The visits to Cuba of the Royal Ballet and the New York Philharmonic continue the tradition of classical music leaping political barriers, writes RORY CARROLL.
THE ROYAL BALLET’S recent five-day programme in Havana was billed by the Cuban government as a landmark cultural event. Certainly, it was among the most high-profile cultural exchanges with the West since Fidel Castro’s guerrillas seized power in 1959, turning the island into a communist outpost that has outlasted the Cold War.
Tickets sold out quickly and performances were shown on big screens outside Havana’s Gran Teatro. A second flagship western cultural institution, the New York Philharmonic, is also set to perform on the island. Officials from the orchestra were in Cuba earlier this month to investigate venues and logistics after an invitation from the culture ministry.
"With these invitations the Cuban leadership is indicating a desire to expand the field of contact with musical and cultural leaders from the US and EU, which may lead to greater diplomatic contact down the road," said Dan Erikson, author of The Cuba Warsand an analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue centre.
The Obama administration granted the orchestra an exemption from the draconian US embargo, a four-decade-old policy designed to isolate the island. The US vice-president, Joe Biden, said the trip was a "wonderful project", Zubin Mehta, the orchestra's president, told the New York Times.
The visit marked a departure from the Bush-era policy of squashing cultural contacts and could presage further relaxations, said Erikson. “There is likely to be a reopening of cultural exchanges, as occurred during Bill Clinton’s presidency. Obama will certainly be more open to initiatives with ‘ping-pong’ diplomacy, and we may soon see the administration support basketball diplomacy.”
Cuba, once an international pariah, has been welcomed back into the diplomatic fold by Latin America and has been courted by Chinese, Russian and European governments and corporations, not least because of its offshore oil reserves. Since succeeding his ailing older brother last year, President Raul Castro has mooted economic reforms and cultural openings to break the Caribbean island’s sense of stagnation. Economic reforms have stalled and renewed austerity means less fruit, vegetables and electricity for an impoverished population.
But European diplomats in Havana said there was more cultural tolerance. “It’s a bit more relaxed,” said one. Despite the financial crunch, arts subsidies still support selected performers and keep opera, cinema and theatre available to almost all. The irony is that Fidel Castro has a tin ear and is one of a minority of Cubans who cannot sing or dance.
The Royal Ballet’s 150-strong team of dancers and technicians is reportedly the first ballet company to visit Havana since the Bolshoi, emissaries from the government’s Soviet ally, performed almost three decades ago. The shows, three in the Gran Teatro, two in the Teatro Karl Marx, were part of a tribute to the legendary grande dame of Cuban dance, Alicia Alonso, who at 88 remains head of the National Ballet of Cuba.
Carlos Acosta, Cuba's globetrotting ballet star, helped broker the visit and performed alongside his British colleagues. The programme included Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Wayne McGregor's Chromaand Kenneth MacMillan's Manon.
With Havana and Washington giving the green light, the New York Philharmonic said it hoped to accept Cuba’s invitation within weeks after inspecting concert halls and nailing down details. Mehta said there were provisional plans to perform on October 31st and November 1st at the 900-seat Teatro Amadeo Roldan, with the philharmonic’s incoming music director, Alan Gilbert, conducting. The institution made history last year by performing in Pyongyang, one of the most striking examples of “orchestra diplomacy”. Relations between the US and North Korea did not then improve – actually they nosedived – but the visit continued a tradition of classical music leaping political barriers.
– Guardian service