Cuban dance loses a young creator, Isbel García Villazán

September 8, 2020

On the morning of September 6, the young dancer, choreographer and teacher, Isbel García Villazán, passed away at the age of 34, victim of bacterial meningoencephalitis.

Graduated from the National School of Dance in 2003, he currently served as director of the Danza Unidos company, a group founded by creator Alexis Aguilar on August 13, 2006. Isbel joined this project from the very beginning and later, in 2014, took over the direction of the collective that he kept active in Bauta, a place where he established himself as a natural cultural promoter in service of his community.

Isbel García Villazán had a laborious artistic career, first as a dancer, with outstanding performances in events such as the choreography and interpretation competitions Solamente Solos, DanzaDos, in which he won awards; the International Dance Festival in Urban Landscapes: Habana Vieja, city in motion, the North Atlantic Grand Prix Vladimir Malakov; and later he ventured into acting and singing in productions such as Rent, a musical with a long run on our stages, where he performed in one of its leading roles.

Born on October 20, 1985, by the way a date on which Cuban Culture Day is celebrated, Isbel García Villazán trained several generations of students during his tenure as a teacher at the National School of Dance, the same institution that trained him as a dancer. He also worked professionally with several companies in the country, among which Danza Espiral stands out, directed by teacher Liliam Padrón, with which he maintained a close bond.

There are many opinions published on social networks, dancers, choreographers, teachers, people from the dance world in general, minutes after learning of his death expressed the pain that news like this causes.

Alexis Aguilar, choreographer with whom he worked for ten years, posted:
"Isbel was one of those restless dancers who was always inquiring, searching for content to create. He was very spontaneous, natural. He was characterized by being a young man dedicated to art in all its expressions. Lover of family and friends. (…) He laughed a lot, in very good spirits. He wanted Bauta to be clean, to be an attractive place for whoever arrived, and he was concerned about it…".

Maysabel Pintado, choreographer, dancer and teacher, wrote:
"My friend Isbel García Villazán has gone, there, where I won't be able to hear him. I will cling to remembering every moment we spent together, since we met 14 years ago at a Solamente Solos. From that first time they left us confused in the lobby of the Santiago-Habana hotel in Ciego de Ávila, because his name and mine were similar. And that always pursued us at every dance event we were at. (…) I will remain remembering all his talent and his willingness to make people think while he moved".

Cuban dance is in mourning, it has lost one of its youngest sons; an artist in full possession of his faculties to create and offer his art. It is a heavy blow for a community that will miss the presence of this creator, talkative, jovial, cheerful, enterprising.