The Festival Tránsitos Habana returns to Las Carolinas and its surroundings from May 24 to June 1, 2024. Once again, dance will be activated in an interdisciplinary way from the headquarters of Danza Teatro Retazos to the community of inhabitants and visitors of the Historic Center of the City. The family is invited to participate in this new edition that aims to share creative processes with a wide and diverse audience to make contemporary dance an open, accessible and participatory experience for everyone, especially for youth and children.
The program will be enriched by artistic performances, workshops, discussions and outdoor family activities. All activities are free of charge and are inserted in synergy with the XXI World Congress of the International Association of Performing Arts for Children and Youth (ASSITEJ) and the Voices of a World Festival of Performing Arts for Children and Youth, and in collaboration with educational and recreational centers for children and youth in Old Havana.
Background
The festival Tránsitos Habana emerged in 2012 as a collaborative initiative between Memory Wax Dance from Sweden and Danza Teatro Retazos from Cuba, with the support of the Consejo de las Artes Escénicas de Cuba and the Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad.
The aim of the festival is to create a space for dialogue between artists and the local community through art, with a focus on dance as a manifestation of universal expression.
During the past editions of the festival, more than 100 local artists have participated, including El Arca, Cuerpo Fusión, La Colmenita, Las Estaciones, Gigantería, Josué Tacoronte, Liuba María Hevia, Norger Cedeño/Thais Suarez, Claudia Hilda and a variety of international groups such as Skånes Dansteater, Alma Söderberg, Dorte Olesen, Don Gnu, Sagohuset, Claire Parssons, Big Wind, Aaben Dans, and many more.
This event, in its eight editions, has generated valuable encounters between public and artists and has developed international collaborations beyond the framework of the festival. Tránsitos Habana has established itself as a solid platform for cultural exchange between international and Cuban artists, offering the community free access to culture through workshops, artistic performances, exhibitions, conferences and training with qualified experts and creators of great international recognition.
Transits Havana 2024
This edition of Tránsitos Habana, planned for 27 May to 1 June 2024, is dedicated to children and their family environment, involving artistic expression as a participatory and inclusive manifestation necessary in the formation of children. This year the Festival is inserted in synergy with the ASSITEJ World Congress, and in collaboration with educational and recreational centres of Old Havana. It aims to activate the community link as the central axis from which many of the fundamental needs of the individual and their collective environment are derived and satisfied.
The activities to be developed focus on the creative integration of the community in order to create mutual learning processes and build sustainable links that allow for the continuity and strengthening of socio-cultural work through art. Likewise, a recreational programme is proposed for the whole family in open-air spaces that are easily accessible to a wide and diverse public. All activities are free of charge in accordance with Cuba's cultural policy and with a coordinated promotional campaign with local partners.
Activities
1. Samples of local and international performances.
2. Workshops of artistic expression and creation.
3. Conversations and round tables.
4. Cultural entertainment for the whole family in urban spaces.
Location
Amargura 61 between San Ignacio and Mercaderes, Haban Vieja (one block from the Chocolate House).
Retazos Dance Theater (Garden Stage, Black Box Stage, Conference Room, Theater Hall, Amargura Street, Interior Patio).
Expected Results
- Greater accessibility and knowledge of the performing arts as a tool for expression and participation of children and youth.
-Contribution to community strengthening through culture and recreation.
-Development of long-term exchanges between cultural actors from Cuba and other countries.
-Development of more opportunities for the exchange of experiences and joint initiatives between dance professionals.
-Establishment of international networks for international and Cuban cultural actors.
About the Artists
Danza Teatro Retazos
Danza Teatro Retazos is a Contemporary Dance Company founded in Havana in 1987 by teacher and choreographer Isabel Bustos Romoleroux.
In the versatile trajectory of this Company, its shows are characterised by a rich choreographic and scenic language that moves the spectator, in a lyrical Latin American spirituality.
The company is a pioneering group in community artistic work carried out in close collaboration with the Office of the Historian of the City. Its most representative annual events are: the Festival de danza en espacio urbanos: Habana Vieja Ciudad en Movimiento, the Festival de intercambio cultural internacional Tránsitos Habana, the Festival de Video Danza DVDanza and the festival for young choreographers Impulsos.
Memory Wax
Memory Wax is a dance company that produces dance art with a strong visual expression for children, youth and adults.
Our movement language is characterised by a search for humanism and the curiosity to investigate and portray existential and philosophical questions through dance. With a touch of humour, with a love for the simple and creating magic from the everyday.
We constantly strive to create spaces and events to meet with the public and broaden their interest in modern dance. Our aim is to bring dance closer to the public and for more people to experience the creativity and possibilities of free expression.
To achieve this goal we create workshops, open-air festivals and national and international cultural exchanges.
The dance company Memory Wax is based in Malmö - Sweden and was founded in 2004 by Miguel Azcue and Johanna Jonasson.
