EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 27 September 2023 — The National Ballet of Cuba (BNC) will celebrate its 75th anniversary with an intense program of 15 works in one month, including dance classics and the company’s own classics such as Don Quixote, Swan Lake, and Coppelia. The program will run throughout October, coinciding with the month of the company’s foundation, the company’s directors announced Tuesday at a press conference.
“(It will be) a full month with performances every weekend and (with) different programs,” explained Viengsay Valdés, general director and dancer of the BNC.
The performances will be held at the Avellaneda Hall of the National Theater of Cuba, with the exception of October 28th, the last day of the 75th anniversary jubilee, when a grand gala will be held.
Likewise, Valdés said, the company will carry out different activities in public places, movie theaters, and schools in order to “awaken that feeling for the art of dance even more.” continue reading
It will be a full month with performances every weekend and different programs,” explained Viengsay Valdés
The different performances will feature Cuban and foreign dancers from other companies, according to the organizers. And one of the figures who will be at the center will be Alicia Alonso, its former director, main founder, and leading figure, who died in 2019 at the age of 99.
The program includes Rara Avis, Cinderella, Coppelia, Don Quixote, Carmen, Giselle, Song of Life, Seventh Symphony, Classical Trilogy (Act I of Coppelia, Act II of Swan Lake, and Act III of Don Quixote), Alfonsina, Leda and the Swan, Rhythms, Dionaea, Majísimo and Blood Wedding.
The National Ballet of Cuba is the most important classical dance company on the island, founded in 1948 under the name of Alicia Alonso, internationally renowned for the artistic-technical rigor of its dancers and a style in which the romantic and classical traditions predominate.
In 2018 it was declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation for being “the highest expression of the Cuban school of ballet,” a status extended to the repertoire of the company, its archive of images, objects, and documents related to the institution.
Translated by Allison Reyes, Sterling Cole, and TriciaLyn Beamer as part of Spanish 321 (University of Miami)
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