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Diana Rosa Hernández, Malpaso’s stage manager, with Fernando Sáez. Photo: Christopher Duggan
Last week, we brought you to a studio in El Vedado, Havana. This week: the people inside it.
Malpaso Dance Company is the only independent dance company in Cuba. Fernando Sáez, the company’s Executive Director, built it and sustained it through 14 years of mounting difficulty — power outages, economic collapse, the energy crisis, the mass exodus of artists and citizens that has accelerated year after year.
Malpaso Dance Company, The Essence of Us. Photo: Christopher Duggan
We asked Fernando Sáez what it means to hold that ground when so many are leaving.
“Holding that ground means reaffirming, every single day, that freedom and creation are acts of will, born of existential necessity. It is also about building an oasis from scratch — an organization where young people can exercise a sense of belonging, something largely nonexistent in our society. When millions of Cubans leave, including so many artists, staying could easily be misread as resignation, but for me it is quite the opposite. It’s an active, deliberate choice to practice freedom through adversity, not in spite of it. Ultimately, holding this ground for steady collaborations — where we expand our vision, challenge clichés and assumptions, and push beyond accumulated solutions — is not only about defiance; it is about giving uncertainty and hopelessness a meaningful purpose.”
The dancers who fill that studio choose to be there. They are artists of the highest order, trained in a tradition Sáez describes as deep as the island itself:
“Cuba is a dancing island … the foundations, the deep legacy of generations, endure.”
Dancer ensemble. Photo: Christopher Duggan
Cuban-born choreographer Pedro Ruiz traveled to Havana to create The Essence of Us for this company. He worked alongside the dancers through conditions that would have stopped most rehearsals before they began. This is what he wants you to know:
“I want audiences to know that every movement they see was earned. These dancers rehearse with extraordinary discipline under circumstances most artists would never have to imagine. They bring remarkable technical excellence, but even more importantly, they bring generosity, courage, humor, and an unwavering belief that dance matters. Their presence extends far beyond the stage.”
Dancer trio. Photo: Christopher Duggan
When the circumstances grew hard — the power unreliable, communication cut, plans shifting daily — Ruiz watched how the dancers responded.
“Every rehearsal required flexibility. There were power outages. Transportation challenges, Limited communication. Daily uncertainties that most artists never have to think about. And yet every morning the dancers arrived ready to work. Their discipline and generosity reminded me that creativity doesn’t depend on comfort. Sometimes adversity reveals an even deeper commitment to art.”
Daile Carrazana, Malpaso Co-Founder, Associate Artistic Director, and dancer, described what kept them returning to the studio:
“When things are falling apart and crumbling down around us, we feel like a sense of commitment. Somehow, something happens in our heart, in our soul, that won’t let us stay away from our work and doing what we’ve always done – without water, without electricity, in the heat.”
Daile Carrazana. Photo: Christopher Duggan
Malpaso dancer Esteban Aguila was succinct:
“Where there is a will, there is a way.”
Esteban Aguila. Photo: Christopher Duggan
On September 19, at 92NY, you will meet them. They will not be able to be in the room. But they will be present in every frame, in every movement, in every second of what you see.
See The Essence of Us: A Cuban Story, a world premiere film directed by Nel Shelby, featuring Malpaso Dance Company and Pedro Ruiz, with a live performance by Ballet Hispánico New York on Sat, Sep 19 at 7 PM. Reserve your seat.
