Cuba's overweight dance company celebrates 20 years of performance

Cuba's dance company Danza Voluminous (Voluminous Dance) made up of overweight women and men, has fought for two decades in Cuba to show that non-slender bodies can also dance and offer art and spectacle.

In a country passionate about dance and where the aesthetics of ballet are important, "Voluminous Dance" first appeared on the scene in 1996 and has since tried to break prejudices and mockery of overweight people on stage.

At the weekend, the group celebrated its 20 year anniversary with a gala at the National Theatre of Cuba, to a full audience, where it shared the scene with important companies on the island such as Contemporary Dance and Acosta Dance.

One of its members, actor and dancer, Evaristo Valenti, told Reuters many overweight people felt powerless to do certain things.

"Yet there are people who are dubious about what fat people can do. In fact, they consider that being fat is similar to being handicapped. I tell you from experience. One thinks: 'Fat people can't do this, fat people can't do that and fat people can. Because in fat, there are fat people who are married, there are athletes, there are actors, there are dancers," he said.

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