OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi junior Madeleine Bradley, of Memphis, spent two weeks studying abroad in Cuba to perfect a dance she will perform at the university later this month.
Bradley was among seven Ole Miss students chosen to study contemporary modern dance with the Cuban dance company Malpaso after auditioning for a spot in Mississippi: The Dance Company.
Though all the students had previous dance experience, Bradley brought a unique skill set with a technical background in ballet. Contemporary dance brought her a little out of her comfort zone.
“I’m still kind of adjusting to contemporary and modern and stuff and getting out of that classical, traditional mindset,” she said.
Bradley has been dancing her entire life and the exercise science major was involved in Ole Miss Student Dance before auditioning with Mississippi: The Dance Company for this cultural and artistic collaboration with Cuba.
“When we first were working and fundraising for it, we didn’t really think it was going to kick off and become what it did,” Bradley said. “I didn’t tell my parents about it until the end of the summer when people were really, like, investing a lot of time and energy into this, and they were just thrilled about this opportunity.”
Osnel Delgado, Malpaso’s artistic director and choreographer, developed a dance piece for the students called “Redefining Carmen,” in which they portray what it means to be a contemporary woman. They rehearsed the piece each afternoon with direction from Delgado’s father, Esteban Delgado, and Jennifer Mizenko, UM professor of theatre arts who led the trip.
“Through Dance in Cuba, her skills in modern dance improved and she has been able to take what she learned about Cuban dance styles and also Cuban culture and express that in her performance of ‘Redefining Carmen,'” Mizenko said of Bradley.
But the students didn’t spend all their time dancing. Every day was filled with excursions to explore the Cuban culture and Havana. The students took salsa lessons, visited the famed Tropicana club, spent time on a beach, watched the firing of cannons at La Cabaña Fortress, toured Old Havana and rode in 1950s cars, among many other activities.
Despite the many adventures in Cuba, Bradley said her favorite part of the trip was the immersion in the culture and living like a local.
“Getting up every morning, walking to the studio and going to work as if we were Cuban, that was definitely my favorite part,” Bradley said. “On the plane back, I sat next to this American couple who were just there on vacation, and they were talking about all the touristy stuff they did, and not that all the touristy stuff we did wasn’t amazing, but it’s not, like, life-changing,” she said. “I was telling them how much I enjoyed just living like a Cuban professional dancer for two weeks.”
Bradley said visiting Cuba changed her perspective on the world, and she encourages all college students to visit a country outside their comfort zone.
“I consider myself a pretty open-minded person before the trip,” Bradley said. “I was good at taking in other people’s perspectives, but that was just totally stretched to the opposite ends of the world for this.
“My perspective and my ability to be open-minded is improved so much because of how different Cuba is from the United States and how much you had to adapt to that, which I found wasn’t a bad thing at all. I really enjoyed it.
“Redefining Carmen” debuted Jan. 27 in a joint performance with Malpaso at the university’s Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, but the community will have a chance to see it once more March 23-25 at Mississippi: The Dance Company’s spring show, “Crossing Borders.”
Performances are set for 7:30 p.m. March 23 and 24, and 2 p.m. March 24 and 25, all in Meek Hall Auditorium. Tickets are $20 each, available through the Ole Miss Box Office inside the Ford Center or online at https://olemissboxoffice.com/.