| 14/01/2021 – 11:10 (GMT-4)
The Cuban dancer, choreographer and teacher, Gladys González Camejo, died of a heart attack on Wednesday, in Mexico, at the age of 83According to his son, the dancer, actor and singer, Julio Camejo.
The main figure in Cuban television ballet, Gladys González has been training with her husband Antonio Sánchez for decades –died in 2014– one of the most famous dance couples on the island. At the time of her death, she was a dance consultant specializing in ballroom dancing at the Technological Institute of Higher Education in Monterrey, Mexico, where she lived for several years.
“Gladys and Antonio”, because the couple was popularly known among Cubans, was noted for their contribution to the television program “Para Bailar”. Later, they created the “Learning to Dance” space, where they taught folk and traditional dances from Cuba and other countries.
In a video shared on Facebook, Julio Camejo recalled the last moments of his mother. “I’m not going to tell you how she died, but I’m going to tell you how this great woman lived.”Camejo began his emotional message, in which he said that yesterday his mother had a class online their students.
Camejo pointed out that, in addition to being a great dancer and a great choreographer, Gladys González was “a piece of mother and a piece of wife.” He added that although he feels a great emptiness for the game, he prefers not to close his eyes and suffer, but to open them and “Remember how great it was for her teaching.”
“He always encouraged me to do my best, to be a good father, but above all the woman said to me, ‘Before you think about your personal good, think about the good of the people,’ and I go with that, with his joy, with that definite smile that defined her“He added.
“If you want to remember her, my people, remember her with a sip of rum, remember dancing salsa or a danzón, remember her with a smile, because that’s how she wanted to be remembered, always smiling ”, He concluded.
“The last of the rumba, Gladys González, “Antonio’s wife” today dances with my father once again. I keep everything they left me. And gratitude because thanks to you I am the man, the father, the artist and the person I am ”, wrote Camejo in another publication on his social networks.
“We deeply regret the death of our professor in the Department of Art and Culture, Gladys González Camejo, and we unite with the pain suffered by her family and friends. Rest in peace “, he published on his social networks Tecnológico de Monterrey.
The news was also distributed on the website of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT).
“Today Gladys González, the first dancer, teacher and choreographer of the Cuban Television Ballet, has stopped being physically with us. One of the most important figures of the show and of our Cuban culture. We are very saddened by his unexpected departure for everyone! Cuban dance is in mourning! A tireless worker who gave her the best teachings until her death. In this way we will remember you dancing and laughing as you liked “, wrote on Facebook the Cuban dancer Carmencita Castiñeiras.
“Fly up, dear Master and Friend! We will never forget you, you will always live in each of us! Because Dance was Your Life! My condolences to Julio, Mariela to their families and to the students from Tecnológico de Monterrey “, he concluded.
Gladys González was also mentioned by Cuban journalist Abel Álvarez, who classified her death as “Another bad news for Cuban culture”, and defined it as a “One of the most charismatic dancers on Cuban television.”
In addition to her remarkable time on Cuban television, Gladys González has also created works for the Cuban National Ballet, including Las Pericas, inspired by a play by playwright Nicolás Dorr.