Arianne Lafita and Vittorio Galloro trained at the Cuban School of Ballet triumph around the world

May 26, 2021

Regarding the beginnings in dance, the training received in the Caribbean nation and subsequent artistic growth, this remote interview with these artists residing in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia revolved around, where they share life at home and on stage, with teaching.

In our career as an independent couple, for the past 10 years, Arianne pointed out, 'we have always been recognized for our technique, because Cuban technique identifies you as a language, a brand, a seal'.

'When any one of us steps onto any of the most prestigious international stages, we are immediately identified as Cuban because of the quality, beauty and wonderful technique, different from that of other schools in the world', added Vittorio.

Arianne's story began in Cárdenas, a coastal city in the province of Matanzas, where she was born and took her first steps in artistic gymnastics before being seduced by the magic of classical dance at the age of seven.

After five years of study at the Escuela Vocacional de Arte Alfonso Pérez Isaac, in Matanzas, Arianne traveled to Havana where she enrolled in the Escuela Nacional de Ballet Fernando Alonso. There she graduated as a dancer and teacher and joined the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, before moving to the Compañía de Ballet Laura Alonso.

My fundamental studies, the foundation of my artistic career, I am grateful to the Escuela Cubana de Ballet and its excellent teachers, she noted.

The Escuela Cubana de Ballet, she said, is one of the best at the international level, with a very great reputation, an impressive prestige being Cuba such a small island, Arianne pointed out, who asserted that in every prestigious company in the world there is always some dancer trained there.

Vittorio was born in Naples where he ventured into football from a very early age with the intention of following in the footsteps of Diego Armando Maradona, although at age 10 he began to discover his fulfillment in ballet in a region of Italy where there were not many males inclined toward that artistic manifestation.

It was so rare that males who liked ballet were accepted for free. Neapolitan, from Southern Italy, you can imagine how much discrimination there was for male dancers, because everyone wanted to be a football player, he expressed.

At age 12 he entered the Teatro San Carlo academy and at age 18 he began to feel that something was missing, until at an edition of the Concorso e Festival Vignale Danza, in the city of Turin, he met Cuban dancers and confesses that when he saw them perform he was convinced that this was how he wanted to do it.

With that motivation he carried out the procedures to study in Cuba and once his application was approved he traveled to Havana and entered the third year of upper level at the Escuela Nacional de Arte, to experience 'the fulfillment of my life's dream' because from there 'I left as a dancer, teacher, artist and a better person'.

When explaining why he chose Cuba for his artistic training, Vittorio emphasized that in the Escuela Cubana de Ballet he saw, especially in the men, a strong masculinity on stage, 'an immense mastery in the pas de deux, the contact with the woman'.

Furthermore, he noted, a crystalline technique, virtuoso, the expression on stage and training much healthier compared to other techniques that often destroy dancers.

Once their studies were completed, at different times, each one embarked on their professional career about which Arianne showed herself 'very fortunate and very happy', with pleasant memories of her time in the Compañía Laura Alonso where she developed as a prima ballerina.

There I had wonderful moments working with teacher Laura and maestro Fernando Alonso who rest in peace, noted the young dancer who in 2009 traveled to Spain where she worked for two years with the Víctor Ullate Ballet Comunidad de Madrid, a company with which she performed in many countries.

In 2011 she met Vittorio, who invited her to dance together at a gala in tribute to Rudolf Nureyev, in Milan.

That was the first time we met because we had not crossed paths in Cuba due to the age difference, Vittorio recounted, who after finishing his studies in Havana performed for two years in Great Britain, the Netherlands, the United States, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The first presentation as a duo was the starting point for a new stage in the lives of Arianne and Vittorio who, driven by love and numerous invitations for galas and festivals around the world, decided to move forward as a couple, in life and in art.

We lived every moment to the fullest giving our best on every stage, even in small theaters and plazas. The debut at the Bucharest Opera with the complete Don Quixote, in the Cuban version, was a nice experience, perhaps because it was one of the first operas, Arianne added.

When we received that invitation we were not known as we are now, Vittorio noted, because it was a challenge they had to overcome at an international seven-day festival in which each invited couple of dancers performed with a complete ballet and they did so with Don Quixote.

'I remember the atmosphere and the people who looked at us with some distrust, but in hours, on stage, the adrenaline rose with each step and the great 'pas de deux' was the total apotheosis seeing that full hall, everyone on their feet with four minutes of applause and several curtain calls to greet the audience'.

'Then, we realized that we had created something magical, historic. There have been many other moments since, but that was the international debut, from which invitations grew even more'

The pandemic and the future

The invitations this year have not been as in other years due to the pandemic, in a situation in which there are dancers from other companies who have not danced for almost two years, Arianne stated.

Fortunately, she added, we did two shows last year in Italy, a gala at the theater in Abano Terme, in Padua, and another of international stars in Volta Mantovana, in Lombardy, whose patroness was the diva of Italian dance, Carla Facci.

In March of this year they danced at the Teatro de la Ópera de Moldavia and currently they are working on preparations for a gala in Gran Canaria, Spain, with the symphonic orchestra on June 4.

Among the couple's plans is to dance soon in Cuba, a project they had to finalize last year but was thwarted by the pandemic.

Arianne emphasized that that 'is one of the emotions we hope will happen', to return to dance in Cuba for our audience, our teachers and our school that has given us so much worldwide.

Vittorio, for his part, said that 'it is a dream because after so many years it is now that we can give something to Cuba, especially to the Cuban audience that has given us so much and we represent throughout the world'.