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Cuban Dance
MATTHEW HAWKINS interviews Miguel Altunaga-Verdecia, his one-time student and now dancer/choreographer with the renowned Carlos Acosta
Miguel Altunaga-Verdecia, guest choreographer/dancer in Carlos Acosta's current show On Before

THE mature Cuban ballet star Carlos Acosta is appearing in his show On Before, here in Edinburgh, prior to an extensive UK tour. Thinking this would be a world-premiere, I anticipated the presence of the multiple choreographers involved and I noticed that Miguel Altunaga-Verdecia is a contributor. 

Miguel Altunaga-Verdecia trained happily in Cuba, in the modern-dance methods of Martha Graham and the authentic fusion of Afro-Caribbean dance forms. He later pivoted a transatlantic shift via an apprentice contract with the UK’s Rambert Dance Company, notwithstanding his professional renown at home. 

This was an interesting juncture at which to meet him. As a regular guest teacher at the Rambert troupe I became abruptly aware of a frisky new presence, and of the bonus of a formal handshake following our morning exertions. This was cultural immediacy, coming from a vibrant place where teachers are consistently respected as key avatars in the passing of knowledge. 

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