Ray Sánchez Betancourt

He is an actor and worked for seven years at Estudio Teatral de Santa Clara, one of the most emblematic groups in the history of Cuban theater, after graduating in 2011. He is currently also a professor at the Escuela de Arte Dramático y Cine de Almería (EADCA).

"I always tell the story that from childhood I was linked to the world of art. At 9 years old I started in a children's theater group, so I decided that I wanted to be an actor to be famous, very famous, but that is the reality of a child of only 9 years old. That's how I got into theater. Later I went to study at the Professional School of Art in my city, Santa Clara, at 15 years old. And I began to see it as a way of being.

Over the years the childish idea I had about being an actor changed when I started working at Estudio Teatral de Santa Clara. One of the most important groups that has marked a theatrical aesthetic on the Cuban stage. It was then that I understood that the best thing is to be consistent and hardworking. You have to see the world of acting as a craft, which is constantly learned and developed. So that idea I had as a child about being an actor changed and being an actor has helped me better understand the world. Perhaps that's why I decided to dedicate myself to the world of acting".

He participated in international festivals, conferences, workshops… while teaching classes in scenic acrobatics, body expression and acting at the school where he studied. In 2017 he founded his own company with three friends, Teatro del Agua, characterized by always maintaining the aesthetic line and constant pedagogy as a form of self-improvement and for new generations.

In 2019 he decided to leave his homeland in search of new challenges. «When one emigrates it's because you don't have what you're looking for, whatever it may be. I left Cuba and thought that if I couldn't act anymore that was all there was,» the actor recounts. He packed his bags and rented an apartment in Madrid for a week, from there he called Mar Paris and Esther Jerez, two girls he met at an international festival organized in Santa Clara. He thought both lived in Madrid and to his surprise they were in Almería. They began to sell him the Andalusian province: «it's in the south, it has a little beach, it doesn't get cold, there are several art schools and we know that you are serious and we can help you and guide you in whatever you need».

The call came on Thursday and Ray Sánchez set foot in the Almería area on Sunday at ten at night. «I was going down Avenida del Mediterráneo, I saw the palm trees and the sea and I said: this is my place. I made the trip from Madrid in a shared car and the driver told me the history of Almería throughout the entire journey. I came enchanted listening to a masterclass and thinking that if everyone was like that man I was going to like it,» adds Ray Sánchez.

After settling into his new home he began working at Teatro Cervantes, at the art school. He also tried his luck in the world of cinema, which was new to him, and he succeeded. He was given the opportunity to work as an acting coach and for actors in a short film and was called to act in another one that was presented at FICAL. For him it was a gift since cinema is not abundant in his city and he considers it a challenge and constant self-improvement.

When he arrived, the first thing that caught his attention were the visible differences that existed between his city of origin and his current one, they were merely economic. But he clarifies that when one gets tired of seeing things, of eating, of seeing shoes, of buying… what really remains is what's important, the human being, and that the human part resembles Cuba. He refers to speech, tone, gesticulation, human warmth…

Since he began moving around the Spanish city he realized that there were many similarities that brought him closer to his country. He says that where he lived there was barely a central park, a theater, a museum and little else. However, it is a place where people go to spend a night and end up staying three because they fall in love. «That happens to Almería. It has the Alcazaba, the sea, the Paseo… but architecturally it doesn't make you fall in love at first sight, it doesn't have many things to offer apparently. But it's the contact with people, walking through the city, the sea… what makes you fall in love with the city, and that's what's beautiful, they are cities with magic, with soul…» adds the actor.

In fact, he would dare to say that Cubans have more things in common with people from Almería than the latter have with Basques. He states that Cuban culture and Andalusian culture is very similar regarding the way people behave, speaking without filters, showing closeness, going out to the street to meet up, the way of having fun, celebrating things or the intense way of suffering «very much like Rocío Jurado».

Currently he works as a professor of scenic acrobatics, body expression and applied voice at the Escuela de Arte Dramático y Cine de Almería, continues as director of the Teatro del Agua company and works as an actor in theatrical and cinematographic projects, which makes him feel very grateful: «I am happy; I love physical theater, investigative theater, the kind that makes you think and moves the audience… As well as theater aimed at children, and I am immersed in it. I am also focused on film work which for me are great challenges».

He has the opportunity to do what he likes and in a city with the sea, which is something he has always wanted. At least once a week he visits the beach, sits down, enjoys the peace and talks with the goddess Yemayá (The goddess of the sea) to receive her blessings.

Without forgetting what he likes about people from Almería; their way of being, the temperature that is felt when having a conversation with someone, the ability to defend something, the drive and the accent: «the more Almería accent the better and the more of the countryside the more I love it».

Life
The change of course from Cuba to Almería has taught him the cultural richness that the world has. Living in southern Spain is one of the great decisions he has made because it has given him the opportunity to be who he is. It has brought him a partner, a family of friends, magnificent colleagues and the sea.

To Santa Clara he wants to return but on vacation. «If life wants it I want to be here and die in Almería because I like it very much. I find things from my country that I don't want to give up and I have others which is why I left. Here I have found what I don't want to lose and what I went out looking for, ultimately: life» clarifies Ray Sánchez Betancourt.

"As a creator I like to make shows, firstly, that tell something interesting and that are of interest to the public. That's why, first, it has to be attractive to me. I also like that on an intellectual level they have an important degree of depth. I don't like easy things, so I place the spectator in an active position in the reception of the artistic product, as I am as a creator.

Acceptance is another thing. You cannot make art thinking of the approval or acceptance of the public or critics. I make art for me, so I don't die, and if I manage to be that sincere, then someone will receive it and it will be enough.

Of course I would like a show that pleases everyone and that has a very good reception from everyone, but that cannot govern the creation process. Nor should it be the result to pursue, because if it were to be that way, I would be underestimating the audience.

Commerce and artistic creation don't always go hand in hand. That's why I would like to make a show that is faithful to the original ideas that carried it out. And if it's liked, well congratulations, but if it's not liked, that's okay too".