CBYE Media Releases

Cuba's shining star - Young dancer leaps to fame in Nutcracker The laughter and the tears

Gary Smith
The Hamilton Spectator
(December 10, 2008)

Showtime
Who: Serafin Castro
What: The Nutcracker, Ballet Nacional de Cuba
Where: Hamilton Place
When: Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Dec. 14 at 2 p.m.
Tickets: 905-527-7666

Serafin Castro is shy.

The warmth of his smile burns pink across a dark, handsome face. Large brown eyes flash fire as he talks.

At 19, Serafin is young to be a ballet star. He hasn't yet adopted the swagger of the principal dancer. And it's precisely that boyish quality -- youthful innocence combined with white heat -- that makes him a contender for stardom.

He's the boy with the big leap. He can hover in the air, as if suspended on dragonfly's wings. He can burn a patch off the stage like some Salsa boy gyrating in the street.

"I started ballet when I was seven. I don't know why," he says. "I just wanted to dance. My sister took ballet lessons so I wanted to, too."

At nine, Serafin left Caibarien, in the heartland of Cuba, to enter the Art School of Villa Clara. That led to a place at the Cuban Ballet School. Three gold medals later, Serafin started to attract attention.

"Once you get into ballet it becomes part of your life. It's there inside you. It won't go away. Dancing's about reaching the soul, attaining perfection.

"I know I'm shy. More or less. And I don't really know why. But when I'm dancing, it's different. I love it so much. It takes me out of myself and I put my shyness away."

Dancing The Nutcracker in Hamilton is important to Serafin.

"But you know, it's not about being good or bad. It's about touching those who watch you dance, about making connections," he says.

"I haven't much life outside of dance. It pretty much takes everything over. When I have time I listen to music, read or go to the movies. But always I'm thinking about my next performance."

On his thumb, Serafin wears a gold band that belonged to his grandfather.

"He gave it to me when I graduated from the Cuban Ballet School. It means the world to me. I love my family. Grampas are very special," he smiles, looking at the floor.

Is he nervous before a performance? Yes.

"I make myself coffee. Good, strong Cuban coffee and I try to settle down. But it's good to be a little nervous before you dance. Edge is important.

"I think of my homeplace in Caibarien, where the roosters sing all day and the sea pounds in my ear. And I think of myself as a common boy, not a dancer."

Serafin Castro is much more though. He's a rising star who keeps Cuban audiences on edge. In Mexico, watching him dance La Bayadere, the audience screams his name as if watching a rock star explode onstage.

A red tinge of heat burns his young face. "Am I sexy? I don't think so much," he says, looking at his feet. "But that's for you to tell me."