Cubaverdad

The Cuban dancer exodus to CanadaPublished On Fri Mar 11 2011Michael Crabb Special to the Star

On a bitter winter's day late last month, members of the much-acclaimed National Ballet of Cuba boarded a plane in Montreal to return to sunny Havana after triumphant performances of their signature work, Giselle — except for five dancers who stayed.

When word of their decision slipped out several days later it soon became headline news. Four of the dancers, including Elier Bourzac, a high-ranking principal, came to Toronto and took daily class with our own National Ballet where — Bourzac especially — they were hounded by the media.

Cuba is a communist state, ruled by an authoritarian government, but the "defection" — not a word they would use — of five Cuban dancers is hardly comparable with the June 1974 "leap to freedom" in Toronto of Soviet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov at the height of the Cold War. In today's political environment, for all the megastar's dancing chops, it would hardly ruffle a tutu. So why so much fuss over these Cubans?

In fact, the exodus of dancers from the Cuban company is not new. Like other touring groups of Cuban performers, the ballet troupe bleeds dancers almost every time it travels abroad.

When the company visited Hamilton, Ontario, in December 2007 to dance The Nutcracker, three fled to the U.S. Similar departures followed on subsequent Hamilton visits, five just last year. Some of these dancers are now in Canadian troupes — Hayna Gutierrez, Alberta Ballet; Livan Pujada, Ballet Jörgen; Asiel Rivero, National Ballet of Canada.

Most avoid trumpeting their move in fear of jeopardizing their families back home — Cuba is hardly a poster child in the human rights department — or for their own sakes should they later seek to return, as sometimes happens. Leaving Cuba without official permission does not automatically mean permanent exile, unless the offender becomes a vitriolic and vocal critic of the regime.

Rather than being treated as traitors to communism they can be turned into useful sources of foreign currency, sending money to their impoverished families and paying premium fees for annual passport renewal and compulsory Cuban visitor health insurance.

Although it's popularly assumed that any Cuban who quits his country is seeking refuge from repression and the promise of better living standards, where dancers are concerned the motives are far more complex and often primarily artistic.

The state-funded Cuban troupe, under its formidable 90-year-old director, Alicia Alonso, is a fine ballet company; no question. Its school turns out immaculately trained dancers. The company's repertoire, however, is heavily weighted toward the classics — mostly Alonso's versions — danced with bravura athleticism. But the dancers — and Cubans nowadays have more access via television and videos to what's happening outside — crave the challenge of contemporary choreography, not what passes for "contemporary" in Cuba.

As Gutierrez, 29, who danced Giselle with the Cubans more times than she can remember, explains: "If you're a dancer, choreography is your food. You can't eat spaghetti all the time. Most of the dancers are looking for new repertoire, new artistic input and new challenges."

Cuban-trained dancers are splendid technicians. They can jump and spin and balance like crazy but the consequence of a restricted repertoire is that they often lack the versatility found among dancers in other major troupes who perform everything from gilt-edged classical to cutting-edge contemporary.

So, besides feeling sympathy for these five young Cubans who've made a personally fateful decision, why should we really care? There are hundreds of thousands of would-be immigrants to Canada from countries that truly abuse their citizens and, unlike Cuba, do not provide free universal education and health care.

On the other hand, the Cuban troupe, scheduled to visit the United States this summer, does have good reason to care because, as was evident during the November 2010 International Ballet Festival of Havana, recent departures have left it short of men with the artistic maturity to match its experienced senior ballerinas. While the Cubans have plenty of young bucks in reserve, acquiring artistry takes time.

Says Hamilton-based critic Gary Smith, who's observed the company here and in Havana: "Unfortunately, many of the men they have now are decent dancers, but haven't much that is charismatic about them. That was always the hallmark of a Cuban male principal. Masculine, macho and magnificent."

As for 26-year-old Bourzac, how good is he anyway? Writing about his performances in London last year, Emma Manning, editor of the magazine Dance Europe, praised his "lovely, limpid jump", but says she does not consider him in the same league as Carlos Acosta or José Manuel Carreño, two celebrated international Cuban stars who years ago received official permission to work abroad.

In the end, the talented Bourzac and his colleagues are merely members of a thronging crowd of would-be immigrants. The fact they are dancers who chose to quit the National Ballet of Cuba however, puts them more visibly on our radar.

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/952460–the-cuban-dancer-exodus-to-canada