"Which smell would you prefer to sense? Smoked leather? The smell of spring earth after the rain? (…) Or the land breeze when it nears Cuba in the darkness: the scent of cactus flowers, mimosa, and sea vines?"
Ernest Hemingway
Isabel Bustos – along with other great masters like Gonzalo Galguera and Marianela Boán, and before them, Alicia Alonso – has shown that there exists a kind of "Cuban way" of dance: Cuba has proven capable of becoming a laboratory for significant experiences on the international stage while not neglecting that territorial identity, which in dance prioritizes the expression of feelings and passions; Cuba is the dancing island.
From the Caribbean archipelago to the Teatro Sociale in Trento, the Teatro Danza Retazos Company – which, under the guidance of Isabel Bustos, has become a leading representative of Cuba's avant-garde scene – brings with it provocative and intriguing atmospheres, contagious rhythms. Ten dancers with sinuous and sensual gestures, three choreographies for three different settings. In Destinos, we find metropolitan modernity in the frenetic acceleration of the airport and the central station; it is the adventure of the human species. Andares portrays popular everyday life, consumed among traditional rites and ceremonies. Finally, in Momentos, brief scenes dedicated to the intimacy of the individual and their wide range of emotions. Set to the music of Agustín Lara, Toques Orishas, Chico Buarque, Los Van Van, as well as Emir Kusturica and Philip Glass. Just over an hour in which Isabel Bustos manages to condense the dual Latin soul, always oscillating between poignant passion and overwhelming joy.
Isabel Bustos, born to Ecuadorian parents, was trained first at the Escuela Nacional de Artes in Havana and then at the Sorbonne in Paris. She danced for the National Companies of Cuba and Ecuador and has taught dance and choreography at the Escuela Nacional de Danza Moderna and the Faculty of Performing Arts at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Cuba. She has given lessons and masterclasses in improvisation, choreographic composition, and contemporary dance technique in Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, England, and France. In 1987, she founded the Compañía Danza Teatro Retazos, through which she has realized much of her work and of which she is still the artistic director and choreographer. Their performances have been staged across Latin America and Europe. She has also created choreographies for other professional companies, including Union Dance (England) and Repertory Dance Theater (United States). She received the National Dance Award in 2012.
www.danzateatroretazos.cu
