Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba to perform at Fábrica de Arte Cubano
Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba (LADC) will present three evenings of exclusive performances at Fábrica de Arte. All shows are scheduled to begin at 9:00 p.m. on Friday, February 7, 21, and 28, taking place in Nave 3.
The opening program will give audiences an up-close look at scenes from Habana Fénix, a production that has garnered tremendous acclaim since its debut in 2023. Recently hailed as a success at Bogotá’s impressive Teatro Colsubsidio—an arena that seats nearly 1,000 spectators—the show also inaugurated the second edition of the Ballet Beyond Borders (BBB) HAVBANA 2025 event a few weeks prior. Last year, it even won over the crowd at the 53rd Cultural Festival of Fort de France in Martinique.
The world premiere of Habana Fénix quickly became one of Cuba’s defining cultural moments in 2023, earning its creator—master, director, and choreographer Lizt Alfonso—the National Choreography Award from the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Although she developed the overall choreographic concept and technical design of the piece, several segments were also staged by dancers and instructors trained at LADC, including Yadira Hernández, Diana Fernández, Claudia Valdivia, Laura Abreu, Daira Jay, and Yohara García, alongside contributions from the company’s founder herself.
For Lizt Alfonso, this work is deeply personal. She personally curated the musical selections in collaboration with Carmen Souto, director of LADC’s music group—a partnership she describes as invaluable. In addition, she took part in the editing process, conceived each thematic choreographic sequence, carefully assembled her team and immersed them in a unified vision, and selected the technical props to be used—helmets, fans, shawls, a suitcase, among others. Moreover, she opened doors for emerging dancers, nurturing, directing, and creating along the way.
After witnessing Habana Fénix on May 5, 2023, Cuban singer-songwriter and poet Silvio Rodríguez reflected on his experience in a post on his blog, Segunda Cita: “Last night, at Teatro Martí, we witnessed the world premiere of Habana Fénix by Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba, inspired by the words of the patriot Eusebio Leal. We felt renewed and deeply grateful for a work that both describes and identifies us.”
“The language of dance can convey everything—bodies that speak in place of words; solo monologues; dance choruses that narrate both the simple and the complex facets of our lives and dreams,” Rodríguez attested, a figure renowned as one of the most notable poets of Ibero-American song and a founding member of the Nueva Trova movement.
“In Habana Fénix, the ethnic, historical, and everyday elements that define us are articulated, dissected, and merged,” he declared.
Eminent Cuban historian Eusebio Leal—whose words served as the inspirational foundation for the production—had high praise for Lizt Alfonso: “She has demonstrated, with very tangible achievements, that one can start from the solitary beginnings of a project and ultimately attain the global stature that the ballet bearing her name now enjoys.”
Leal further commended her remarkable ability to confront and overcome any challenge. “I have seen her rise like a phoenix from a handful of ruins and emerge with an entire company,” he affirmed.
Source: Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba
Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez
