They commemorate the 65th anniversary of the National Theater of Cuba
Gabriela Camila Castellanos Mora
Havana, June 14 (ACN) National Theater of Cuba will arrive on June 16 next to its 65th anniversary of founding as an institution at the service of Cuban culture and vanguard of the most authentic values of the spirit and intellect of society.
Nereyda López Labrada, director of that emblematic center, highlighted today the willingness to always open the doors to nationals and foreigners of good art that energizes and unites.
From the José Martí Memorial, in this capital, López Labrada highlighted the community work carried out by the National Theater of Cuba to strengthen and serve as a shield for the enormous deployment of interventionist resources in order to win hearts and minds.
He recalled the words of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz when referring to culture as the first thing to save because it contained the most genuine part of the nation.
Lillitsy Hernández Oliva, Vice Minister of Culture, referred to the work of this institution as the cradle of important movements aimed at transferring art to schools and communities.
He also referred to the Jazz Plaza, Cubadisco festivals, the International Meeting of Academies for Ballet Teaching and the International Ballet Festival as renowned events that took place there, to name just a few examples.
During the gala, the 65th Anniversary recognition was presented to a group of personalities and institutions, among which Isabel Monal Rodríguez, Digna Guerra Ramírez, Lizette Vila Espina, Nisia Agüero Benítez, the Musical Recordings and Editions Company, the José Martí National Library and the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry.
Additionally, the Raúl Gómez García distinction was awarded to several workers for the results achieved during 20 and 25 years of uninterrupted work in the cultural sector.
Present were Sara Blanco and Luis Morlote Rivas, officials of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba; Alpidio Alonso Grau, Minister of Culture (Mincult); Lesbia Vent Dumois, vice president of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, and other directors of the Mincult and the National Council of the Performing Arts.
The day paid tribute to the births of Antonio Maceo y Grajales (1845-1896) and Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (1928-1967), two great men in the service of the Antillean nation.
A Theater for the nation and its people
Tomorrow the National Theater of Cuba will celebrate 65 years of intense activity in pursuit of art and its public
Talia Castro Cruz
Granma
The National Theater of Cuba is the headquarters of Contemporary Dance of Cuba, and a space where there is room for every manifestation. Photo: Yander Zamora
The National Theater of Cuba, one of the first five institutions at the service of the people founded by the Revolution, has been the scene of important national and international events, from the second half of the 20th century to the present, as well as milestones on the Cuban stage. .
There, Contemporary Dance of Cuba, the National Folkloric Ensemble, the National Symphony Orchestra and the National Choir of Cuba emerged and were consolidated, distinguished groups of Cuban culture and world reference. It was also the birthplace of the Amateur Artists Movement. The most select of Cuban and international art has been there.
After 65 years of history, this emblematic institution continues to be the home of many artists, a space in which there is room for every manifestation.
«The theater is available for any activity in favor of culture, society and the Homeland. “We are always going to continue drawing the curtains for anyone who wants to make art from here,” its current director, Nereyda López Labrada, told Granma.
Under the slogan Culture is the Homeland, the entire 2024 program has been dedicated to the Theater’s 65th anniversary. So far this year, among other activities, the Avellaneda and Covarrubias venues – with 2,056 and 850 capacities, respectively – have held a tribute to the 25th anniversary of Teatro Tuyo, the Jazz Plaza, the Cubadisco, and the tribute concert to the Italian Lucía Altieri for her 60-year career, and the final farewell to the artistic scene.
In addition to the presentation of artistic shows, political events and graduations have also been held; and the presentation of two national awards, Music and Dance. The Cuerda Viva Festival will soon be held there and later the Alicia Alonso Havana International Ballet Festival.
«We have welcomed the National Ballet of Cuba and we feel tremendous pride when there is no room for one more person in the Avellaneda room. It satisfies us, because that is the mission that the theater has: to contribute to promoting the spirituality of the people; and that, despite the needs we have today, we can, with culture, fill those spaces.
With that mission, they have taken the initiative to bring art to the communities. The Public Relations Department, the director illustrates, makes a study of the place and the public to which the activity will be directed; and artists and groups that are in some way linked to the Theater are invited.
Likewise, in coordination with the schools, they bring children and young people to the theaters, to “form in them a culture of theater that is very important to us.”
They have also developed activities in the gardens, another space that identifies and gives prestige to the facility, and in collaboration with the Casa de la Música on 31 and 2, in La Timba; and they intend to visit homes for the elderly and children without family protection.
The institution, which functions as a cultural complex, has two spaces that belong to Egrem, Café Cantante and Delirio Habanero. It is currently the headquarters of Cuban Contemporary Dance and the National Symphony Orchestra; and the company Los Juglaritos rehearses in its alternative room.
Despite the efforts, says López Labrada, it is very difficult to provide systematic maintenance to such a large and constantly active institution. «We work from Monday to Monday. The life of the National Theater is daily, continuous and systematic.
As a budgeted unit with special treatment, the money obtained from ticket sales is allocated for maintenance work, and other minor expenses.
“I believe that the greatest strength that the institution has is its work team, patriotic people, who feel committed to this social project and with the duty to continue fighting to defend Cuban culture,” he adds.
Nereyda confesses to being in love with this institution, whose reins she has held for three years, and which she considers a jewel of Cuban culture. She has set out, she says, to continue the legacy of important women who also led it, since Dr. Isabel Monal was the first to do so.
National Theater of Cuba: bastion of our culture
With a beautiful history in which, beyond a sustained luxury programming, what stands out is having achieved recognition of the artistic hierarchy of hitherto marginalized cultural expressions and being the birthplace of some of our most important groups in dance, music, singing and folklore…
Adalys Pérez Suárez
Cubahora
Six and a half decades after its foundation, the National Theater of Cuba can enjoy with healthy pride the rich history it has treasured and the contribution made to the art and culture of these times, among whose promoters it occupies a vanguard place.
With a beautiful history in which, beyond a sustained luxury programming, what stands out is having achieved recognition of the artistic hierarchy of hitherto marginalized cultural expressions and being the birthplace of some of our most important groups in dance, music, singing and folklore, this June 16 the National Theater of Cuba (TNC) celebrates its 65th anniversary.
See also: Germ and footprint of the National Theater of Cuba
Barely a few months had passed since the revolutionary triumph of January 1959 when, in the midst of such a high accumulation of urgent tasks, the then very young Dr. Isabel Monal was appointed director of the then unfinished coliseum, in which the lunetaries up to the budget to pay the workers.
Argeliers León, Ramiro Guerra, Carlos Fariñas and Fermín Borges, whom she had met shortly before, accompanied her in the initial moments, going on to direct the recently created Departments of Folklore, Contemporary Dance, Music and Dramatic Arts, respectively.
The creation of the Modern Dance Ensemble of the National Theater (Contemporary Dance of Cuba); the carrying out of research that shortly after led to the constitution of the National Folkloric Ensemble; the founding of the Center for Folklore Studies and the José Antonio Ramos Dramaturgy Seminar; as well as the Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of the National Theater of Cuba, later converted into the National Symphony Orchestra and the National Choir of Cuba, were among the first contributions of this institution.
See also: Theater, always Cuban
Furthermore, the TNC was also among the initiators of the Amateur Artists Movement, based on the work of the Department of Theater Extension, in charge of expanding the teaching of modern dance and theater techniques throughout several provinces.
Likewise, he made contributions to the development of graphic design in the country, with a team headed by Pedro de Oraá; while its gardens and interiors were providing spaces for the creativity of renowned artists such as René Portocarrero, Rita Longa, Raúl Martínez and Sandú Darié, among others.
In an interview she gave to the Cubarte Portal on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the TNC, Isabel Monal expressed:
“The National Theater and later the Amateur Movement was a very creative work. I feel grateful – I don’t know to what celestial entelechy, I am an atheist – to have been able to help do so many things, which can only be understood because they were Cuban creators who had spent years with all that in their heads, without anyone supporting them. ”.
Six and a half decades after its foundation, the National Theater of Cuba can enjoy with healthy pride the rich history it has treasured and the contribution made to the art and culture of these times, among whose promoters it occupies a vanguard place.
