Corina Mestre Vilaboy

Outstanding Cuban actress with a long and recognized acting career. An indisputable Master of Cuban acting, Corina Mestre amazes whenever she appears on television, in film, or when her voice comes through the radio. An educator and faithful to her principles, Corina abhors all types of fictitious posturing; she is an ordinary Cuban woman, even though everyone around her admires the talent she possesses.

Corina treasures a career in theater, radio, film, and television, and has also distinguished herself in promoting sociocultural projects in rural areas of Cuba. Professor at the National School of Art, specializing in Theater. She holds a degree in Performing Arts (1981) from the Superior Institute of Art of Cuba. Recipient of the Nicolás Guillén Medal and the National Prize for Artistic Education. At the congress of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba held in 2019, she is elected vice president of this organization.

In addition to her notable performance as an actress and reciter, her work for more than 20 years in theater classrooms stands out, in the training of new actors, both in schools in the capital and in others throughout the country, having achieved the inclusion of actor training and the insistence on curricula with academic rigor, as well as recognition for her tremendous sensitivity and ethical sense. "From all the stages she has made us feel that shame has made us who we are."

From a very young age she enjoyed reciting and acting; at 5 years old she recited poems by José Martí. She then went on to explore other poets: Neruda, Vallejo, and also other Cubans. Through the path of poetry, she arrived at theater.

In her youth she enjoyed listening to Wichy Nogueras, Víctor Casaus, Silvio, Noel, at their jam sessions of songs and poetry. She enjoyed and admired the work of painters: Nelson Domínguez, Roberto Fabelo, Choco, Paneca, Frémez, García Peña.
She enjoyed dancing casino, she went to the Julio Antonio Mella circle and danced in casino circles. But she dedicated less time to that. To cultivating herself, to reading, she has dedicated most of her life.

Graduate with a degree in Performing Arts (1981) from the Superior Institute of Art of Cuba. She was a student of Vladimir Pieshkin, pedagogue of the Taganka under the direction of Liubimov. In 1968 she joined the New Trova Movement, performing poems and songs and in 1970 joined the student theater movement, where she won prizes at several of its festivals.

In 1981 she began working with the Teatro Estudio Group, directed by Raquel Revuelta. With this company she has participated in more than 70 works, among which the following deserve to be highlighted:

Don Gil de las calzas verdes
El oso
La duodécima noche
Macbeth
Bodas de sangre
La zapatera prodigiosa
Los pasos
Las medallas de la señora Ana
La ronda
La opinión pública
La verbena de la paloma
Morir del cuento
Una lata de pintura
Vivimos en la ciudad
Donde crezca el amor
El becerro de oro
Te sigo esperando and others.

Children's Theater
In one of her theatrical ventures Puerto de Coral, she worked alongside three of her students: Beatriz Viña, Tamara Venereo, and Yanay Penalb.
An actress with extensive experience in children's theater, she has worked in versions of classics of literature such as:

Cinderella
Little Red Riding Hood
Momo, the latter by Michel Ende with her adaptation and that of Augusto Blanca, and music by Augusto Blanca.

On Television
She has recorded for Cuban TV novels and dramatized serials, among which the following stand out:

Pasión y prejuicio
El eco de las piedras
La casa de Bernarda Alba
Salir de noche
Doble juego
De amores y esperanzas
As well as several teleplays.

On Radio
Radio work has not been foreign to her: the broadcasters Radio Habana Cuba and Habana Radio, voice of the Office of the City Historian, have benefited from her talent.

In Film
1988 Vals de la Habana Vieja. Dir. Luis Felipe Bernaza.
1995 Blue Indigo (ICAIC-France co-production). Dir. Jean Sagols.
1997 Kleines Tropicana. Dir. Daniel Díaz Torres.
1998 Eso crudo EICTV. Dir. Cira Valiño Esparducer.
1999 A la mancha EICTV. Dir. Juan Pablo Urioste.
2001 Mi mamá me ama EICTV. Dir. Eduardo Eimil.

Other Activities Related to Art
Through poetry, Corina arrived at theater.
She maintains permanent work in the organization of song and poetry concerts with troubadour Augusto Blanca, also participating with him as a singer in the CDs Este árbol que sembramos, Luna Trovera, and En nombre de este tiempo, and in the CD Definitivamente jueves by poet Waldo Leyva with musical arrangements by Augusto Blanca and Ariadna Amador.

From 1984 to 1989 she was Auxiliary Professor at the Superior Institute of Art, and from 1998 to the present she has been Full Professor and Head of the Acting Department at that Institute. She has taught Workshops on Actor Direction at the International Film School of San Antonio de los Baños. She has taught Acting Master Classes in Mexico.

From 1993 to 1998 she is Vice President of the Association of Stage Artists of the UNEAC. She is a member of the Expert Council of the National Council of Stage Arts, and of the National Council of the UNEAC (National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba).

Awards and Honors
Havana Theater Festival 1982, receives the Prize for Best Female Performance for her participation in The Twelfth Night by W. Shakespeare, directed by Vicente Revuelta.
1986, Prize for Best Performance with the work La Zapatera Prodigiosa by Federico García Lorca at the Camagüey Theater Festival.
1990 UNEAC Prize for Best Female Supporting Acting Performance for La Verbena de la Paloma, a version for actors by Berta Martínez and the Hubert de Blanck Theater Company.
1993 Caricato Prize for TV Acting for the telenovela Pasión y Prejuicio and Prize for Radio Acting for the radio version of the same work.
2000 Hola Prize from the Association of Hispanic Artists and Critics of New York (ACE) for her Supporting Acting Performance in Baños Públicos S.A. and the Nicolás Guillén Diploma from UNEAC.
2016 National Prize for Artistic Education for the merits achieved in teaching[1].
2017 Master of Youth Award

International Festivals (Participation)
Cervantino Festival (Female Acting Award)
Sitges Festival
Theater Festival in Moscow (Female Acting Prize) and among others: performances in Venezuela, Mexico, Portugal, Nicaragua, Angola, Spain, and the United States.

Medals
1982 Medal for the Tenth Anniversary of the Founding of the New Trova.
2002 Nicolás Guillén Medal.

Distinctions
1997 Majadahonda Distinction from UNEAC.
1994 Distinction for Cuban Culture.
2003 La Giraldilla, distinction granted by the Provincial Assembly of People's Power of Havana.
2016 National Prize for Artistic Education
2018 Distinction for Cultural Merit. Awarded by the National Academy of Singing Mariana de Gonitch and the Embassy of Russia in Cuba.

Other Honors
2001 Replica of the Machete Mambí of Generalísimo Máximo Gómez, granted by the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba.