Blanquita lived and made art in Las Tunas for several years and found much love and admiration there. Author: Taken from Newspaper 26

LAS TUNAS. Since its inception, the invasion of the panorama of our culture, the role of Cuban women has been decisive. It is impossible to talk about spiritual wealth without mentioning its contribution in the most diverse manifestations.

The list of names will be so extensive as to exceed the scope of this report. It will include dancers, artists, actresses, singers, poetesses, writers… All of them left an eternal imprint of their creativity to posterity.

In this constellation of the Blanca stars, Rosa Anastasia Becerra Grela has always shone with her sparks. But it’s too long a name. To our artistic world, she was simply Blancita Becerra.

Blanquita was born on April 27, 1887 in San Antonio de Vueltas, a town in the former province of Las Villas. Her connections with the arts were early and familial, as her parents, Francisca and Antonio, were folk theater actors, and she watched them rehearse and play when she was little. Since “the breed comes to the greyhound”, the girl began to show theatrical abilities early.

The precocity of the diva

So, at the age of five, he made his debut in the community of Pinar del Rio, along with the troupe of the Estrella Circus Theater, which belonged to his father and which was attended by none other than Sindo Garay, a native of Santiago, who created an entire era as a composer and composer, appeared as an artist in aerial gymnastics, a troubadour of traditional Cuban music. Locals liked the girl’s funny participation in skits Pearl of the Antilles And How do Cuban children live?. He also seduced with his monologues and verses.

She was fifteen years old when she sang the zarzuela. Mulatto Maria at the Eden Tent Theater in Santiago de Cuba. At the age of 17, she already won at the Oriente Theater in the Spanish Lyric Art Company of Julio Ruiz with an excellent soprano, which was later trained and polished by the teachers of that time.

In 1905, she married a show businessman in the Cathedral of Santiago, but the marriage did not last long. Blanquita decided to join her father’s artistic company, with whom she settled permanently in Havana. His performances at the famous Marty Theater were famous, where he parodied fashionable zarzuelas. A fearless woman, she signed a contract with the Alhambra Theatre, an installation labeled “for single men”.

At the Alhambra, Blanquita not only triumphed. He also destroyed prejudices and taboos. Later, she slyly told Bohemia magazine: “After the first performances, I realized that, contrary to what I assumed, this was the same theater as all the others. There was nothing there that could offend the morality of any woman. Double-digit works were simply presented. Perhaps denying what people might say about the Alhambra, but I can assure you that the work that was on display there today is childish.”

Luxurious Curriculum

Blanquita Becerra performed at the Alhambra for 20 years. She embodied the roles of a naive young lady, a foul-mouthed mulatto, a drunkard, a Galician, a daring … But, above all, she surpassed herself as a lyrical singer. In this state, he popularized the works of Agustín Rodriguez, Federico Willoch and Jorge Ankerman. Some of them were recorded for the Columbia and RCA Victor labels. He performed with the Alhambra troupe at the theaters of Payre and Nacional.

A multi-faceted artist, able to feel like a fish in water in any media, radio was no stranger to her. Stations of the time gained prestige for their presentations, including PWX, the first national broadcast when it went on the air on October 10, 1922. Blanquita later worked for Radio Lavin and CMQ.

Surgery on the larynx affected his voice. She then became a versatile actress, able to interpret a variety of roles. In 1942, he worked for the popular radio station RHC-Cadena Azul, where his character Maria Bibijagua ridiculed the current government, for which he was repeatedly threatened. A year later, he starred in the play Sabanimar, a work by Paco Alfonso at the Teatro Principal; and in the famous zarzuela Cecilia ValdesGonzalo Roig.

He also appeared in the cabarets of the Habana Libre and Capri hotels and was part of the cast of Cuban films. Manuel Garcia, King of the Fields of Cuba And thirst for love. In addition, he took his art to the United States, Mexico and Spain. For several years he animated the tables of the Cuban buffalo theater. In this genre, she was the most prolific actress and the longest-serving actress. As the almanacs began to make their mark, audiences were amazed to see her play on the small screen with extraordinary clarity and vivacity.

He traveled around the country with his children Esther and Jose, with whom he starred in small humorous episodes. She was always applauded by the public, who admired and adored her, because, in addition to her great artistic merit, she had a great ability to establish effective channels of communication with people.

White girl in Las Tunas

In the second half of the 1970s, the commander of For Chomon Mediavilla, then the first secretary of the party in
the newly created province of Las Tunas invited Blanquita Becerra to visit the territory.

The leader’s plans were to revive the artistic and cultural panorama of the region, and in one of his contacts with the diva, he asked her to contribute to this goal by staying with us for a while.

Blanquita readily accepted the request and set up her camp in a large house in the street Gonzalo de Quesada, the name of the famous patriot, with whom, by the way, she became friends. His stay in Las Tunas lasted several years and was a kind of artistic resurrection.

The actress, who is now almost eighty years old, has been active here as a cultural propagandist. The authorities gave him opportunities to develop his project. So they built a stage at the back of their residence, where the so-called Patio de la Trova worked, where vocalists and amateurs aspiring to acting paraded.

Blanquita not only organized and supported the work of rock. In addition, she played and sang by herself, accompanied on guitar by Hector Suarez from Las Tunas. Those who had the honor of seeing her say that she struggled up the stage steps. But once she stepped onto the stage, she became the great artist that she was. He was happy in Las Tunas and made the people of Las Tunas happy. The culture of this territory owes him endless gratitude for all that he has shown here in the name of its diversity and progress.

When he returned to Havana, he was already over 90 calendars old. According to his biographers, he was still able to dance the cajon rumba and even sponsor an art group in the Havana city of Bejucal. Finally, he died on October 30, 1985 at the age of 98, having devoted more than 80 of them to art. A few years before his death, he gave an interview to the researcher José Pinheiro. Among other things, he told her: “My voice is already old, but I do it with great pleasure, because singing and music are part of my life for me. I’ll stop only when I’m dead.”

In performances in his club, the diva was accompanied on the guitar by a musician from Las Tunas, Hector Suarez.

Blanquita lived and made art in Las Tunas for several years and found much love and admiration there.

Source: Juventud Rebelde