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TRIBUTE TO ANTONIO
GADES
Artist, revolutionary,
communist and unforgettable friend
WHILE not unexpected,
the news was no less painful. International cables, television
broadcasters, the digital and written press informed us yesterday,
suddenly, of the sad news of the death of Antonio Gades, aged 67.
He had been battling cancer for some years, and in recent weeks
his condition worsened, leading to his end in a Madrid hospital.
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Barely one month
ago, President
Fidel Castro decorated Antonio Gades with
the Order of José Martí, conceded by the Council
of State of the Republic of Cuba.
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Born in Elba,
Alicante, on November 16, 1936, into a humble family, his father a
bricklayer, Antonio Esteve Ródenas left school at the age of 11
to begin working in order to help his parents economically.
He entered the world
of dance when he was 15, and Pilar López had the fortune to
discover him and incorporate him into her company as principal
dancer. That is when he took the artistic name that would
immortalize him: Antonio Gades.
In the early 1960s,
he initiated an artistic career that would lead him to forge a
choreographic style on which he would place his stamp. The most
important stages of dance were the setting for the virtuosity of
Gades and his famed company, which he forged with unparalleled
talent and mastery, which contributed so much to the spreading of
Spanish dance, of which he was a dignified representative and
promoter.
In diverse venues,
our people witnessed the invariably perfect performance of Gades
and his company, and in the mid-1990’s, they saw him dance one
of his famous works – Fuenteovejuna, which he brought to
our theaters and plazas, along with his polished art, a message of
encouragement and affection during the most difficult days of the
Special Period.
His was the glory of
having excelled on the most important stages of the world: he was
acclaimed in Milan’s La Scala, in the Metropolitan of New York,
and on other continents, where he left his indelible mark.
HUMILITY, SOCIAL AND
REVOLUTIONARY COMMITMENT
Without any doubt,
his family origins, his father’s voluntary participation in
defense of the Spanish Republic and his first jobs while still a
teenager – as a messenger at a photo studio and later in the
print shops of the Madrid daily ABC – left an imprint of
humility and social and revolutionary commitment on Antonio Gades,
which he maintained until his death.
Cuba closely
experienced those exceptional traits. On international stages, as
in our country, he was always an irrevocable defender of the Cuban
Revolution; in it, he found the fulfillment of his dreams and
struggles for a better world, justice and freedom; present in his
own art was the renovating and revolutionary spirit that
characterized him in life.
That is why, as is
befitting, the Cuban Council of State bestowed the Order of José
Martí on this high and prestigious figure of universal art and
culture. His worthiness of this honor was won by his refreshing
art, his recognized exceptional talents as a dancer and
choreographer, his love for those who struggle, and his proven
friendship and loyalty to the Revolution.
Antonio Gades saw
the Revolution as his, and it was no coincidence that, from deep
inside his heart, as death was hovering over him, he said to Fidel
and Raúl in his last words during the recent intimate, en
famille decoration ceremony: "I never felt like an artist;
rather, I felt myself to be a simple militia soldier dressed in
olive-green, with gun in hand, so as always be at your service, no
matter where, how or when."
Accompanied by the
Order of José Martí that our president pinned to his chest, by
his honorable membership in the Communist Party of Cuba, and by
the close friendship that united us, Gades will continue his long
and eternal journey aboard his small, beloved and unstoppable Luar
0-40 sailboat.
July/2004
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