Cuban dancers return to island that once spurned them
1,227 views · Published 13 November 2018 · 6:52 · Indexed 23 September 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(8 Nov 2018) LEADIN: Five renowned defectors from the Cuban National Ballet have taken to the stage as part of a wide-ranging and profound reconciliation between Cuba and its millions of expatriates and exiles around the world. For many years the dancers were banned as part of a wider Cuban punishment of citizens who illegally left the country. Now they have returned to the country to perform at the 26th Havana International Ballet Festival. STORYLINE : Ballet is in Daniel Sarabia's blood. Sarabia is a ballet dancer based in Switzerland with the Maurice Bejart ballet company. His brother Rolando also left Cuba in 2005 for a career in the United States. Their father Rolando Sarabia was a famous ballet dancer in Cuba in his youth. Daniel Sarabia and four other defectors from the Cuban National Ballet have returned to the Cuban capital to perform at the 26th Havana International Ballet. ''Imagine, what would you feel if you returned to your homeland after 15 years ? To return to your father, to return my company, where I truly formed and it was everything for me. That is one, the other, I'm very grateful to the National Ballet of Cuba for the invitation after 15 years. This has been a very big festival because they have gathered great stars from all over the world as always, but most importantly we have those who left, those like who left 15 years ago or as my brother 14 years ago, or like other dancers 10, 11 years... we returned, they have reunited us all,'' says Sarabia. Cuba did away with the hated “white card” exit permit in 2013, allowing Cubans to leave freely for any country that would grant a visa. The change unleashed a wave of emigration that continues to this day, with tens of thousands leaving annually for destinations around the world. The same year, Cuba allowed citizens to retain all of their rights - from free health care to owning property - as long as they briefly returned every two years. That change unleashed an opposite wave of more than 40,000 Cubans who have “repatriated” and reclaimed the same rights as residents. At the same time, Cuba’s state-controlled cultural and sports institutions began opening up to stars who left, allowing musicians and performers who went abroad to live and perform in Cuba again, or welcoming baseball players like Dodger Yasiel Puig at official state events. The dancers' return is one of the most symbolically charged reconciliations, given the immense importance Cuba places on its prestigious state-run ballet program. San Francisco based ballet dancer Taras Domitro, who defected during a tour of Canada in 2007, is one of the highest-profile departures. Domitro welcomes the new openess and says he wants nothing to do with politics. ''I think it is the right path to take because we are talking about art, about ballet, we have nothing to do with politics, we just want to dance and it is an honor to return to my town, to my country and dance for such a demanding audience like this, knowledgeable and excellent. But I do think that it is the policy to follow that the emigrated artist can return to the island and dance. In fact, everyone I've talked to is very happy, starting with me,'' he says. The stars' return began during the warming between Cuba and the United States begun by presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro in December 2014. A year or two later, a Cuban ballet official travelled to Miami and met with a group of former national dancers, who said they wanted to return to perform in Cuba. Miguel Cabrera, a historian of the National Ballet of Cuba says its an important moment for the dancers. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1ef00aca45b99534c491f2b10e44e5be
