National Ballet of Cuba Gala to Mark Fidel’s Centennial

The National Ballet of Cuba will present a gala performance to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz on Sunday, August 16, at 5:00 p.m. local time, in the Avellaneda Hall of the National Theater of Cuba.

Under the direction of principal dancer Viengsay Valdés, the program will feature representative works from the company’s repertoire, including Afternoon in the Siesta, choreographed by Alberto Méndez to music by Ernesto Lecuona; and Canto Vital, by Russian dancer and choreographer Azari Plisetski, set to music by Gustav Mahler, according to the Press Department of the renowned company, which has been designated a National Cultural Heritage.

The program will also include scenes from Swan Lake, in Alicia Alonso’s version of the choreography originally created by Lev Ivanov, as well as the final movement of Gottschalk Symphony, also choreographed by Alonso.

Audiovisual materials created especially for the occasion by filmmaker Omelio Esteban Borroto Leiseca will also be shown during the performance.

Following the triumph of the Revolution, and through Fidel’s direct involvement, the National Ballet of Cuba was provided with the resources needed to rebuild the company, which had been dissolved in 1956 after the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista withdrew the state subsidy it had been receiving.

From that point on, ballet in Cuba received an extraordinary boost, eventually becoming a genuine popular phenomenon throughout the country and an internationally acclaimed cultural achievement.

Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez