Spaces such as the Catauro de la Décima and the Bohío Campesino are among the greatest defenders of tradition at the Cucalambeana Fiesta, which opened this Saturday at the El Cornito Farm.
Las Tunas, Cuba.– The Catauro is always a highly anticipated event. Poets, singers, and other artists come to the ruins of the iconic rural site to pay homage to Juan Cristóbal Nápoles Fajardo (El Cucalambé) and several rhapsodes who, over the years, have defended the national stanza.
This June 28th, in its first chapter, was no exception. The event featured performances by soloists Marisol Guillama and Yaniuska Hernández, as well as readings by poets Aleido Rodríguez, Adriano Galeano, Miroslava Pérez, Marcelo Leal, Xiomara Maura, Rosabel Pi, Dayislenis Velázquez, and Odalys Leyva.
A special tribute was the 25th anniversary of the Cucalambé Prize, won by Pedro Péglez for the book (In)vocación por el paria (Invocation for the Pariah). Finally, the results of the National Glosses Competition "Canto Alrededor del Punto" were announced. The winner was Oreste Ramón Fuentes Martínez, a native of Las Tunas and resident in Camagüey.
The jury, composed of Miroslava Pérez Dopazo (Holguín), Frank Upierre Casellas (Havana), and Odalys Leyva Rosabal (Camagüey), after analyzing the 20 competing proposals, decided to award the prize to the work De Macondo, un dios y el inventario (About Macondo, a god and the inventory), for "the refined style and depth of the language, the precise mastery of verse, with the sounds of high poetry, using modern techniques but without excess."
Meanwhile, at the Bohío Campesino, controversy took center stage, and the audience erupted in applause. Music was combined with the performances of oral narrators and folk storytellers. Likewise, the talent of amateur artists from across the province multiplied on the improvised stage.
Miriam Reyes, theater methodologist at the Provincial Center of Cultural Centers, highlights the presence and contribution of the traditional group Raíces soneras, from the municipality of Majibacoa, the host of the space.
“Wonderfully, we achieved a lively blend of amateur and established artists, and above all, from various generations, to honor the essence of the peasantry and its richness, that picturesque magic of the guateques that we must defend and treasure,” Reyes summarized.
This Saturday, the Justo Vega Repentismo Contest opened at El Cornito, bringing together talents from various regions of the country and, as usual, promising to be another beautiful event.
