Street Dancing

It was the middle of the night, but Madera Street in Havana’s Plaza de Armas was alight and, in the best of real and imagined scenes, therewas dancing within the luminous shadows of the columns of the Captains’ Palace. This was 1996 and the first time Retazos Theatre-dance Company danced for Habana Vieja, city in movement, the first International Meeting of Dance in Urban Spaces.

Each year since, the show-turned-tradition takes place in the city’s historic center, invading everything: streets, porches and inner courtyards. Music-driven dancers twist, dance and swing, often joined by the street audience seduced by the rhythm.

As in previous years, this 12th edition merited the enthusiasm of those who waited impatiently each day for the participating dancers, choreographers and theatre people from Cuba and other nations.

This article would not be complete without accolades to Isabel Bustos, organizer and director of this performance art that has become an international event with astounding participation.