| 14/01/2021 – 11:10 am (GMT-4)
The Cuban dancer, choreographer and teacher, Gladys González Camejo, died of a heart attack in Mexico on Wednesday at the age of 83According to his son, also a dancer, actor and singer, Julio Camejo.
Main figure of the Cuban television ballet, for decades Gladys González formed together with her husband Antonio Sánchez –died in 2014– one of the most famous dancing couples on the island. At the time of her death, she was a dance consultant-specialist in ballroom dancing at the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, in Mexico, where she lived for several years.
Gladys and Antonio, as the couple was popularly known among Cubans, stood out for their contribution to the television show “Para Bailar”. Later they created the space “Learning to Dance”, where they taught popular and traditional dances from Cuba and other countries.
In a video broadcast on Facebook, Julio Camejo recalled his mother’s last moments. “I’m not going to tell you how she died, I’m going to tell you how this amazing woman lived”Camejo began his emotional message, telling that his mother had taken classes yesterday online to their students.
Camejo emphasized that Gladys González was not only a great dancer and a great choreographer, but also a ‘piece of a mother and a piece of a woman’. He added that while he feels a great void for the game, he prefers not to close his eyes and suffer, but to open them and “Remind her how wonderful she was at her teaching.”
“He has always encouraged me to do my best, to be a good father, but above all it was the woman who said to me, ‘before you think about your personal well-being, think about the well-being of the people’, and I leave with it, with his joy, with that definitive smile that characterized herHe added.
“If you want to remember her, my people, remember her with a sip of rum, remember her 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 rumberas, Gladys González, “Antonio’s wife,” is dancing with my father again today. I love everything they left me. And gratitude, because thanks to you I am the man, the father, the artist and the person that I am, ”Camejo wrote in another publication on his social networks.
“We deeply regret the death of our Professor of the Department of Art and Culture, Gladys González Camejo, and unite in the grief her family and friends have suffered. Rest in peace, ”the Tecnológico de Monterrey published on its social networks.
The news was also shared on the Cuban Radio and Television Institute (ICRT) website.
“Today Gladys González, principal dancer, teacher and choreographer of the Cuban Television Ballet is no longer physically with us. One of the most important figures of the show and of our Cuban culture. We are very sad with your unexpected departure for everyone! Cuban Dance is in mourning! Tireless worker who gave her best lessons until her death. In this way we will remind you that you danced and laughed the way you wanted, ”also Cuban dancer Carmencita Castiñeiras wrote on Facebook.
‘Fly high dear master and friend! We will never forget you, you always live in all of us! Because the dance was your life! My condolences to Julio, Mariela to their families and students of Tecnológico de Monterrey ”, he concluded.
Gladys González was also remembered by Cuban journalist Abel Álvarez, who classified her death as “Another Bad News for Cuban Culture”, and defined it as one “One of the most charismatic dancers Cuban television has had”.
In addition to her excellent time on Cuban television, Gladys González also created works for the Cuban National Ballet, including Las Pericas, inspired by a play by the playwright Nicolás Dorr.