Alfredo Velazquez obituary
A Cuban Son
Words: Sheron Wray
It is with a heavy heart that I write this obituary in honour of my dear dancing brother Alfredo Velazquez whose tragic demise aged 44 sent shock waves throughout the Cuban diaspora. I write this article about him not as an impartial observer but as an impassioned sister who learned much about my own creativity, heritage and kinetic spirituality through his teaching, choreography and exemplary leadership. I am grateful to Linda Petty and Guillermo Davis who helped me with gathering some critical pieces of his biographical information.(i)
Alfredo was born on October 31, 1969 in El Güirito, Baracoa, neighbouring city to Guantanamo, where he was the artistic director of Compania Danza Libre, a folkloric and contemporary dance company. As a child he was captivated by the music and dance of Cuba’s southern regions such as Kiribá Nengón; these rhythms are considered the sources of 'el Son', the music and dance form that is the precursor to the global phenomena known as Salsa. Growing up within this rich music and dance environment, aged eleven Alfredo took it upon himself, without his parents consent, to take the entrance exam to gain a place in the Guantanamo school set up by the legendary American dance pedagogue and choreographer Elfriede Mahler, the founder of Compania Danza Libre.(ii)
It was under her stewardship that I first encountered Compania Danza Libre in 1995 and at this time Alfredo was both a company dancer and the group’s leading choreographer. Soon after my first trip to Cuba the company experienced the loss of its first artistic director. Aged 81 Elfriede passed away, but she had prepared the way for Alfredo to take the lead, and lead he did. Not only did he become a decisive influence for dance in Guantanamo province, the company has become one of the strongest places for dance in Cuba.
In 1995 Alfredo came to the UK under the auspices of the national school of arts with the then director Roberto Molinas to teach at WAC Arts summer school.(iii) This was the UK’s first defining taste of Cuban dance which was a combination of Graham based contemporary dance works and the syncretic dances of the Orishas, dances that embodied Afro-Cuban spiritual practices. I recall very strongly how extraordinary these performances were. College aged dancers performed with a conviction of artists twice their age. Their mastery, commitment, versatility and agility underpinned by an African diasporan knowledge was hitherto unseen in the UK. Upon witnessing this, an opportunity arose through WAC for me to go to Cuba to work with Danza Libre.
There I witnessed the nurturing and strongly committed hand of Alfredo’s artistry as he commanded the company of 25 artists, many of whom were many years his senior. His oratorical skills were on par with his excellent choreography and brilliant pedagogy. Between the years of 1996 and 2004 I visited Cuba three times and witnessed the growth of dancers and choreographers who remained faithfully in the company or who, often in search of a better economic situation, had spread their wings and gone to other countries such as France, UK and America. After Mahler’s death, Alfredo, her natural successor, was artistic director of Danza Libre from 1998 to 2013.
The company of dancers and musicians has twenty-five members, and under Alfredo’s direction toured the UK, Cyprus, France, China and Croatia. In 2000 I had the greatest pleasure of engaging Alfredo and one of his dancers, Leandro Delgado, for my first JazzXchange presentation at the Royal Opera House. During the summer of 2000 his presence in the company offered support and creative input into the new work that was outstanding. Of his accolades in 2006 he received special mention at the International Competition of Choreography Burgos, Spain.
The death of the master Alfredo Velazquez is a great loss to the national culture, but moreover it affects individual artists at a deep cellular level. Yescica Livesey, a former company member between 1996 and 2001 who now lives in Wigan, UK testifies (originally in Spanish) on the nature of her loss. It appeared on her Facebook page on September 21, 2013. She said,
“That massive pain having to say goodbye to a friend, father and much loved teacher. Alfredo Velazquez thanks for your love and friendship, thank you for dedicating your life to bring creativity to my own. From your education and discipline I also can do all the goals I have set in my life. The only comfort I have knowing this is that this is a grave sorrow that I share with many brothers and I accept that costs a lot; Alfredo is no longer with us. I have no words to describe how I feel”.(iv)
With this said so clearly all I seek to do, as an artist filled by his vision of excellence, innovation and deep integrity, is to keep Danza Libre in my sights so that it can continue to prosper and continue show us our neo-African humanity through dance and music. The company continues on through this forced transition and is supported in this process by the provincial committee of the UNEAC (The Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba).(v) The chairman, Jorge Núñez Motes pledges to strengthen the company but with Alfredo’s demise contestation for their funds will undoubtedly manifest. Over the years I have successfully mentored students and assisted colleagues through ADAD and Feedback 33 ushering them towards visiting Cuba to undertake professional development, just as I have done. The Cuban experience foregrounded by Alfredo’s vision was my gateway to an appreciation of African and Diaspora dance as expressions of movement and spirit, where the dance and not the race of the person is apparent. Jorge Nunez will continue to be of assistance to artists wishing to visit and he can be reached at [email protected]. It is my hope that members of Danza Libre who are at large in the UK and USA - Galia Delgado, Yescica Livesey, Guillermo Davis, José Ferrera and Lenys Rousseaux can produce a performance in his honour to raise funds to help support and sustain the company from which they emerged.
Alfredo Valezquez, born October 31, 1969; died September 21, 2013
Sheron Wray is an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of California, Irvine and founder and artistic director of JazzXchange (@jazzxchange)
i) Additional information about Alfredo Velazquez can be found through the following web sources. An article by Roberto Jesús Quiñones Haces
http://www.cubanet.org/noticias/asesinan-a-destacado-coreografo-y-bailarin-de-guantanamo/
https://www.facebook.com/alfreddo.velazquezcarcasses?fref=ts
ii) Elfriede Mahler was drafted by the government in the 1960’s to head the first national school of contemporary and folkloric dance. In 1981 she later resettled in the Guantanamo area.
iii) WAC Arts is an organization that is concerned with Youth Empowerment through the Arts. Visit http://www.wacarts.co.uk
iv) Livesey testimony translated via Google Translate
v) UNEAC is a social organization for cultural and artistic purposes, II Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, with its own legal personality and full legal capacity, which includes within it, voluntary basis and following the principle of selectivity (based on his stage curriculum) to Cuban writers and artists.
