On ‘defections’ and ‘truncated careers’

The decision by several dancers in the National Ballet to quit the company and not return to Cuba has seized the headlines in the regional media.

Some politicize the act, although everything indicates that the causes are, above all, economic and personal.

After three decades of absence, the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC) returned to Puerto Rico with the show “The Magic of the Dance.” The performances were sold out and the company more than met all expectations.

The ensemble directed by Alicia Alonso remains one of the most important in Latin America, perhaps the best recognized in the area of classical ballet.

However, the main interest of the news agencies and other communications media was not the success of the performances but the decision of several dancers to quit the company and not return to Cuba.

It is not the first time that that happens. In recent years, several members of the BNC have left the ranks during the numerous international tours by Cuba’s premier dance company.

That is lamentable, because the quality of the team suffers, especially when it needs to replace well-trained dancers by newly graduated dancers of average talent. The renewal of the BNC is constant and sometimes goes beyond what’s convenient.

Fortunately, the National Ballet School, one of the best in the continent, is a dependable and sure quarry.

It is lamentable and, to a certain point, understandable. Putting aside the debate about the responsibilities and commitments of a creator to his or her group, nobody should assume that the personal projects of every artist coincide with the cultural project of the entire nation.

Many bemoan the money invested in the education and formation of the young dancers who leave the country, but in fact the act of teaching has nothing to do with the imposition of obligations. It is a humanistic act.

Politicizing the act, the artistic director of the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami, Pedro Pablo Peña, has stated that the dancers’ “defection” demonstrates artists’ “absolute discontent” with the Cuban regime.

In reality, “the flight” has to do with two circumstances: first, the dancers hope to improve their economic conditions. Clearly, Cuba is a poor country. In any company in the U.S. the dancers can make a lot more money than here.

Second, and no less important, the political context facilitates things a great deal.

If they had quit a Mexican, Argentine or Russian troupe, such a brouhaha would not have occurred.

Let’s take it one step at a time.

Without falling into the extremism of some who insist that ballet training in Cuba is the best in the world — something that knowledgeable balletomanes know to be inexact — the fact is that Cuban dancers are well prepared. Their technical level is considerable; they have imbibed from a deeply rooted ballet tradition.

It is normal that they find space in companies worldwide. The fact that some Cuban dancers have become international ballet stars, leading figures in renowned ensembles has concretized the legend. Cuba is now known as “the new Russia,” an allusion to that country’s extraordinary capacity to create dance professionals.

It is obvious that many Cuban dancers are looking beyond the national frontiers. That’s a universal phenomenon. Much has been written about the emigration of qualified personnel from underdeveloped countries to wealthy countries.

It would have been natural for those dancers to have gone to the U.S. Interests Section in Havana and have requested a personal visa. There is absolutely no law in Cuba that forbids that.

But the process can be very complicated. And it is very likely that many of the applicants would not have received authorization to travel.

A much more expeditious way is “defection.” It suits certain political groups in the United States. It perfectly fits the idea — repeated over and over — that Cubans “flee” from Cuba because they find it impossible to have a decent life on the island.

The fact that most dancers don’t “flee,” that for various reasons they decide to make their careers at home does not matter much. The very personal determination of some is magnified and presented as the only possible solution.

Some spokesmen say that dancers in Cuba feel that their careers are truncated. That’s debatable. It depends on the aspirations and potential of each one of them. But in Cuba dancers dance, which is what they’re supposed to do.

Naturally, when one studies ballet (or anything else, but particularly ballet, which is a very competitive profession), one hopes to reach the pinnacle. But out of 100 dancers only a few, very few, will become premier danseur or première danseuse.

And in a country with such a high professional level in that art, it is even harder to reach the top. Those dancers who are now in Miami were part of the corps de ballet. Some have particular talents but it is difficult to venture an opinion about their chances in the BNC.

Nor can we state for sure if the artistic evaluations were fair or not. In any case, they are very young.

It could be — and it’s also quite natural — that contradictions exist in the bosom of the groups, in the Cuban National Ballet, for example. It is evident that there are differences with the strategies laid out by the artistic and administrative directors. Moreover, it is healthy for them to exist.

But in Cuba there is not a single company. The spectrum of professional possibilities for a dancer (a good dancer, let it be understood) is broad. And, in the long range, the best dancers have an opportunity to sign contracts abroad. Many former members of the ensemble have done so, of course.

Maybe the BNC should revise its policy in that regard and relax some conditions. But, in any case, that will always be for the company to determine, the same way that all other companies in the world demand from their dancers compliance with the contracts.

At heart, there is a truth the size of a temple: a country like Cuba was not supposed to have a great classical ballet school and a great ballet company. That was, and remains, a privilege of the developed nations.

Other Cubans will achieve success on international stages. There is a school for that and it is clear that the national will is that it should continue to develop.

A few will fill their homeland with pride with their performances in the world’s best theaters. Many will live from ballet and for ballet, in small and medium companies. Everyone has the right to choose his own path. Lamentably, others will be lost to dance; there is an untold story in the fact that dancers left Cuba with great hopes and ended up frustrated.

But we should applaud those who have decided to stay, dancing in Cuba for Cubans. Despite of the shortages, dealing with dissatisfaction, struggling to improve things. Credit is due to those, the majority, who garner applause for their homeland in their performances abroad, who maintain the Cuban ballet school alive, despite the inevitable ups and downs.

About those dancers, some media don’t report much.

(From CubaSí)

Translation by Progreso Weekly.