Cuba Ballet Rehearsals
By Irina Echarry, Photos: Caridad
To be on the other side of the curtain allows you to see how things work from another angle. This morning we are able to get into a rehearsal of Carmen, a presentation staged by the Spanish Ballet of Cuba, the oldest in our country.
The lights were very low, as if director Eduardo Veitía didn’t want anyone, apart from the dancers, to discover the intrigue taking place among the stage, ropes and curtains.
Gradually —seated in a corner, so as not to interrupt— we got used to the dimness. We could perceive the fatigue of the dancers, the creativeness of the teachers and artistic directors, the hopes of success by many, as well as the regretted missteps and twisted ankles.
There was the coming and going of the technicians, including those in charge of the lighting, those other artists that you hardly see but who ensure that the audience enjoys an atmosphere filled with emotion. This even though the theater has negligible resources and is jerry-rigged with the most incredible improvisations.
Behind the curtain there is another spectacle, one less recognized and less lavish, but as important as the one that will come to light once the performances begin.
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