Sunday Express
Thrill to Cuban Passion
Jeffery Taylor
June 3 2007
There are still three more weeks to catch the hottest, the coolest, and that means the sexiest, bunch of dancers in Town. London has taken to its heart the virtually unknown, low budget show, Cuba's Havana Rakatan.
And yes, it does feel like a spawn of Riverdance as we romp through act one's cultural survey of the Sugar Island's slavery and conquests, then update following the interval, But these dancers and musicians are worlds away from being sanitised and drilled by the demands of squillions of dollars. Instead Rakatan is awash with a thrillingly genuine passion, the performers are individuals, not clones and the chemistry between the sexes is more fun than is good for the audience's blood pressure.
Amaryllis Pons is not only ravishing to the eye, but a dancer of extraordinary intensity with that hypnotic inward astonishment at what her body is actually saying. Yoanis Pelaez has a startling combination of baseball player proportions and razor sharp technique while the inexhaustibly passionate Joel Garmendia adds leadership and authority to the general joyous mayhem. A threatened Full Monty from the men thankfully is not delivered while Cuban flamenco, grass skirted warriors and down trodden slaves are overlooked by a generously proportioned goddess and singer, Geydi Chapman. And inevitably the first act finale is a fantastically energetic, and beautiful to watch celebration of that perennial Latin American anthem - you've guessed it - Peanuts.
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In Act II we get down to the serious business of dancing, in the ballroom, but mostly in the street. Pelaez and Garmendia shimmer faster than the eye can see in the Mambo while the Cuban Bolero proves to be an outrageous combination of break dance, ballet and tango. The Guantanamera, the ChaChaCha, Rumba and Salsa are like nothing you have ever seen, danced with a thrill and blood and guts reality that pastes a smile on your face that simply will not go away. Irresistible.
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