One of the most sought-after Cuban dance troupes, Havana-based Malpaso Dance Company, has returned to The Joyce Theater. This isn’t their first time performing at the prestigious venue—Malpaso is an associate company of Joyce Theater Productions and has been co-commissioning original works with them from big-time international choreographers and emerging Cuban artists for a decade.
Malpaso was founded in 2012 by associate artistic Director Daile Carrazana, resident choreographer and artistic director Osnel Delgado and executive director Fernando Sáez. Carrazana and Delgado are former members of the world-famous Danza Contemporánea de Cuba and have carried that mix of Afro-Caribbean dance styles, contemporary ballet and modern theater into their company of eleven dancers. But Malpaso is dedicated to collaboration instead of honing one particular aesthetic, and their newest season at The Joyce—with three premieres and an audience favorite, all by different choreographers—is a testament to that.
Ara
First on the program is Ara (2024), the latest work from the Company’s resident choreographer Delgado. It is a duet performed by Delgado with Ballet Nacional de Cuba’s principal dancer, Grettel Morejón.
It opens with a couple (it is clear from the very first moment that the beings on stage are romantically attached) standing in a warm, hazy light. Delgado is holding Morejón gently to him, making small gestures with his hand against her belly. She steps away, reaches down to cup water—or something else very delicate—in her hands, and carries it across the stage. There are moments like this throughout that feel literal (hand-holding, pausing to look at each other, laying that delicate thing down between them at the end), but most of the movement is, thankfully, less gestural and more abstract.
Delgado smartly highlights Morejón’s talent by letting her be herself—a lovely ballerina. His style, though graceful, is not balletic. It is rooted in contemporary dance, and while the combination mostly works, his occasional acrobatic moves feel out of place here. Because they are both exquisite dancers, the most interesting sections include phrases of unison that meld their dance languages. Seeing how their two bodies translate the choreography differently is a real treat. They don’t try to become each other. They remain their glorious selves.
It can be difficult to choreograph a piece you are performing in, especially a duet–to be both on the outside looking in while on the inside looking out–so perhaps this is why Ara falls a bit flat. The live music, though, is anything but dull. Brothers Aldo López-Gavilán (a pianist based in Cuba) and Ilmar Gavilán (a violinist based in the United States) reunite to perform one of López-Gavilán’s jazzy compositions. At times, the dance is more of an accompaniment to the music rather than the other way around, but that doesn’t make the experience less enjoyable.
Retrato de Familia (Family Portrait)
Next on the program is Company member Esteban Aguilar’s Retrato de Familia (Family Portrait) (2024), accompanied by live music from the Havana-based, all-female Alma String Quartet along with López-Gavilán on piano.
At the beginning, a woman in white (Laura Rodríguez) walks backward onto the stage carrying someone in her arms. Are they alive? Are they dead? We aren’t sure, and it doesn’t matter. The roles keep changing. A dancer crawls lizard-like onto the stage. A group walks on all fours, then pauses, their bodies shivering and their heads banging the air. Rodriguez spins slowly at the back while a group creeps sideways across the stage, making clicking noises reminiscent of crickets. These vocalizations are rare but interesting. At another point, the cast coughs in unison as if urgently clearing their throats. There are also several percussive moments—stomping, hands slapping the ground, bodies slapping the ground.
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The images throughout are haunting, familial and familiar in a dream-like way. At the end, the ensemble comes together to pose for a family portrait. They all smile, cover their mouths and someone falls out of the frame. This time, we are pretty sure they are dead, though it still doesn’t matter. Aguilar’s piece is fresh and unexpected, and I hope to see more of his work in the future.
Vertigo
The final U.S. premiere on the program, Vertigo (2023), is by the Havana-based Spanish choreographer Susana Pous.
After what we assume is just a pleasant musical interlude performed by the Alma String Quartet, a dancer (Carrazana) crosses in front of the audience while the house lights are still on. She walks over to the musicians and watches them, then steps onto the stage, and the dance “begins.” Because of this, we feel unsteady from the start–a clever decision for a piece about unsteadiness. The dancers onstage hold crossed wires with lanterns at the top. Carrazana steps carefully through them like a tightrope walker but keeps falling, and they catch her one by one. The line of her body remains straight, bringing to mind a protractor and measured angles. She falls from 45 degrees to 30 degrees. One dancer catches her inches from the ground, cradling the back of her head, then swaying her.
There are many impressive group lifts throughout. The six dancers work together to pull each other up and throw each other around, tilting and dropping at the last possible moment. Later, a dancer spins incredibly quickly on her feet like a top. Vertigo is an artistic manifestation of the feeling for which it’s named. It is visually stimulating, achieves what it aims to do, and will undoubtedly become a favorite in the Company’s repertory.
Indomitable Waltz
The program concludes with one of Malpaso’s most famous works: Indomitable Waltz (2016) by Canadian choreographer Aszure Barton, performed for the first time in the U.S. with live music (by Alma String Quartet with López-Gavilán on piano).
It is easy to see why this piece is so popular. As the dancers, clad in tight black shorts and tank tops, step out of the darkness one by one, they transform. They have shed their humanness, their gender and their limitations and exist only as boundless bodies. The style accentuates the joints with bent knees, inverted elbows and cocked hips. They become animals—flapping, perching, pruning. The movements are the least anthropomorphic of the evening and the most affecting. The dancers’ abilities are best displayed here, as are those of the musicians. Everyone is at their best as Alexander Balanescu’s stunning composition soars through the space.
The movement is utterly unique. If you were to capture any moment of the dance on camera, almost no shapes would be ones you’ve seen before. This speaks to Barton’s choreography but also to the way it inhabits the dancers’ bodies. There’s something to be said about a piece living and growing in a company over many years.
Will the other pieces on the program similarly thrive with this company in the years ahead? Only time will tell. For now, come for the chance to hear beautiful live music, to witness the dancers’ physical prowess and for the slam-dunk that is Indomitable Waltz.
Malpaso Dance Company is at The Joyce Theater in New York City through January 26.
