๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ฎ: "๐ฌ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ผ, ๐น๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ ร๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ" |๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฒรฑ๐ฎ (๐๐ฆ๐ฃ/๐๐ก๐)
Este es un texto original escrito en espaรฑol y versionado al inglรฉs en Google Translation. Todas las imรกgenes son cortesรญa de la entrevistada
Bayamo huele a cafรฉ y a historia a las siete de la maรฑana. Es un olor que se pega a la ropa y no se va aunque uno se lave. En una esquina de esta ciudad que vio nacer al Himno Nacional de Cuba, Yudenia Manso Costa pide un cortado y agita un abanico. No es un gesto estudiado โella nunca estudia esos gestosโ pero el aire que desplaza dibuja figuras que se deshacen contra el calor.
Tiene 49 aรฑos, una voz que ha sido comparada con madera fina y una biografรญa que parece escrita por un comitรฉ de locos: actriz, humorista, cantante de mariachi, trovadora, coralista, activista. "La Voz de รbano", la llaman. Ella lo dice con un encogimiento de hombros que podrรญa ser modestia o podrรญa ser cansancio.
"Eso del nombre fue cosa de un periodista, hace como veinte aรฑos", suelta, mientras el abanico sigue su vaivรฉn. "Me quedรณ."
Pero nada en Yudenia Manso Costa es tan simple como parece.
Los aรฑos de formaciรณn: cuando el arte era un juego y una trinchera
Para entender a Yudenia hay que empezar por el final, o por el principio. Naciรณ el 4 de septiembre de 1976 en Cuba. Bayamo es una ciudad musical: allรญ se cantรณ por primera vez el Himno Nacional, allรญ la mรบsica es una forma de respirar. Pero Yudenia no querรญa solo respirar. Querรญa hacerlo todo.
"A mi mamรก le gustaba contar que yo cantaba desde antes de hablar", recuerda. "Me paraba frente al espejo y me inventaba shows completos. Cantaba, bailaba, hacรญa personajes. No sabรญa que eso se llamaba teatro. Sabรญa que era feliz."
En 1994, cuando Yudenia fue captada para estudiar en la Escuela Provincial de Arte "Manuel Muรฑoz Cedeรฑo", la felicidad fue total. El paรญs atravesaba el Perรญodo Especial. En la escuela no habรญa mucho, pero habรญa maestros, disciplina, y otros que tambiรฉn querรญan dedicar su vida a eso.
Tres aรฑos despuรฉs, Yudenia saliรณ con un tรญtulo de Instructora de Teatro y la cabeza llena de preguntas. La principal: ยฟy ahora quรฉ?
La guerrilla y el humor: los aรฑos de aprendizaje en las calles
Lo que vino despuรฉs fue una escuela distinta. "La Guerrilla de Teatreros" no era un grupo, era un movimiento: actores que se metรญan en comunidades, en barrios, en cualquier lugar donde hubiera gente. Yudenia actuaba en plazas, en escuelas y cooperativas. A veces la pagaban, a veces no. A veces el pรบblico era enorme, a veces eran tres viejos y un perro.
"Ahรญ aprendรญ que el arte no necesita escenario", dice. No es una frase hecha: es una verdad que Yudenia pagรณ con sudor y con kilรณmetros.
Paralelamente, exploraba el humor con "Ultrasonido", un proyecto que mezclaba teatro y mรบsica. En el aรฑo 2000, en el Festival Nacional del Humor Aquelarre, se llevaron el Gran Premio en Espectรกculo Humorรญstico Musical. Yudenia hacรญa parodias, cantaba, imitaba. Era graciosa, pero habรญa algo mรกs: una presencia, que anunciaba que aquello era el comienzo. Esa versatilidad la llevarรญa tambiรฉn, en 2004, a obtener un Premio en el Festival de Oratorias "Juan Candela" , demostrando que su dominio de la escena iba mucho mรกs allรก de la comicidad.
El giro mexicano: cรณmo una cubana terminรณ cantando mariachi
En septiembre de 1999, Yudenia participรณ en un Encuentro de Mariachis en Bayamo. Ella no sabรญa nada de mรบsica mexicana, o sabรญa lo que cualquier cubano sabe: las rancheras que ponen en la radio, las pelรญculas de Vicente Fernรกndez. Pero algo pasรณ esa noche. Esa participaciรณn en varios certรกmenes del Festival Nacional de Mariachis marcรณ un antes y un despuรฉs.
"Subรญ al escenario y cantรฉ como si hubiera nacido en Guadalajara", recuerda. "No me preguntes cรณmo. Saliรณ."
Yudenia hizo una audiciรณn y entrรณ al Mariachi "Tierra Brava", bajo el ala del Centro Provincial de la Mรบsica "Sindo Garay". La actriz de teatro era tambiรฉn cantante profesional. La muchacha que imitaba voces en el patio de su casa estaba aprendiendo una cultura entera, una forma de sentir el despecho que no era la suya pero que ya empezaba a serlo.
"El mariachi me enseรฑรณ que la mรบsica no tiene patria", dice. "El desamor suena igual en espaรฑol mexicano que en espaรฑol cubano."
Los premios y la consagraciรณn: el mapa de una carrera improbable
A partir de ahรญ, la historia de Yudenia se vuelve una lista de premios y reconocimientos que jalonan una carrera sรณlida. En 2002, obtiene el Premio de Interpretaciรณn y Primer Lugar en el Festival de Mรบsica Popular Cubana "Sindo Garay" . Al aรฑo siguiente, en 2003, consigue el 2ยฐ Premio Bailable en el prestigioso Festival "Adolfo Guzmรกn" , compitiendo en La Habana con lo mejor del paรญs. Su talento y constancia la llevan, en 2005, a recibir un Premio y Diploma Especial en el Festival Internacional Cubadisco , asรญ como a grabar con el sello Colibrรญ para el disco colectivo Mujeres en la Mรบsica.
Su sensibilidad como compositora tambiรฉn fue reconocida en 2010, cuando recibiรณ una Menciรณn Especial por la obra "Ansias" en el Festival de Mรบsica Popular Cubana "Sindo Garay". Ese mismo aรฑo, su prestigio la hizo Invitada especial en el concierto de la cantante Anรกis Abreu y participรณ en la gala por el advenimiento de la Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre en Bayamo. En 2008, formรณ parte de la gira nacional junto a actores y actrices de la novela Al compรกs del son, llevando su arte a otros pรบblicos.
"Yo nunca he cantado por los premios", asegura Yudenia. "He cantado porque no sรฉ hacer otra cosa. Porque cuando canto, el mundo tiene sentido."
Su criterio y experiencia la han llevado a ser, en 2002, miembro del jurado en Festivales de รrganos, y en varias ocasiones (2002, 2004, 2015) miembro del jurado en concursos importantes de aficionados. Tambiรฉn ha recibido Reconocimientos importantes en los Encuentros de "La Mi Si Fa" en 2010, 2011 y 2016, espacios que promueven la trova y la canciรณn de autor.
Las otras voces: del coro a la trova, del activismo a las redes
En los รบltimos aรฑos, Yudenia ha multiplicado sus frentes. Integra el Coro Profesional de Bayamo. Escribe sus propias canciones: "Soy tu guitarra trovador" (2019), "Siempre contigo" (2021), "Hoy mi canto tiene vida" (2022). Forma parte de "Musas inquietantes", un proyecto que defiende la diversidad de gรฉnero y combate la violencia contra mujeres, niรฑas y niรฑos.
Y ademรกs, las redes sociales. Durante la pandemia, Yudenia usรณ Facebook y YouTube para llevar su voz a quienes no podรญan salir de casa. Cantaba contra el virus, cantaba para que la gente no perdiera la esperanza.
"Las redes son un escenario mรกs", dice. "Hay que aprender a usarlas, como se aprende a usar la voz."
El territorio y la voz
En 2018, el Museo de Cera de Bayamo le rindiรณ homenaje. Una estatua de cera intenta fijar lo que por naturaleza es cambiante. Yudenia Manso Costa ha construido su carrera sobre lo contrario: sobre la fugacidad del instante, sobre la vibraciรณn que nace y muere en el aire.
Ha cantado en hoteles y en cabarets, en plazas y en museos, en televisiรณn y en comunidades. Porque ha sido actriz y humorista, mariachi y trovadora, solista y coralista. Porque no ha querido ser una sola cosa.
Afuera del cafรฉ, Bayamo sigue oliendo a cafรฉ y a historia. Yudenia cierra el abanico, pide la cuenta, y se prepara para lo que viene. Esta noche canta con el coro. Maรฑana tiene una presentaciรณn con "Musas inquietantes". La semana que viene estรก en La Habana para un programa de televisiรณn.
"No sรฉ hasta cuรกndo voy a seguir", dice, mientras se levanta. Y luego: "Hasta que el cuerpo aguante. Y despuรฉs, un poco mรกs."
La Voz de รbano se pierde en la calle Real, entre el bullicio de la maรฑana y una historia que todavรญa estรก escribiendo. Detrรกs deja el olor del cafรฉ, el aire movido por el abanico, y la certeza de que, en algรบn lugar de Bayamo, una niรฑa sigue parada frente al espejo, cantando como si la escuchara el mundo entero.
๐ป
This is an original text written in Spanish and translated into English using Google Translate. All images are courtesy of the interviewee.
๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ฎ: "๐ฌ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ผ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐ป๐" | ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ (๐๐ฆ๐ฃ/๐๐ก๐)
Bayamo smells of coffee and history at seven in the morning. It's a scent that clings to clothes and won't wash away. On a street corner in this city that gave birth to Cuba's National Anthem, Yudenia Manso Costa orders a cortado and waves a fan. It's not a practiced gestureโshe never studies such gesturesโbut the air she moves creates shapes that dissolve in the heat.
She's 49 years old, has a voice that has been compared to fine wood, and a biography that seems to have been written by a committee of madmen: actress, comedian, mariachi singer, troubadour, choral singer, activist. "The Ebony Voice," they call her. She says it with a shrug that could be modesty or could be weariness.
"That nickname was a journalist's idea, about twenty years ago," she says, as the fan continues its swaying motion. "It stuck."
But nothing about Yudenia Manso Costa is as simple as it seems.
The Formative Years: When Art Was a Game and a Trench
To understand Yudenia, you have to start at the end, or at the beginning. She was born on September 4, 1976, in Cuba. Bayamo is a musical city: the National Anthem was sung there for the first time, and music is a way of breathing there. But Yudenia didn't just want to breathe. She wanted to do everything.
"My mother liked to say that I was singing before I could even talk," she recalls. "I would stand in front of the mirror and invent whole shows. I would sing, dance, create characters. I didn't know that was called theater. I knew I was happy."
In 1994, when Yudenia was recruited to study at the "Manuel Muรฑoz Cedeรฑo" Provincial School of Art, her happiness was complete. The country was going through the Special Period. There wasn't much at the school, but there were teachers, discipline, and others who also wanted to dedicate their lives to it.
Three years later, Yudenia graduated with a degree in Theater Instruction and a head full of questions. The main one: what now?
The Guerrilla and Humor: Years of Learning in the Streets
What came next was a different kind of school. "The Guerrilla of Theater Performers" wasn't a group, it was a movement: actors who immersed themselves in communities, neighborhoods, anywhere there were people. Yudenia performed in plazas, schools, and cooperatives. Sometimes she got paid, sometimes she didn't. Sometimes the audience was huge, sometimes it was just three old people and a dog.
"That's where I learned that art doesn't need a stage," she says. It's not just a clichรฉ: it's a truth that Yudenia paid for with sweat and miles traveled.
At the same time, she was exploring humor with "Ultrasonido," a project that blended theater and music. In 2000, at the Aquelarre National Humor Festival, they won the Grand Prize for Musical Comedy Show. Yudenia did parodies, sang, and did impressions. She was funny, but there was something more: a presence that signaled this was just the beginning. This versatility would also lead her, in 2004, to win an award at the "Juan Candela" Oratory Festival, demonstrating that her stage presence went far beyond comedy.
The Mexican Twist: How a Cuban Ended Up Singing Mariachi
In September 1999, Yudenia participated in a Mariachi Gathering in Bayamo. She knew nothing about Mexican music, or perhaps she knew what any Cuban knows: the rancheras they play on the radio, the Vicente Fernรกndez movies. But something happened that night. That participation in several competitions at the National Mariachi Festival marked a turning point.
"I went on stage and sang as if I had been born in Guadalajara," she recalls. "Don't ask me how. It just came out."
Yudenia auditioned and joined the Mariachi "Tierra Brava," under the auspices of the "Sindo Garay" Provincial Music Center. The theater actress was also a professional singer. The young woman who used to imitate voices in her backyard was learning an entire culture, a way of feeling heartbreak that wasn't her own but was beginning to become so.
"The mariachi taught me that music has no homeland," she says. "Heartbreak sounds the same in Mexican Spanish as it does in Cuban Spanish."
Awards and Recognition: The Map of an Unlikely Career
From then on, Yudenia's story becomes a list of awards and accolades that mark a solid career. In 2002, she won the Performance Award and First Place at the "Sindo Garay" Cuban Popular Music Festival. The following year, in 2003, she won Second Prize in the Dance category at the prestigious "Adolfo Guzmรกn" Festival, competing in Havana against the best in the country. Her talent and perseverance led her, in 2005, to receive a Special Award and Diploma at the Cubadisco International Festival, as well as to record with the Colibrรญ label for the collective album Women in Music.
Her sensitivity as a composer was also recognized in 2010 when she received a Special Mention for her work "Ansias" at the Sindo Garay Cuban Popular Music Festival. That same year, her prestige led to her being invited as a special guest at singer Anรกis Abreu's concert, and she participated in the gala celebrating the arrival of the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre in Bayamo. In 2008, she joined the national tour with actors and actresses from the telenovela "Al compรกs del son," bringing her art to new audiences.
"I've never sung for awards," Yudenia affirms. "I've sung because I don't know how to do anything else. Because when I sing, the world makes sense."
Her expertise and experience led her to serve as a jury member at organ festivals in 2002, and on several occasions (2002, 2004, 2015) as a jury member in important amateur competitions. She has also received important recognition at the "La Mi Si Fa" Encounters in 2010, 2011, and 2016, spaces that promote trova and singer-songwriter music.
The Other Voices: From Choir to Trova, From Activism to Social Media
In recent years, Yudenia has expanded her horizons. She is a member of the Bayamo Professional Choir. She writes her own songs: "Soy tu guitarra trovador" (2019), "Siempre contigo" (2021), "Hoy mi canto tiene vida" (2022). She is part of "Musas inquietantes," a project that defends gender diversity and combats violence against women, girls, and boys.
And then there's social media. During the pandemic, Yudenia used Facebook and YouTube to bring her voice to those who couldn't leave their homes. She sang against the virus, she sang so that people wouldn't lose hope.
"Social media is just another stage," she says. "You have to learn to use them, just like you learn to use your voice."
--
The Territory and the Voice
In 2018, the Bayamo Wax Museum honored her. A wax statue attempts to fix what is inherently changeable. Yudenia Manso Costa has built her career on the opposite: on the fleeting nature of the moment, on the vibration that is born and dies in the air.
She has sung in hotels and cabarets, in plazas and museums, on television and in communities. Because she has been an actress and a comedian, a mariachi and a troubadour, a soloist and a choral singer. Because she hasn't wanted to be just one thing.
Outside the cafรฉ, Bayamo still smells of coffee and history. Yudenia closes her fan, asks for the check, and prepares for what's next. Tonight she sings with the choir. Tomorrow she has a performance with "Disturbing Muses." Next week she's in Havana for a television program.
"I don't know how long I'll keep going," she says, as she gets up. And then: "Until my body gives out. And then, a little longer."
The Ebony Voice fades into Real Street, amidst the morning bustle and a story she's still writing. She leaves behind the scent of coffee, the air stirred by a fan, and the certainty that, somewhere in Bayamo, a little girl still stands before the mirror, singing as if the whole world could hear her.
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Muchas gracias.
ยกDe nada! Gracias por agregar tu post al mapa โค๏ธ
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Gracias. Muy amables.
Nos alegra otorgarte la insignia por tus logros en Hive @marabuzal. Gracias por ser parte de la comunidad y por tu dedicaciรณn.
Por cierto, tambiรฉn necesitamos tu ayuda. ยฟPodemos pedirle que apoye nuestra NUEVA propuesta para que nuestro equipo pueda continuar con su trabajo?
Todo lo que necesita hacer es hacer clic en el botรณn "soporte" en esta pรกgina: https://peakd.com/proposals/331.
Gracias!
bendecido dias buena historia
Gracias.
Muy amable
Felicidades, no solo por la reseรฑa sino por permitirnos conocer a una joven talento.
Saludos @ali-nhyamar78
Gracias por tu cercanรญa.
Un abrazo.
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