Search Results (4)

Throughout the XX century, the hard-fought battle of blacks and dark-skinned dancers to perform the classical repertoire on professional stages (including “white ballets”) was a part of the struggle for citizens’ equality. Cuba is a clear example of creating a national ballet school in a country where the fight for social equality was closely connected with overcoming racial segregation. But some researchers have noted that the majority of dancers in the Ballet Nacional de Cuba belong to the Caucasoid phenotype, which means they do not represent the Cuban nation which includes a large variety of phenotypes. We pose the question in what way is the history of Cuban ballet and the artistic experience of its founders connected with the struggle of blacks to have professional dancing careers, and is there actually racial discrimination in Cuban ballet? We demonstrate that the Alonso triumvirate was a good indicator of the problem: Alicia and Fernando as performers, and Alberto Alonso as a choreographer, participated in a cultural movement directed at the rebirth of Cuban identity, they performed African American dances, and they worked together with George Balanchine, who adapted black dance and invited black dancers into his company. However, due to various reasons and circumstances, Alicia Alonso, first for herself and then for the Nacional ballet school and theatre, took a different path, that of entering, on equal footing, the domain of classical ballet, of European art in its essence, in which the white aesthetic is inherent. We would like to demonstrate that the main explanation of the paradox of Cuban ballet became the aesthetic dictatorship of the classics, the dictatorship within “white ballet” which is accepted voluntarily. Classical ballet is an art of subordination to rules and images that are thought of as absolute pinnacles. Full article

The paper discusses how a Geographic Information System (GIS) contributes to set up a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for the sustainable preservation of a 20th-century architectural masterpiece. The National Art Schools of Cuba are presented as a case study. The complex consists of five iconic buildings built in the early 1960s within a 56-hectare city-park. Since they are today underused and in a poor state of conservation, a research project among Italy, Cuba, and the US addressed a CMP’s preparation between 2018 and 2020. A GIS was prepared to collect and manage the whole data, based on graphic support consistent with both the site’s features and the research’s goal, to set up a comprehensive Conservation Management Plan. By illustrating this experience’s pros and cons, the paper discusses how GIS may contribute to the conservation and sustainable management of such extensive 20th-century architectural complexes. Full article

This paper illustrates the contribution that on-site survey and graphical documentation offer to the structural comprehension of 20th century architectural and civil engineering heritage and, therefore, to its sustainable conservation. The research herein presented has identified the true structural system of Havana’s National Art Schools, an internationally well-known architectural masterpiece that was recently investigated within the drafting of a comprehensive conservation management plan. This iconic complex was built right after the Castro’s revolution and was meant to embody Cuba’s newfound freedom. To this end, the complex was supposed to be built using Catalan vaulting, a technique loaded with significance due to its provenance, affordability, and flexibility. While most of the literature, the architectural features, and the very designers assert that no concrete nor steel were employed during construction, recent studies suggested that a reinforced concrete core might be hidden behind the masonry-like appearance of the five buildings. The structural analysis performed in order to draft a conservation and management plan for the school site thus became a hermeneutic opportunity to address this topic. Combining direct observation, documentary research, and nondestructive analyses (infrared thermography and magnetometer testing), it was possible to finally redefine the structural nature of these notorious architectures, which are indeed mostly made of reinforced concrete. Full article

This work illustrates the contribution of flood risk assessment and adaptation to set up a conservation management plan for a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture. Case study is the iconic complex, internationally known as the National Art Schools of Cuba. It consists of five buildings built in the early 1960s within a park of Habana next to the Caribbean Sea. The path of the river (Rio Quibù) crossing the estate was modified to fit the landscape design. The complex has then been exposed to the risk of flooding. The School of Ballet, located in a narrow meander of the river, slightly upstream of a bridge and partially obstructing the flow, is particularly subject to frequent flash floods from the Rio Quibù, and it needs urgent restoration. Keeping ISA Modern is a project aimed at preserving the Schools complex. Based upon in situ surveys on the Rio Quibù and local area measurements during 2019, numerical modelling, and previous work by the Cuban National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, we pursued a flood risk analysis for the area, and a preliminary analysis of available risk reduction strategies. Using HEC-RAS 2D software for hydraulic modelling, we evaluated the flooded area and the hydraulic conditions (flow depth, velocity) for floods with given return periods. Our results show that SB is a building most subject to flooding, with high levels of risk. Defense strategies as designed by Cuban authorities may include a (new) wall around the School of Ballet and widening of the river channel, with high impact and cost, although not definitive. Temporary, light, permanent, and low cost/impact flood proofing structures may be used with similar effectiveness. We demonstrate that relatively little expensive hydraulic investigation may aid flood modelling and risk assessment in support of conservation projects for historically valuable sites. This may support brainstorming and the selection of (low to high cost) adaptation and risk reduction measures in the coastal areas of Cuba in response to ever increasing extreme storms and sea level rise controlling flood dynamics under transient climate change. Full article