A Celebration of Cuban Dance
From October 20 to 28, the Avellaneda Hall at Cuba’s National Theater will host a special season of performances marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Ministry of Culture, the 81st anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, Hispanic Heritage Day, and the 78th anniversary of the founding of the National Ballet of Cuba.
The opening performance, on Tuesday, October 20, National Culture Day, will be dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Ministry of Culture. The gala will feature Cuba’s three leading dance companies: the National Ballet of Cuba, under the general direction of Viengsay Valdés, performing a suite from Don Quixote, based on the staging by Alicia Alonso (artistic and choreographic direction), Marta García, and María Elena Llorente, after the original choreography by Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky’s version; Contemporary Dance of Cuba, presenting excerpts from Katharsis Morphé by George Céspedes, one of the company’s most recent creations—and one of its latest successes—under the direction of Miguel Iglesias; and the National Folkloric Ensemble, led by Leiván García, performing excerpts from Yoruba Cycle (Yemayá and Shangó), choreographed by Mexican artist Rodolfo Reyes Cortés, with a libretto by Rogelio Martínez Furé. The work was part of the company’s inaugural repertoire.
On October 24 and 25, the National Ballet of Cuba will perform its production of Giselle, in Alicia Alonso’s landmark staging, based on the original choreography by Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli and Marius Petipa’s version. The company recently scored major successes with this ballet on Russian stages, including performances at Moscow’s iconic Bolshoi Theatre and St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre. The Saturday, October 24, performance will be dedicated to the United Nations, founded in 1945, and will also pay tribute to the organization’s work in Cuba.
The celebratory season will close on Wednesday, October 28, the 78th anniversary of the first performance by what was then known as the Alicia Alonso Ballet, now the National Ballet of Cuba. The company will present The Magic of Dance, a landmark program featuring highlights from 19th-century ballet in versions by Alicia Alonso, as well as the finale of Gottschalk Symphony, choreographed by Alonso herself.
On this occasion, the National Ballet of Cuba will also celebrate Hispanic Heritage Day, observed annually on October 12 to commemorate the encounter between Europe and the Americas following Christopher Columbus’s arrival on the continent in 1492.
In a sense, this season seeks to make up for the cancellation of this year’s Alicia Alonso Havana International Ballet Festival, one of Cuba’s most important cultural events, which cannot be held because of the difficulties the country is facing.
Source: National Ballet of Cuba
Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez
Ballet Don Quixote, National Ballet of Cuba. Photo: Granma
