Tunera Artist Esnedy Milán Triumphs on the International Stage

March 15, 2024

An empowered woman from Las Tunas sparks applause and positive reviews for the masterful staging of her work Trapped Poetry in theaters in Rome, the capital of Italy, the country where she has resided for more than three decades.

Esnedy Milán, who maintains a close bond with her country and especially with Manatí, her birthplace in the eastern province of Las Tunas, is an artist in love with the world of theater and cinematography, manifestations that allow her to build cultural bridges between herself and audiences, but also between Cuba and Italy.

During the month of February, the theater artist and producer had the privilege of participating with Trapped Poetry at the Tordinona theater in the European capital, through the monologue inspired by Soviet writer Marina Tsvetáyeva, and performed by renowned Russian actress Natalia Simonova.

The work, which captures the attention of her followers, is complemented by audiovisual material under the acting of performer Caterina Gramaglia and music by talented filmmaker Marco Lo Russo, with extensive collaboration in Milán's productions.

In statements to the Cuban News Agency, Esnedy said that the central axis addresses the universal feeling of love and its peculiarities, as an opportunity to confront fears and internal catastrophes of human beings.

"I am happy," acknowledged the artist, "because, furthermore, from April 25 to 27 I will have the opportunity to return to the theater that opened its doors to me in Italy, the Argot Studio, considered among the pioneers of contemporary art; a place where I feel at home and where I hope for the acceptance of this work, one of my two great creations."

But Esnedy is not just a woman of the European stage; with her production company Leon Cuba Films she materialized one of her most cherished dreams: making cinema from Manatí, precisely in the rural communities of that municipality in northern Las Tunas.

The film The Machete Woman is inspired by a teacher who returns from Havana to the sugarcane zone of Meriño, and begins a colossal battle for her insertion into the tasks of sugarcane cutting, a trade that in the past century was laden with stereotypes for women.

Under the direction of fellow Las Tunas filmmaker Yanet Pavón Bernal, the film recreates passages from Cuba in 1978, performed mostly by local artists and amateurs, and featuring the lead roles of Liudmila Díaz, Luis Gustavo Faura and Esnedy Milán herself.

Although the film has not yet had its official premiere on screens here, as it is included in a very broad circuit of competitive festivals at the international level, its grand launch is expected with the presence of Esnedy and the various architects of the cinematographic work.

Such is the attachment of the Cuban-Italian artist to the Island that her career was recognized in July 2022 by the Blue World International Academy as a symbol of cultural connection between both nations. She, the image and talent of Las Tunas that today triumphs in Europe, but that carries within herself the Creole essence of the homeland that saw her born in eastern Cuba.