The Agustín de la Hoz House of Culture hosted an emotional posthumous tribute to the figure of the dance teacher, Fernando Rodríguez, on Friday night; a dancer who, after passing through great national and European companies, arrived in Lanzarote with César Manrique and opened his first ballet school in the Arrecife Gran Hotel.
Thus began a path in teaching, training many dancers of different generations and leaving an indelible mark on those who knew him, as Acerina Hernández, director of the ‘Traslación Dance Festival in Lanzarote’ recalled, in whose V edition the well-deserved tribute is framed.
With this show (accessible session in sign language), Traslación, a festival that has the collaboration of the Arrecife City Council's Department of Culture, and which is promoted by El Jablero Cía de Danza, gestionART-e and Cabildo de Lanzarote, puts the finishing touch to the capital's events this year, although the program continues until the 11th in other municipalities.
“As mayor of Arrecife, I want to convey my congratulations to the organization and the participants and point out that this government group will continue to support dance and all culture,” said the capital's first mayor, Yonathan de León, last night in his speech, who applauded the enormous success of participation that an event has had, which is part of the program of the Department of Culture directed by Abigail González.
For his part, the first deputy mayor, Echedey Eugenio, who spoke in the absence of González, who could not attend due to agenda issues, stressed the effort that the Department is making in organizing cultural events in the city. “Our objective is to have a House of Culture open to the city and this work that is being done to make Arrecife a cultural reference is positive for everyone,” said Eugenio, who thanked Acerina Hernández and her entire team “for offering the city and the island a high-level festival like Traslación for another year and within it this well-deserved tribute to Fernando Rodríguez, a figure for the island in terms of dance, with whom the pioneers of dance in Lanzarote are honored.”
The audience attending the show that was offered at the Agustín de la Hoz House of Culture, which had a large presence of former students of the honoree, was able to enjoy the performance of the Choir of the El Cribo Mental Health Association, with the collaboration of the teacher Reinier Alfonso and his ballet students. After them, the performance of Sergio Pérez Aguiar, a dancer from the island of Gran Canaria, accompanied by the pianist Fernando Pérez Aguiar, took place, who performed a classical dance piece created for the event.
Next, the screening of a video created by Alejandro García and the presentation of a commemorative plaque to the board of directors of the Pancho Lasso Training Center, where the honoree taught classes in his last years of teaching, was presented.
The tribute culminated with the participation of three more companies within the framework of the general program of the Traslación Festival, dancing: Ayya, La Venidera and Ogmia/Eduardo Vallejo.