Danza Voluminosa is like any other professional dance troupe, only heavier – a lot heavier, writes Geraldine Royds

 

 

With most members weighing over 200 pounds, the founder, Juan Miguel Mas, says he created the group to make a political as well as an artistic statement. ‘We obese people also need to express ourselves with our bodies,’ he says. ‘We feel our bodies, we command them and we enjoy them just like any other human being.’  The troupe has overcome ridicule to win applause for their exuberant performances, selling-out shows in Havana’s top theatres.

Danza Voluminosa was founded in 1996 by Juan Miguel Mas, a dancer who was frustrated at the lack of opportunity for overweight people like himself to perform.

Mas, who first appeared on stage with Cuba’s Contemporary Dance troupe as a giant baby, is the only member of the troupe with professional dance experience. The other performers, whose weights range from 200 to 300 pounds, were chosen by formal dance audition, where instead of choosing dancers for their shape and height, Mas looked for inner spark, eagerness and motivation.

‘The main idea was to create a space where obese people could learn the art of dancing. Here we have created a style of dance that's suited to large bodies,’ says Mas, who is choreographer an d director as well as one of the dancers in the group. 

The ballerinas don’t pirouette, spin and leap like conventional dancers. ‘Fat people move differently,’ says Mas, explaining that the choreography reflects this. The movements are more earth-bound and they often dance close to the ground, crouching, kneeling or lying on the floor. Their slow turns and arm movements create waves of motion, rippling through their bodies.

A fan, (on the website, Ballet Talk) describes a performance:
‘I must confess it took me a little bit to get used to the physique of the dancers. Then I tried to concentrate on the story. They presented "Phaedra", the tragic Greek myth  …   at the end they danced to the resurrection of Phaedra and Hippolytus in a climax of Caribbean rhythms and music where the heaviest of the female dancers happily showed up wearing multi-coloured bathing suits! It was very colourful and vibrant, and their happiness, along with the folkloric music, was contagious. Now, it is true that their leaps and jumps were limited, of course, but on the other side, their arm movements were elaborated and elegant. I also remember that at first, when the curtains went up, some people laughed in disbelief, but after a while the laughing stopped and the general feeling and atmosphere started to change. By the end EVERYBODY was enchanted with the work, and the whole theatre gave them a rounded extended applause along with lots of “Bravos”. I would say that the average weight of the dancers was around 100 kg. It was moving to see them bowing over and over, all sweaty and exhausted, but with such proud faces. I also remember obese people from the public being moved also, screaming and clapping like crazy. It was really magical.’

Juan Miguel Mas admits that he often uses humor to bring the public in - the group’s parody of ‘ Swan Lake’ is well known - but Danza Voluminosa is deadly serious about dance. Mas embraces universal themes of love, death and longing, often incorporating elements from African, modern Jazz and Caribbean dance.  He doesn’t shy away from topics such as gluttony and prejudice, weaving plots around the social derision and exclusion often endured by the overweight.

‘Our work is not just art, it also has a social aspect,’ Mas says. ‘We approach obese people to help them find a physical and emotional equilibrium and rescue their self-esteem.’ 

For many of the dancers, working with Danza Voluminos has changed their lives. Barbara Paula Valdes, 27, said she feels transformed after two years with the company.

‘I changed how I walk, how I talk, the way I relate to people,’ said Valdes, ‘I had an artist hidden inside me an d didn’t realize it.’

Another dancer, who has been with the troupe for five years, says it still feels strange at times to be on stage, as if she is constantly discovering the potential beauty hidden inside her body, which for years was a source of shame for her.

After years of struggling for resources, the group now has official sanction and can practice and perform in the National Theatre of Cuba. Mas receives a government salary although the dancers mostly fit rehearsals and performances around their regular jobs.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Danza Voluminosa has been challenging stereotypes and expanding the boundaries of contemporary dance in Havana for the past ten years and, along the way, redefining our ideas of beauty.  Bravo!