Theater Festival last Sunday, with a program including Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding) and Suite Flamenco.


According to Eugenia Eiriz, widow of the great Spanish dancer and choreographer, with the Blood Wedding, Gades achieved for the first time 37 years ago a synthesis among flamenco, classical, and Spanish dances.


The Blood Wedding, well known by Cubans, not only pays tribute to Gades (1936-2004) for his 75-year anniversary, but also to the work's author Federico Garcia Lorca, who was murdered on August 18, 1936, for his revolutionary ideas at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Eiriz said.


"Closing with this piece had a positive effect will on the public because after watching the Blood Wedding the people feels shocked and moved by Lorca's tragedy and then comes the party, and many would feel like singing and dancing," Eiriz added.


This was the first appearance in Cuba of the Antonio Gades Company, founded seven years ago after his death. It includes in its repertoire other popular works such as Carmen and Fuenteovejuna, while in 2012 it will seek to revive the Fuego (Fire), a version of the El Amor Brujo (Love Bewitched).


After 10 days, the most important theater event in the country closed curtains, with a positive outcome for the public, who had been able to enjoy a program including performances by more than 70 national and foreign groups representing 17 countries.