In 2003, DanzAbierta appeared at the Holland Dance Festival with their humorous piece Chorus Perpetuus. This year, the Cuban group returns to the festival with undiminished energy and passion. Their award-winning piece MalSon confronts the spectator with the uncertainties of life today in Cuba. It is therefore no surprise that the piece shows not only the joyful side of Cubans’ life, but also the melancholy side.

In splendid images and colourful scenes, the choreographer Susana Pous takes her audience on a journey to the true spirit of Havana, through dance that is sometimes expressive and sometimes abstract. The work is based to a large extent on traditional and contemporary forms of music, and on the Cuban Son in particular. Its extraordinary visual and graphic elements make MalSon a breathtakingly beautiful poem.

Recipient of the Villanueva Critics Award for the best Cuban dance production of 2009, and the Award of the Second Biennale of Dance of the Caribbean, 2010.