Dancer and choreographer Irene Rodríguez will receive a significant Spanish distinction

September 24, 2018

The dancer, choreographer, and director Irene Rodríguez said today that she feels honored because the Embassy of Spain in La Habana summoned her to distinguish her with the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabel la Católica.

"I have dedicated my life to keeping Spanish culture alive and held high, both in Cuba and on the most important stages in the world, and furthermore for the past six years I have been assuming the artistic direction of the Festival La Huella de España, celebrated in my native country," declared the dancer.

The news was officially given to her by the ambassador of Spain in Cuba, Juan José Buitrago de Benito, and the recognition ceremony will take place in this capital on October 8.

The award highlights "extraordinary civil behaviors, carried out by Spanish and foreign persons, that result in benefit to the nation or that contribute, in a relevant way, to promoting relations of friendship and cooperation of the Spanish nation with the rest of the international community."

A year ago, the distinction instituted by King Fernando VII in 1815 was conferred upon the historian of the city of La Habana, Eusebio Leal.

The Irene Rodríguez Company presented itself with great success at the festival titled Artes de Cuba: From the Island to the World, which took place last May at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, United States.

Rodríguez specified that she will perform with her group on November 10 and 11 at the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso, and in 2019 she has invitations to return to the United States to dance at the Joyce Theater in Nueva York and at the Jacob Pillow Dance Festival, the most prestigious dance festival in that country.

The master celebrated in 2017 the fifth anniversary of the founding of her company with the opening of a headquarters in this capital for the work of the ensemble focused on Spanish dances, traditional and contemporary.

Thanks to this grant from the Office of the Historian of the City of La Habana, in charge of Leal, Rodríguez opened vocational workshops, considered by her as an indisputable source for the search for new talents.

The entity coexists harmoniously with the Professional School that has existed since 2013.

Also, the company was designated, at the end of 2017, as the official headquarters of the Flamenco School of Andalucía in Cuba, which—according to the director—marks a before and after in the training of her students as it grants an international character to the qualification it offers.

According to Rodríguez, the curriculum of the center, lasting three years, includes all styles of Spanish dance, and provides broad preparation both theoretical and practical.