Category

Cuba

Mar 12
Love8

This is where I am—3/9 part 1

By Cuba
Usually on nights before a big show I can hardly sleep. All of the parts I could forget or mess up invade my mind so I can’t shut it off. But strangley since I have been in Havana, I have been able to sleep peacefully. Maybe it’s the calm breeze that sweeps into our room throughout the night? Or the fact that my reality already feels dreamlike? Either way, I had a great night of sleep and woke up feeling calm and ready to take on this big show this evening. I visualized everything I will have to do tonight as “The Lady in White” from the overture through bows. I know what I have to do tonight and I am ready to have the opportunity to make it happen. Wish me and the other Verbers performing tonight luck!🙏
P.s. Here are some pics from a morning walk I took:
Mar 10
Love6

Opening Night—3/8

By Cuba
Well that just happened! My cast didn’t even dance tonight but I am still super excited because of how smoothly the production went given all of the last minute changes and variables. How cool is it to be a part of a company that can come together and pull something this massive off in such turbulent conditions? I work with a bunch of problem solvers👌Great dancing Cleveland Havana Ballet!
I also had a really nice day leading up to the show. It started with the consistently delicious made-to-order breakfast prepared by Yunia, the other “Casa Particular” hostess where the majority of the company is staying. Guayaba, papaya, and pineapple, oh my! Throw in some freshly squeezed watermelon juice, a banana mango smoothie, yogurt, eggs, sautéed veggies and Cuban coffee and I am in heaven every morning by 9am🙌
 Since my cast didn’t perform today, I decided to use the free time to take a long walk. Adventuring in new places is absolutely one of my favorite things☺ And adventure I did! I ended up seeing monuments, walking along the Malecón (one of Cuba’s most famous walls that lines the ocean along its northern coast), going with Lieneke to an authentic Cigar house accompanied by a kind neighbor of our Casa Particular, and visiting El Museo del Revolución. I feel much better acquainted with Cuban culture after learning about historical events from their perspective. What persevering and spirited people!
Today also happened to be “La Día de la Mujer” or “Women’s Day”. I saw women with flowers and sweet treats all over Havana and received lots of felicitaciones and flowers of my own🌸 I loved that women are treated with such respect here (and according to exhibits I saw in the Museum of the Revolution, Cuba has a strong history of equality among the sexes)!
And now it’s time for me to try to get some rest before my cast performs tomorrow. I can hardly wait!
💕Kate
Mar 10
Love7

Getting Principaled—3/7

By Cuba
In this alternate Cuban universe I have to be a principal dancer. That’s right, folks, lil ol’ Kate Webb who is a normal 24 year old living in a standard apartment in mid-sized Cleveland Ohio has to lead a 3 minute bow in front of thousands of people on the same stage that ballet legends like Nureyev, Baryshnikov, and Alonso herself have graced. ‘Scuse my language, buttttt WTF?
When Laura Alonso told me I would have to get my makeup done by the theater’s makeup master on the night that my cast performed, I couldn’t help but scoff. Who the heck am I to have a makeup master do my face? Who the heck am I to be called a “principal”, especially with all of these incredibly talented Cuban dancers surrounding me? Who the heck am I to even have the opportunity to come to Cuba in the first place?
The answer is hard to me to swallow, but the only answer can be: I am Kate Webb, a principal dancer performing at the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso with some dang good stage makeup. Period. Still very humble, yet prepared to own the title that somehow ended up in my possession.
So, with this new mindset I took on my dress rehearsal today. Of course there were plenty of things that I wish could have gone better (particularly one balance that I am supposed to hold for over 12 seconds on pointe…I think I might have gotten a solid 2.5😒) but I was able to look out into the house today without losing my breath from fear. It fact, at times I felt my body filling up with an overwhelmingly intimate and powerful energy—that rare raw buzz that comes from becoming vulnerable in front of countless strangers and trusting that they, and your fellow performers, will stay with you. And while I learned a lot from little missteps here and there, I also did a few specific things well (and felt incredibly alive during the process). So I am giving myself credit for those successes too✔
That being said, I was I was happy that we wen’t to a Cuban buffet tonight so I could fully immerse my newly anointed principal Cuban ballerina self with lots of delicious Cuban food. Still haven’t gotten tired of the stewed black beans yet. Soooo yummy!😋
Adiós!
Kate
Mar 10
Love7

No time to think—3/6

By Cuba
*PSA I am writing this blog on very limited time and no wifi or word processor access, so I’m sorry that this blog is essentially unedited! If anyone is looking for an editing position (I will pay you in Cuban Cigars) let me know😉*
I walked into the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso today and actually lost my breath.
Holy shoot. Like the holiest of shoots. The Alicia Alonso is the most brilliant theater I have ever seen, much less danced on. And I have to do a leading role for a part I just learned 2 weeks ago, then had to relearn in 2 days, on that stage this coming Friday (next to incredible Cuban dancers)! 🤭 If it weren’t for the fact that I hardly have any time to think, I would probably be in complete panic mode. Luckily, our schedule makes it so that we are always doing something (often multiple things at once) without any certainty of what is coming next, so it keeps us in the present moment. Ommmmmmmm🙏
My cast didn’t have the chance to do their costume tech run in the theater today, so after studio rehearsal at the ProDanza studios this morning I did a lot of learning through observing in the theater. Who knew how many moving parts could be in one show? And on top of that, the amount of variables that can affect all of those moving parts? I was nervous simply from watching. Several moments turned out to be extremely chaotic, yes, but one of the main draws I have to my day job is the constant excitement that comes with it. There is never a dull day as a dancer!
Slight subject change—It’s also surreal how authentically Cuban this experience has been. Between getting the majority of my corrections in Spanish, seeing the marquee signs for the majestic Alicia Alonso theater handwritten with marker (it’s harder to come by printer ink here), watching dressers haul around massive wooden costume trunks instead of plastic dress bags, and riding the perpetually-on-the-verge-of-breaking-down school bus to the beat of Cuban music around Havana (with the ProDanza dancers showing off their best dance party moves), I can’t help feeling like I have stepped onto a movie set. The lack of Americanization of Cuba is vastly more noticeable than any other country I have ever traveled to. It’s actually quite refreshing, but also hard to fully comprehend. Right now, I find it to be an invigorating energy for me.
…More thoughts to be continued mañana because, like the title suggests, I really have no time to think and need to get some sleep before another 3 runs of “Yarini” in the theater tomorrow!
Ciao!
🙂 Kate
P.S. Even though “ciao” is Italian, Cubans use it frequently and I happen to think it’s a cute way to say goodbye. So ciao ciao ciao!👋
Mar 06
Love2

Verb Ballets lands in Cuba

By Cuba, News

Verb Ballets lands in Cuba, begins launch of Cleveland Havana Ballet

By Zachary Lewis, The Plain Dealer , March 6, 2018

”"I still can't believe it's really happening,"
said Verb dancer Kate Webb, at a rehearsal last week. "It means we're a part of history, something bigger than ourselves."

Kate WebbVerb dancer

Photo Bill Naiman

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A project bringing together dancers from Cleveland and Cuba is now actively in motion.

On Saturday, members of Cleveland’s Verb Ballets departed for Havana, where they will spend time soaking up the culture and performing with Cuba’s ProDanza under the name Cleveland Havana Ballet.

“I still can’t believe it’s really happening,” said Verb dancer Kate Webb, at a rehearsal last week. “It means we’re a part of history, something bigger than ourselves.”

The centerpiece of the collaboration, announced in December, is “Yarini,” a new ballet by Ivan Alonso, grandson of Alicia Alonso, founder of the world-renowned Ballet Nacional de Cuba.

Continue Reading...
Mar 06
Love0

Baila Juntos

By Performances, Cuba

Baila Juntos

March 16-18, 2018

The National Theatre

Presented as The Cleveland Havana Ballet, the Verb Ballets and ProDanza will perform shared repertory program highlighting the unique styles of American and Cuban ballet at The National Theatre in Havana, Cuba. Baila juntos or Dance together is the symbolic of this groundbreaking international collaboration.  Cuban ballet has been at the pinnacle of international dance for years and Cuba continues to produce some of the ballet world’s best dancers. Bringing Verb Ballets to Cuba for the first time is an enormous cultural exchange and will integrate American dancers to the very best of Cuba’s ballet scene. Verb Ballets will showcase works by American choreographers to highlight the unique melt of classical technic with modern movement.

SHOW DETAILS

March 16-18, 2018

THEATRE

National Theatre of Cuba,
Paseo y 39
Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana, Cuba

This international collaboration is support by

ProDanza and Verb Ballets will join forces in an international collaboration to form the Cleveland Havana Ballet. Starring the dancers of Verb Ballets of the United States led by Dr. Margaret Carlson, and Havana’s ProDanza under the direction Laura Alonso, this cultural exchange is a groundbreaking partnership supported through the Cleveland Foundation’s Creative Fusion initiative. This significant collaboration will encompass performances in Cuba by the combined companies in March 2018. Bringing Verb Ballets to Cuba for the first time is an enormous cultural exchange and will integrate American dancers to the very best of Cuba’s ballet scene.

Verb Ballets

Verb Ballets is a contemporary ballet company that presents dynamic programming through bold artistry, unique styles and technical excellence that captivates a broad audience. For the past 30 years the company has fostered dance appreciation and nurtured wellness through movement in outreach and education programs. Verb Ballets has also been named one of Five Great Tiny Troupes in America by Dance Magazine and was one of the 25 dance companies in America to watch.

ProDanza

ProDanza Center in Havana, Cuba was founded by world renown dancer and teacher, Laura Alonso. The technique of the prestigious Cuban school of ballet is an offshoot of the specialized teaching department of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. The company founded in 1995, presented annually more than one hundred functions in three theaters. The company has traveled to Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Guadeloupe and Jamaica. The full repertoire of ballets the company includes: The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Don Quixote, The Corsair, The Swan Lake, La Bayadere, La Fille Mal Gardee, La Sylphide, The Three Musketeers, Dracula, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges Yarini, as well as programs Pas de deux concerts with classical and original works by contemporary choreographers.

Mar 06
Love0

Yarini

By Performances, Cuba
 

Yarini

March 8-11, 2018 Havana, Cuba

Yarini

March 8-11, 2018

Alicia Alonso Grande Theatre

Presented as The Cleveland Havana Ballet, the Verb Ballets and ProDanza will perform the full length classical ballet, Yarini running March 8-11, 2018 in Alicia Alonso Grand Theater in Havana. The ballet is by international dancer and choreographer, Iván Alonso, the son of Laura Alonso. Yarini is based on a historical hero who reached mythical proportions within popular Cuban culture and imagination. The ballet centers around Alberto Yarini, known as the Prince of Old Havana, Louis Lotot, Yarini’s notorious rival, and the women they loved. The ballet is set in Havana during the Cuban War of Independence against Spain; during Yarini’s rise to power that led to his inevitable tragic death in 1910. The battle highlights passion, power and struggles for freedoms that are the essence of the Cuban spirit.

SHOW DETAILS

March 8-11, 2018

THEATRE

The Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso
458 Paseo de Martí
La Habana 10600, Cuba

PROGRAM

I ACT (1st scene) The Lady of the Veil, in search of Yarini, arrives at San Isidro, a zone of tolerance of the time, where prostitution was practiced. House # 60 was administered by Yarini, where the Lady of the Veil decides to wait for it. La Petite Berthe, the French prostitute with the greatest clientele, was envied by the others and Letot’s favorite, head of the French Cholos (Apaches), adversaries of the Cuban Chulos (Guayabitos). As every year Letot goes to Paris to renew his merchandise, while the Lady of the Veil causes the union of Yarini and Berthe increasing more the hatred between Guayabitos and Apaches.

I ACT (2nd scene) In the Cosmopolitan restaurant, where high society used to be, Yarini’s antiracial character manifests itself by beating the American business representative who mocked a hero of our independence struggles.

II ACT (1st scene) In the square, near the port of Havana, Yarini waits for Letot to tell him that Berthe has a new owner, Letot faithful to his saying – live for women and not die for them – shows him his new acquisition, Yarini in a show of machismo unleashes the wrath of the Apaches who pressure Letot to plan his death.

II ACT (2nd scene) Night falls and the hard day begins for women who exchange pleasure for money, but the Petite Berthe does not feel well and when she says goodbye to Yarini, she has the impression that something bad is going to happen. The Apaches arrived to make their plan, everything seemed perfect but Letot could never imagine that killing the man, created a Myth.

This international collaboration is support by

ProDanza and Verb Ballets will join forces in an international collaboration to form the Cleveland Havana Ballet. Starring the dancers of Verb Ballets of the United States led by Dr. Margaret Carlson, and Havana’s ProDanza under the direction Laura Alonso, this cultural exchange is a groundbreaking partnership supported through the Cleveland Foundation’s Creative Fusion initiative. This significant collaboration will encompass performances in Cuba by the combined companies in March 2018. Bringing Verb Ballets to Cuba for the first time is an enormous cultural exchange and will integrate American dancers to the very best of Cuba’s ballet scene.

Choreographer

Iván Alonso

He began his studies in Classical Dance in 1967 at the National School of Art (ENA), where he graduated in 1975 as a teacher dancer. From there he joined the National Ballet of Cuba reaching the soloist level. He was part of the Young Guard of which he is founder. In 1998 he was awarded the main teaching category of Adjunct Assistant of the Higher Institute of Art. He was appointed choreographer by the Evaluation Committee whose president is Alicia Alonso. He currently serves as Ballet Master and Choreographer of ProDanza the Center for the Promotion of Dance.

Mar 05
Love5

Lunes—3/5

By Cuba

We are getting down and dirty in our pointe shoes. Like my pointe shoes are literally covered in dirt. The Prodanza studios where we have been rehearsing are breathtaking because they all center around an open courtyard. However, that life giving contact with the outdoors consequently gives lots of dirt and dust that end up on the studio floor and on our shoes when we run from studio to studio. My ballet slippers have gotten a huge hole just from the two days we’ve been here and my pointe shoes are looking less pink and more brown all the time. But hey, at least we are getting good work done!

Like I said, the process of putting Yarini together became exponentially more difficult when we realized that the two companies had learned the ballet off of two different DVD versions. After we got home from dinner last night, all of us Verbers spent about 2 hours last night studying the new DVD. We made a lot of progress today, but we still have a lot of work to do before opening night Thursday. And did I mention that with our 4 shows, we have 4 different casts? My brain has been completely jam packed with relearning choreography for all of the different sections I am in…kinda feels like I have scrambled eggs up there (which I learned how to say in Spanish today “revuelto”!).

As intense as this whole rehearsal process is, Lexy and I were reflecting on how special it is to be able to do a full-length ballet. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be performing a principle part in a full length ballet with a Cuban company. Little girl bun head Kate is still in disbelief. Now I really want to be able to do it justice, so now after a dinner break it’s back to more studying for me!

🙂 Kate

Mar 04
Love5

Sunday Funday—3/4

By Cuba

My head is in a whirlwind right now. Here is a list of some of my thoughts in no particular order:

  1. Cuban dancers are objectively amazing. I wish I had known about their technique as a young dancer. It’s so strong and consistent! It is different in a sense that every combination is pretty short and has one emphasized step (so I lose out of my favorite longer dancey waltz combos) but it is great for drilling challenging steps.
  2. I can never complain about a poor dance floor again.
  3. Somehow the characteristic of dilapidation can add beauty (something that Americans, who are always into “new is better”, don’t consider as often).
  4. Americans are obsessed with schedules, so I need to reorient myself and be ready for anything at any time. Se la vie! It does help me to be honed in on the present moment.
  5. Because Verb learned the choreography off of a DVD of an old performance and ProDanza learned the choreography off of a more recent performance, we essentially have to relearn everything that we rehearsed in the past two weeks by our first show this coming Thursday. Me and several other company members are feeling pretty nervous and are having a viewing party of the new DVD after dinner tonight (for those who don’t know, dancers also do lots of homework!). Did I mention se la vie? 🙏
  6. Cuban Spanish is really fun to speak and listen to because it drops the endings of most words and squishes them together. My rusty Spanish is getting an intense workout, but has actually been very useful throughout the trip so far—I even had to help translate a rehearsal today. Having to take ballet class in a second language is especially engaging because you have to focus on every word the teacher utters to stay in the know. Talk about a complete mental and physical workout!
  7. I am incredibly lucky to dance in a company filled with such supportive people. Every Verb dancer truly goes out of their way to hep each other out. I forget how rare that is in the dance world.
  8. My toes feel great right now that freed from pointe shoes
  9. I must live in a sunnier climate after my dance career. A sunny day just makes me so happy! The ProDanza studios are either set up outside or are built with grand open windows. The breeze adds a positive life force all throughout the rehearsal day!
  10. Current day Cubans have a lot of cuisine options and treat their vegetarians well. Don’t listen to the stereotypes of flavorless food! I am eating like a veggie queen.👸

🙂 Kate

Mar 03
Love2

Halfway to Havana—3/3 midday

By Cuba

Friends!

Oh my goodness. It’s finally setting in. We are 1 stop away from Cuba! Ahhh! The company has successfully made it to Houston with minimal problems😝 Thanks to magic conjured by our fearless leader (AKA Associate Director Richard Dickinson, MFA) we managed to make our first flight despite super long lines caused by the recent Cleveland snowstorm. We all have had so much going on learning “Yarini”, preparing our 7 repertory pieces and wrapping up teaching responsibilities that we’ve hardly had mental space to soak it all in. So here it goes:

We are having the opportunity of a lifetime to go to a cultural gem of country and do what we love in collaboration with amazingly talented artists!!! How freaking lucky are we?! Whew!!! Time to strap those grateful goggles on tight and soak it all in🤗

Like I said, I am not sure how accountable the WiFi situation will be once we land in Cuba, so have patience and know that I will be in touch soon. Until then, I will paint the scene before me at the Houston-Intercontinental Airport:

-Omar Humphrey being “extra” and charming everyone in his swanky sunglasses

-Laura Alonso managing her company affairs in multiple languages accompanied by Swedish Fish

-Lots of dancers sporting Starbucks (sponsorship? Anyone?🙏)

-Richard Dickinson looking fly in a full suit and Nike kicks

-Lexy Lattimore dutifully going over Bolero choreography with Nata Santiago close by

-Antonio Morillo and Kelly Korfhage being adorable and discussing UNO

-Lieneke Matte reading about orphans enduring WWII

-Christina and Michael enthusiastically contemplating purchasing a milkshake

-A whole group of incredible people that I am honored and genuinely pumped to travel with👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Talk to you soon!

Kate

Omar and Lexy <3

Warming up in Laura Alonso’s fur

4am limousine rides