Premieres of the National Ballet of Cuba
The National Ballet of Cuba returns to the Avellaneda Hall of the National Theater on March 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25 and 26 with the premiere of Otra bella cubana by (Another Beautiful Cuban Woman) Susana Pous, with music by M Alfonso and designs by Guido Galli.
The work, composed for soloists and corps de ballet, tells a story from the female point of view, with inspiring autobiographical elements, of a Spanish choreographer who has had an important career as a dance artist in the largest archipelago of the Antilles and who considers herself Cuban.
On this occasion, the company will premiere Ballet 101, a work by Canadian choreographer Eric Gauthier to a score by Jens-Peter Abele. It is a graceful «crash course in ballet» that, starting from the five basic positions, expands the dancer’s expressive possibilities with references to repertory ballets and alludes to characteristic forms used by famous choreographers. In the first half, the positions are shown; in the second half, they are randomly combined to create a surprising choreography.
The program will also include a piece by Brazilian Ricardo Amarante entitled A fuego lento (A Slow Burn). This ballet shows how the first feelings of love and desire grow in a person, like a fire that burns from within. Each scene shows a degree of emotional intensity, over the sensual music of Lalo Schifrin, Astor Piazzolla, Carlos Gardel and S. Kosugi, highlighting the note of the National Ballet of Cuba, Cultural Heritage of the Nation.
Furthermore, Ricardo Amarante will present Love, Fear, Loss, with music by Édith Piaf, Marguerite Monnot, Jacques Brel and Charles Dumont. This creation is inspired by the life of the great French singer Édith Piaf and her anthological performances of works that, in a way, faithfully reflect her tragic love life.
Each pas de deux takes the audience through the experience of a couple’s relationship, in which feelings of love, fear and loss are superimposed on the usual multiple complexities.
These performances will also include one of the company’s most successful recent shows: Concert DSCH, choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky, with music by Dmitri Shostakovich.
This ballet was inspired by the music of the great composer – the initials of the title allude to his name and surname – in the suggestions and emotions that the choreographer provoked in this score, which, in his own words, is a faithful reflection of the optimism, joy and idealism of a generation. For a choreographer, the concert is a stimulating challenge because of the contrast between the different moods evoked by the martial character of the first movement, the melancholic lyricism of the second and the disturbing vivacity of the third.
Tickets will be on sale from March 7, from Tuesday to Sunday, from 13:00 to 18:00, at the box office of the National Theater.
