by Jacqueline Knirnschild
Minimal pink, black, grey and red costumes, dark lighting with fire-like spotlights and frolicking silhouette shadows framed the Ole Miss and Cuban dancers’ as they crimped and leapt – using their bodies as mediums to explore the depths of human emotion.
Saturday night was the final performance of the three-phase Cuban-UM dance exchange and residency. In November, ten dancers from the internationally-renowned, independent, contemporary Cuban dance company, Malpaso, lived with Oxford host families, performed, hosted workshops, taught Spanish and shared their Cuban culture and history with social science classes.
Then in December, UM dance program director Jennifer Mizenko and eight dancers stayed with host families in Havana while studying the history of Cuban rhythm, visiting museums, and taking salsa, mambo, instrumental and ballet classes.
During both residencies, Malpaso choreographer, Osnel Delgado, spent hours training and rehearsing with the UM dancers for the final performance this weekend at the Ford Center.
Delgado also actually ended up making an extra, last-minute unplanned trip to Oxford during finals week last semester to teach the UM dancers a completely new piece, entitled, “Redefining Carmen”, which took a contemporary spin on the 1875 French opera by Georges Bizet.
Freshman international studies major Madeline Cook said she loved the paradox between the soft pink dresses of the eight female dancers and their rigid body movements.
“The juxtaposition between college-aged women in flowing gowns was sensual but not sexual at all,” Cook said. She thought that Osnel’s re-creation of “Carmen” – who was a tragic heroine in the original opera – could represent “the burden of femininity”.
The second piece, “Indomitable Waltz” consisted of eight Malpaso dancers and examined the changing nature of human relationships. Throughout the piece, which was choreographed by Aszure Barton, dancers came together then split into pairs and affectionately smiled, patted and hugged one another. As the music slowed down, they leaned and rested their heads on each other’s shoulders, which may have signified the element of dependency.
Founder and Executive Director of Malpaso, Fernando Saéz, said that dancers – just like actors – must think about rational, emotional and physical components of their movements.
“If any of those three layers are not present during a performance something is failing and you’re not going to be engaged or believe in what we’re trying to convey,” Saéz said to the audience during the Q&A session after the production.
To reach such a high caliber of dance, Saéz said it takes more than just willingness but also commitment and intensive training.
“The mind learns faster than the body but the body never forgets,” Saéz said. “If they’re really professional dancers, they do not have to think about anything when they’re dancing – they just trust themselves.”
The third piece, “Ocaso”, a duet choreographed by Osnel Delgado and performed by himself and Beatriz Garcia, depicted the tumultuous nature of a romantic relationship. At times, the two were in-sync and at others, one was bent lower and they were on different levels. Then they would embrace one another in their arms and abruptly pull away.
“The most important part of dance is the body so I don’t use props or screens – even the lights are very specific and simple,” Delgado said. “I believe that in this technological world that we are living now, sometimes we miss contact and physicality.”
The final piece, “Open Heart”, choreographed by Ronald K. Brown, consisted of nine Cuban dancers who celebrated community and humanity by paying tribute to Afro-Cubanism, which plays a central role in the history of the island nation.
During a lecture back in November, Saéz explained that the two main branches of the Cuban culture are Spanish and African influences. Populations from west Sub-Saharan African countries that came to Cuba as slaves in the 16th century were all parts of different tribes and spoke hundreds of different languages which in turn caused Cuba to become a “dancing island”.
“It was extremely challenging for them [African slaves] to develop an efficient communication because they couldn’t speak the same language,” Saéz said. “Music and dance became tools for socializing and defending their own humanity under those extreme circumstances.”
Sáez said that dance in Cuba – from colonial times to now – has always been a zone of cultural resistance and a sophisticated method of revealing oneself, which is why he founded Malpaso as an independent dance company with the freedom to express individuality.
At the end of the show, the UM and Cuban dancers locked hands, bowed and then started dancing jubilantly as the red curtains were drawn.
During the final closing, Saéz quoted Casablanca and told Mizenko he thinks “this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” between Ole Miss and Malpaso.