Yanisbel Victoria Martínez

Deputy to the Directorate

Premio Nacional de Teatro para la infancia y la juventud 2014 Ξ Premio Prestigio Turístico Nacional

(Havana, 1975). Martínez earned her degree in Theater Arts, specializing in Stage Direction at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, 1997. From 1993 to 1999, she worked with various theater companies in Cuba: Teatro de las Estaciones, Papalote, and Pálpito, whose performances earned a number of awards and excellent reviews.

In 1999 she traveled to France to study puppet theater at the National School of Puppet Arts, Charleville- Mézières, and then at the Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris (Institute of Theater Studies). She earned two Masters of Theater Art for her research of contemporary puppetry from the Paris III university (Teatro Gioco Vita, y Asian influences in the contemporary French scene puppeteer).

She has worked with several international companies such as  Turak Théâtre (France, 2000-2001), Kilkis Puppet Company (Greece, 2002), Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre (Vietnam, 2003-2004), and Vietnam’s National Puppet Theatre (2006).

Between 2003 and 2007 she directed the Salamancan puppet company, Alánimo Teatro, with whom she staged works by contemporary authors (Cédric Érard, Matei Visniec, Jean-Gabriel Nordmann). In this Spanish city in 2006, she wrote articles about theater for Culturas, a weekly supplement covering the arts, for the newspaper Tribuna de Salamanca, and she worked on the production of the International Arts Festival of Castilla y León (2006 and 2007).

In Madrid in 2006, she completed a course specializing in Entertainment Production, Management, and Distribution, instructed by Robert Muro..

In 2007 she joined Etcétera as Enrique Lanz‘s assistant director. As a principal member of Etcétera, she also works as head of production, puppeteer, and actress.

She has organized numerous courses and workshops on theater in Cuba, Venezuela, France, Thailand, Greece, Spain, and Vietnam, and has lectured on puppets in Cuba, Spain, and Vietnam. Since 1997 she has collaborated with the Cuban theater magazines, Tablas, Conjunto, Mojiganga, as well as participated in the organization of festivals, theatrical events and publications in Cuba. Her articles have also appeared in the French magazines Puck, Manip , and Sais-tu if sommes nous encore loin de la mer?, and in the Spanish magazinesTiteresante e Intramuros.

Martínezs is a curator, with Enrique Lanz, of Puppets. 30 years of Etcétera, at Granada’s Parque de las Ciencias, and editor of the exhibition catalog.

More information in the following interviews:

Diario de Cuba, “Mi nombre dice dónde y cuándo nací”, by Jorge Ignacio Pérez

Culturas, Tribuna de Salamanca, “El títere es como un ornitorrinco”, by Antonio Marcos

Emisora Habana Radio,«Etcétera apuesta por un teatro de arte. Entrevista a Yanisbel Martínez y a Enrique Lanz, del Grupo de Títeres Etcétera (I)», by Marilyn Garbey

Emisora Habana Radio, «Entender por qué es necesario el teatro. Entrevista a Enrique Lanz y a Yanisbel Martínez, del Grupo de Teatro de Títeres Etcétera (II)», by Marilyn Garbey