Armando Morales Riverón

Puppet actor, designer, and artistic director of Cuban puppet theater. Painter. Founder of the National Puppet Theater. One of the main figures of this specialty in contemporary Cuban theater.

2018 National Theater Prize for his work of more than half a century in the world of the stage, and especially as creator of works intended for children's audiences. He is the creator of the well-known puppet Pelusín del Monte (inspired by the character of Cuban writer Dora Alonso).

He studied at the Superior School of Arts and Crafts in Havana and at the Integration and Plastic Arts Workshop of the Department of Fine Arts in 1961. He was a student at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Havana and from there he joined, in 1961, the National Puppet Theater of Cuba, led by brothers Carucha and Pepe Camejo, an experience that completed his preparation for the practice of puppet expression.

In 1963 he participated in the founding of the National Puppet Theater with the Camejo brothers and other artists. Since then until now he has worked as an actor in numerous productions. The Wizard of Oz (Uncle Henry and The Wizard), La loma de Mambiala (Serapio Trebejo), The Court of Pharaoh (Potiphar), The Retablo of Master Peter (Master Peter), stand out among those from the first decades.

Starting in 1986, he began developing the one-person show format in which he has worked intensively. In the early seventies he conducted community work with children from various schools and neighborhoods. Part of this work he developed in coordination with the prestigious visual artist Antonia Eiriz. The resulting performances would be the direct antecedent of his later work as artistic director, which has transcended the borders of the National Puppet Theater to include artists and groups throughout the country, as well as from other regions of the planet.

To date he has designed and directed scenic productions for more than one hundred titles from a broad spectrum of authors of classic Cuban puppet dramaturgy: Pepe Carril, René Fernández, and Freddy Artiles; from Latin America: Javier Villafañe and Roberto Espina; from the Iberian Peninsula: Lope de Vega and García Lorca; and from France: Jacques Prevert and Alfred Jarry. Among these titles are: The Ambitious Owl (1976), The Manual Balloon (1984), Pinocchio (1985), Chímpete Chámpata (1986); Redoblante and Meñique (1988); Papito (1991); The Republic of the Dead Horse (1992); Once Upon a Time an Upside-Down World (1993); In Hell (1994); Abdala (1995); Floripondito or Puppets are People (1997); King Ubu (1998); Osobuco Arrogant Grilled (2002); Little Red Riding Hood (2003); My Friend Mozart (2004), Don Quixote Walks (2005), and Fuenteovejuna (2007).

He has been one of the most important promoters of the resurgence of puppet theater on the national scene beginning in the nineties of the last century.

He is Full Professor of the Faculty of Theatrical Art at the Higher Institute of Art (ISA), since 1999.
He has conducted workshops, courses, seminars, and master classes on the art of puppetry at various national events and institutions and at educational institutions, cultural centers, and arts promotion centers in Peru (1990 and 1997); Mexico (1990 and 1998); Ghana (1991-1992); Spain (1993 and 1997); Ecuador (1997), and Italy (1998).

As guest director, he has worked with the groups Children Puppet Group (CYCC) and National Puppet Theatre Company of Ghana (1991-1992); La Mueca, of Michoacán, Mexico (1998 and 2007); Teatro dei fauni, of Locarno, Switzerland (2000), and Teatro Arbolé, of Zaragoza, Spain (2007).

In international festivals, his professional work has found space in more than a dozen countries. His intense artistic and teaching activity has been accompanied by continuous theoretical reflection. He has an extensive list of publications that highlight him as an important thinker and promoter of the specialty.

His plastic work, of which his designs for the stage and his puppets are an essential part, has been exhibited on numerous occasions in the most diverse formats and spaces such as the prestigious Obratzov Museum in Moscow in 1981 and the Prague Quadrennial Exhibition in 1983.

His tremendous work has provided him with numerous recognitions of very diverse kinds, including awards granted by theater critics and by various national institutions. He is a member of the Association Internationales des Arts Plastiques (AIAP) since 1981; member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) since 1970 and served as president of the Section of Theater for Children of the Association of Scenic Artists of that institution between 1990 and 1999; member of the Expert Committee of the National Council of Scenic Arts since 1989 and member of the Cuban Committee of the International Union of the Puppet (UNIMA) since 1996.

STUDIES

1961 / Superior School of Arts and Crafts in Havana

1961 / Integration and Plastic Arts Workshop. Department of Fine Arts

1963 / Academy of Dramatic Art in Havana

1981 / "Ignacio Cervantes" Conservatory of Music

1986 / University of Havana



POSITIONS—MEMBERSHIP IN INSTITUTIONS

1961-1963 / Member NATIONAL PUPPET THEATER OF CUBA

1963-......../ Member NATIONAL PUPPET THEATER

1970-....... / Member NATIONAL UNION OF WRITERS AND ARTISTS OF CUBA (UNEAC)

1981-....... / Member ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONALES DES ARTS PLASTIQUES (AIAP)

1989-......../ Expert NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SCENIC ARTS (CNAE)

1990-1999 / President SECTION OF THEATER FOR CHILDREN (UNEAC)

1992-1993 / Guest Director NATIONAL PUPPET THEATRE COMPANY OF GHANA

1994........ / General Coordinator TRIENNIAL OF PUPPETS

1996-....... / Executive Member CUBAN CENTER OF UNIMA

1998-....... / Guest Director ...la mueca . MORELIA, MICHOACÁN . MÉXICO

1999-....... / Full Professor HIGHER INSTITUTE OF ART (ISA)

2000-....... / Guest Director TEATRO DEI FAUNI . LOCARNO . SWITZERLAND

2000-....... / General Director NATIONAL PUPPET THEATER . HAVANA . CUBA.



WORK EXPERIENCE

He has designed and directed scenic productions for more than one hundred titles.

He has collaborated with the Animated Films Department of the Institute of Arts and Cinematographic Industries (ICAIC)

He has participated in series and special programs of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT)

He has directed workshops and taught courses, seminars, and master classes on the art of puppetry

at Universities, Institutes, Cultural Centers, and Arts Centers.

He has served as a Jury member in Theater, Visual Arts, and Dramatic Literature events and festivals.

He has published theoretical works on Puppet Theater in specialized books and magazines.

He has been invited to Festivals in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Italy, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Ghana, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, and Venezuela.

SCENIC DESIGN . EXHIBITIONS

I NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF CHILDREN'S AND YOUTH THEATER

House of Czechoslovak Culture. September 15, 1965

II NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF CHILDREN'S AND YOUTH THEATER

I National Festival of Children's and Youth Theater. National Museum . Palace of Fine Arts. September 9, 1966

PUPPETS IN CHILDREN'S THEATER

Provincial Meeting of Children's Theater . Havana 1976

Art Gallery. November 20, 1976

INTERNATIONAL PUPPET EXHIBITION

Obratzov Museum . Moscow, USSR. September 1981

TWENTY YEARS OF THEATER IN CUBA

Havana Theater Festival 1980. International Art Center Gallery. January 22, 1980

DESIGN IN CHILDREN'S THEATER. 7th Festival of Theater for Children. Cobarrubias Hall Vestibule . National Theater. August 16, 1981

THEATRICAL DESIGN . WORKS

Havana Theater Festival 1982. Covarrubias Hall Vestibule . National Theater. January 22, 1982

SCENOGRAPHIC DESIGNS EXHIBITION

Scenography Course . Music and Entertainment Department. Vestibule José Luis Tasende Workers' Social Circle. September 25, 1982

SCENIC DESIGNS BY ARMANDO MORALES (personal). Tribute to 20th Anniversary of the National Puppet Theater Boyeros Art Center. March 13, 1983

PRAGUE QUADRENNIAL´85. International Exhibition Hall . Prague . Czechoslovakia. April 1983

THE GALLERY ON STAGE. Havana Theater Festival 1984. Havana Gallery. January 20, 1984

THE PUPPET WORKSHOP EXHIBITS. Art Gallery. January 28, 1984

DESIGNS BY ARMANDO MORALES AND GUSTAVO NOVO. Ismaelillo Hall. October 17, 1986

SECOND PUPPET EXHIBITION. II International Colloquium of Scenic Design. Avellaneda Hall Vestibule . National Theater. May 25, 1988

IMAGE OF THE PUPPET. I Triennial UNEAC . Puppet Theater. Vestibule of the National Puppet Theater. December 14, 1994

THEATER OF THE TOWN : 30 YEARS

IV Meeting of Professional Theater for Children and Youth . Guanabacoa´94

Concha Ferrant Art Gallery . Guanabacoa. December 18, 1994

I SALON UNEAC ARROYO NARANJO´95

XIV Week of Culture . Arroyo Naranjo. Her-Car Art Gallery. May 17, 1995

35 YEARS OF PUPPET THEATER IN CUBA. Cities of Spain. 1995

EXHIBITION-TRIBUTE . ARMANDO MORALES, 35 YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE (personal). 2nd International Workshop of Puppet Theater. White Hall . Matanzas. March 29, 1996

FROM THE RETABLO TO THE GALLERY (personal). II Triennial UNEAC : Puppet Theater. Her-Car Gallery. March 15, 1997 ARMANDO PUPPETS (personal). Her-Car Gallery. July 5, 2000

BOOK EDITIONS . PUBLISHED TITLES
For those who wish to know his legacy in black and white, there is extensive documentation in books such as From Vidushaka to Pelusín, the Eternal Fire (1998), Vigía Editions, Matanzas; The Puppet: The Superactor (1998), La mueca Editions, Michoacán, Mexico; The Puppet, in the Light or in the Shadow? (2002), Unión Editions, Havana; Puppets: Art in Motion (2004), El mar y la montaña Publishing House, Guantanamo.

Armando doesn't waste a minute of his time and works not only with the national company, but with the Ismaelillo Group, El galpón, the Dramatic Ensemble of the East, the Guantanamo Puppet Theater, Teatro Escambray, the Anaquillé group, and La toronjita dorada, from the Isle of Youth, among other collectives, following the wandering destiny of born puppeteers, the compass of their predecessor masters, who did the same from one end of the Island to the other.

Seventy active years are a collection of life and work too suspicious for those who let time pass, and in order not to be mistaken, they don't risk what Armando does. Prizes and recognitions have come sometimes in recent times and sometimes not, but the master has never tired. From the Guantanamo theatrical crusade to the hills of Venezuela, the mark of his energetic and vital character has remained indelible in the memory of the lives of many.