Cuban Defector to Lead Brandon Ballet

News Report

A Cuban defector who is now an American citizen has been named artistic director and master teacher for the Brandon Ballet.

Octavio Martin was the Primer Bailarin for the Ballet Nacional de Cuba for five years, the highest position a dancer could hold in the ballet company that was founded in 1948, 11 years before Fidel Castro took power.

Funded by the Cuban government, which provided salaries for artists and dancers, the Cuban National Ballet achieved worldwide recognition.

Getting paid by the government to dance proved to be an attraction for talented artists. But for Octavio Martin and wife, Yakima Franco, the desire for freedom was an even greater attraction.

The couple defected to the United States and, last year, became American citizens. 

“In this moment after more than 25 years in the profession, becoming artistic director will be a big step in my life and career," said Martin. "I’m thankful to the Brandon Ballet for this wonderful opportunity to continue contributing this art form to this wonderful country."

“We just became an arts institution with the addition of this world-class artist named Octavio Martin," said Alice Holden Bock, executive director of the Brandon Ballet. "Having him with us as an innovative choreographer, with his superior training and passionate devotion to the art of dance, Brandon Ballet will enrich the lives of the people of Tampa Bay under his leadership."
 
Martin was 8 years old when his father, a stagehand at the Garcia Lorca Theatre in Havana, took him to audition for a part in children’s theater. At the age of 9 he started ballet lessons and studied at the Cuban School of Ballet and, at age 19, he was accepted to the prestigious Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1994.

By 2001, Martin was the Primer Bailarin representing that company in theaters around the world. Then, in 2006, Martin was invited to guest dance with The Royal Winnipeg Ballet in productions such "The Nutcracker" and "Sleeping Beauty."

The opportunity afforded Martin a chance to expand his repertoire and learn different styles of dance he wouldn’t otherwise have been exposed to in Cuba.

Subsequently, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet offered Martin a contract and a chance to remain with the company as principal dancer. With his wife still in Cuba, he returned to seek permission to join the Royal Winnipeg Ballet from the founder and artistic director of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Alicia Alonso. However, Alonso denied him the chance to leave Cuba and Martin and his wife continued to dance with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba on tour in Spain, Tunisia, London and Mexico until 2005. 

While performing at the Festival Ceiba in Villahermosa, Mexico, Martin saw a chance for freedom.

“We were in a hotel room after our last performance and Yaima and I decided to sneak out of the hotel late that night. We purchased two bus tickets to travel to the border in Matamoros. We told no one, not even our families, as we were afraid of the consequences for them.  We came back to the hotel, now with our bus tickets, and met the rest of the dancers and staff the next morning as we had every day before," recalled Martin.

The festival was over and it was time for the company to fly back to Havana. But Martin and his wife had other plans.

"We had to leave our luggage in the hotel room so no one would see that we were ready to go it alone," said Martin. "We left everything there but what we wore. When we arrived at the bus station, we headed to our bus, which was different than the bus the rest of ballet troupe was to get on. We made sure no one was following us and we got on the bus to Matamoros while the rest of the ballet troupe caught the bus to the airport."

Martin said the bus was stopped three times by Mexican police who checked everyone for legal documents and papers.

"While we had our passports with visas, we were obviously on the wrong bus," said Martin. "We avoided being noticed and caught by acting as if we were asleep. Twenty-seven hours later, we got to the U.S. border and walked what seemed like the longest bridge, ever afraid, watching for the border patrol. We made it into the immigration office and pleaded for political asylum."

Martin and his wife were detained for four hours until they were granted political asylum and released. From there, the couple purchased two more bus tickets to journey to Miami the next day.

“The hotel receptionist in Matamoros was so generous. We had no money for a hotel that night, so she let us sleep in the lobby,” said Martin.

The couple went on to Miami where they made contact with Martin's brother. Martin promptly prepared his resume and began searching for ballet companies that would hire him. Unfortunately, he could only find a
few dancing jobs with amateur community ballet groups performing mostly with children who had no training.

“It was depressing. Here I was a principal dancer in one of the world’s most-respected ballet companies dancing with kids just to make a hundred bucks,” said Martin.

The money he made was barely enough to get to auditions with any ballet company who’d grant him one. He traveled from Cincinnati to Colorado to Orlando and ultimately to Sarasota to audition.

He finally got his break in 2006 with the Sarasota Ballet and went on to become the ballet's principal dancer in 2008 while his wife became the Ballet Mistress, the highest position a ballet instructor can reach.

Their journey for freedom culminated last year when they became American citizens.

“It felt amazing…finally a sense of freedom,” said Martin.

Last spring Martin was terminated from the Sarasota ballet following a contract dispute. 

But Sarasota's loss was Brandon's gain, said Holden Bock.

“We are so excited to have him. Brandon and the entire Tampa Bay community have a shining new star,” said Holden Bock.

Founded in 1993, Brandon Ballet is a nonprofit pre-professional ballet company that develops and promotes opportunities for aspiring young dancers. The company has grown to include 38 dancers of varying levels.

For more information, visit the ballet's website.