We share with the readers of Cubadebate the special program for the centenary of Haydee Santamaría:

In 2022:
Friday October 21 || 5:00 pm. || Casa de las Américas: Inauguration of the exhibition The Fabric of Memory. Tribute to Haydee Santamaría, with works from the Haydee Santamaría Art of Our America Collection.
Tuesday October 25 || 3:00 pm. || Che Guevara Room: Presentation of the 2023 calendar “Haydee Santamaría one hundred years after her birth”. A co-edition of Ocean Sur and Casa de las Américas.
Friday, November 25 || 5:00 pm. || José Antonio Echeverría Library; Inauguration of the bibliographic and documentary exhibition “Centenario de Haydee Santamaría”.
Thursday, December 15 || 3:00 pm. || Che Guevara Room: Presentation of the book Hay de defend la vida, a compilation of texts by Haydee Santamaría, which Casa de las Américas publishes in co-edition with Ocean Sur and a special issue of Casa de las Américas magazine dedicated to its founder.
Thursday, December 15 || 5:00 pm. || Che Guevara Room: “Songs for Haydee”. Concert by the Ensemble Vocal Luna, under the direction of the teacher Maribel Nodarse.
Friday December 16 || 2:00 p.m. || Cinema 23 and 12: Special function of the Cuban Cinematheque with Icaic materials dedicated to Haydee Santamaría or that include her presence.
Friday December 30 || Broadcast on Cuban television: Screening of the documentary “Nuestra Haydee”, a production of the Casa de las Américas, directed by Esther Barroso.

In 2023:
Sunday January 15 || 5:00 pm. || Avellaneda Hall of the National Theater of Cuba: Special function of the National Ballet of Cuba dedicated to the centenary of Haydee Santamaría.
Friday January 20 || 7:00 p.m. || Che Guevara Hall: Concert by José María Vitier dedicated to Haydee Santamaría.
Thursday, January 26 || 7:00 p.m. || Che Guevara Hall: Concert by Amaury Pérez dedicated to Haydee Santamaría, as part of the activities of the 2023 Casa de las Américas Literary Prize.
From February 20 to 24 || Manuel Galich Room: Dedicated to honoring the memory of Haydee Santamaría, the International Colloquium “Politics and Politics in the History and Culture of Latin American and Caribbean Women” will be held as part of the Casa de las Américas Women’s Studies Program.
Wednesday, March 8 || 3:00 pm. || Manuel Galich Room: Women and women’s struggles from the Casa de las Américas. A panel in homage to Haydee Santamaría.
Friday April 28 || Che Guevara Room: Celebration of the 64th anniversary of the Casa de las Américas.

The Organizing Committee of the Festival, which is chaired by the prima ballerina Viengsay Valdés, general director of the National Ballet of Cuba, has announced that a series of performances of the great romantic ballet Giselle will be presented, with the performance of guest stars in the leading roles, as well as galas with premieres of works created especially for this occasion. The main venue will be the National Theater, in Havana, and presentations are planned at the Sauto, in Matanzas, the Terry, in Cienfuegos, and the Milanés, in Pinar del Río.

The Alicia Alonso International Ballet Festival of Havana, with more than 60 years of history, is one of the most traditional and prestigious events in the world of dance.

(With information from the organizing committee of the event)

According to the BNC, this edition deserved the praise of the Codalario magazine , one of the most prestigious in the field of Spanish music criticism, initialed by the specialist Albert Ferrer, who valued the relevance of the work.

Apart from biographical and personal experiences, in the book Alicia Alonso is firm in the defense of the value of culture as a bulwark for the artist, the knowledge of tradition, the ethical and aesthetic commitment to ballet, Ferrer stressed.

In Dialogue with Dance, the founder of BNC presents ballet as a national expression of peoples in their idiosyncrasy, as a manifestation of universal character due to physical potential, and expression of art linked to the subject, the BNC press release refers.

With its publication, the author denounced discriminatory attitudes and racial and cultural prejudices that marked her time before which she did not bow, while pointing out the difference between school and ballet style.

The book of the most universal dancer in Cuba, which is on sale in the main bookstores in Spain, is an editorial event and has aroused the interest of professionals in the performing arts.

(With information from Prensa Latina)

BNC ballerinas have the challenge and example of a magical name in the history of ballet: Alicia Alonso. Basing themselves on their sublime director’s extraordinary performances, a school in and of itself, they must aspire to create their own Giselles, Carmens, Odette-Odilles.

Followers of the company and our readers know that that Alicia Alonso has accomplished the goal of making ballet enchanting to a broad, popular audience in Cuba, and keeping alive Giselle, a romantic ballet par excellence, in the version she herself developed. It has been, and clearly is, danced by all of the company’s leading figures.

The company has already offered a series of performances of Giselle, which along with Swan Lake, is the most beloved and demanded by the public and by dancers, since it is considered a sign of having arrived at the summit. The BNC can be proud today of having no less than four prima ballerinas for the performances: Sadaise Arencibia, Anette Delgado, Gretel Morejón, and Viengsay Valdés.

Let us recall that the first staging of Giselle took place in 1841, with a script by Teofile Gautier, and libretto by Vernoy de Saint-George, based on the German legend of the willis, described by Heinrich Heine in his book on popular traditions. The music is by Adolfo Adam, and the choreography by Jules Perrot for his wife, the exceptional Carlota Grissi.

A masterpiece of Romanticism, with its legend and touch of mystery, Giselle casts a spell on the audience and the dancers that even the passage of time cannot diminish. Impressive technique is not enough to bring the role to life; its fundamental characteristics require extraordinary acting and style.

Both qualities were exhibited masterfully in the performance by prima ballerina Viengsay Valdés on February 19. This comes as no surprise, since she has been described by the most prestigious critics as among the world’s four best contemporary dancers, but she must be seen on the stage… the harmony of her dancing, precise technique, charismatic lyricism, elegant style, astonishing arabesques, sense of interpretation, and interminable balancés (Washington Post critic Sarah Kaufman wrote that time stops when Viengsay performs this step.

But she has something more. In this era of male and female dancers with impeccable technique, it is the passion Viengsay puts into her dancing that captivates audiences in Havana, of course, but also Paris, Madrid, London, Tokyo, Washington, Amsterdam, Berlin, Budapest, and throughout the world.

The BNC can be proud today of having no less than four prima ballerinas for the performances: Sadaise Arencibia, Anette Delgado, Gretel Morejón, and Viengsay Valdés. Photo: Courtesy of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba
She was Giselle on the stage in Havana’s Alicia Alonso Grand Theater and gave a performance that was unforgettable, elegant, and imposing in its precision.

Viengsay moved from the innocence of the farm girl (with the famous diagonal taking the audience’s breath away), then to a broken heart and contained madness, and magically to the emotional resolution of the second act, in which she was impeccable, subtle, “as fragile as a glass about to break,” as cinematographer Enrique Pineda Barnet would say, after the performance.

It must be added that the corps de ballet was sensational, and soloist Revé, making his debut as Albretch, was an attentive partner, although in need of more rehearsal.

As she left for another of the innumerable galas to which she is invited, before leaving on tour with the BNC to El Salvador (March 31- April 1) and Costa Rica ( March 25-26), the prima ballerina was kind enough to offer a few comments to our readers:

“For me, Giselle has always been a challenge, as one of the great classics that are required for a prima ballerina. It’s not just the simple fact of debuting in the role, but rather gaining experience each time it is danced. I have directly drawn on the great masters, from Alicia herself, Fernando Alonso and Josefina Mendéz – who got me started in this role, and elaborated many artistic details for me. On this occasion I had the opportunity to rehearse with maitre Aurora Bosch and a special complement was the help and collaboration of maestro Enrique Pineda Barnet in terms of the acting, which was an important factor for the young Patricio Revé in the role of Albrecht.”

Asked if the orchestra was perhaps a little slow during the February 19 performance, the dancer responded, “I must acknowledge that yes, the musical rhythm was slow, especially in my variations, but resorting to technique, control, and the very pull of the character, I was able to come out fine.”

Viengsay announced that the company will take Giselle on tour to Spain and France, this coming May and June, adding, “Dancing Giselle in Paris is, of course, very significant, precisely because that is where the National Ballet of Cuba was awarded the Grand Prix de la Ville in 1966 during the Dance Festival, for this ballet and our version has been much praised and well-received.”

Commenting on her upcoming gala performance with U.S. dancer Brooklyn Mack, she said, “I have been invited as a special artist to observe performances and classes for students participating in the Youth America Grand Prix Regional Gala Semi-Final, in Salt Lake City, and will have the opportunity to share my experiences as a professional ballet dancer with the young participants. It will also be a great pleasure to again dance with the U.S. principal danseur, Brooklyn Mack, in the pas de deux Diana and Acteón, which we debuted in the 24th Havana Ballet Festival and was requested by the organizers of the event. Previously, I had been invited to the galas held in New York in 2011 and 2013.”

Giselle is a work of art and continues to move audiences enormously. First ballerina Viengsay Valdés, with her technique, art, and charisma has joined the distinguished group of stars who have kept this majestic piece of romanticism alive.

OF STEEL AND CLOUDS
Viengsay Valdés is a dancer who has assumed leading roles in all of the ballets performed by the BNC, which has an enviable, diverse repertory of classic romantic works, and vanguard choreographies, which provides its prima ballerinas a wealth of opportunities.

Born November 10, 1976, she began her ballet studies in 1986 at Havana’s Alejo Carpentier Provincial School, and continued at the National School with outstanding teachers, among them Ramona de Saá, Adria Velázquez and Mirtha Hermida. In 1994, she graduated with Honors. The legendary prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso soon noted the innate talent of the 17-year-old Viensgay, and invited her to join the BNC.

She advanced quickly to principal dancer and in 2011 to prima ballerina, dancing in the most important theaters of Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the United States. She has been a guest star invited by some of the world’s most prestigious companies, including the Mariinski Theater Ballet in St. Petersburg; the Bolshoi, in Moscow; the Royal Danish Ballet; and the Royal Ballet of London.

She has had spectacular seasons with Giselle, Don Quixote, an unforgettable Kitri, … balancés, pirouttes, fouttes, in London’s Sadler’s Wells Theater; with Cuban star Carlos Acosta in the Paris Grand Palais; as a guest artist at the Mariinsky, with Russian Leonid Sarafanov; and with the Washington Ballet in the Kennedy Center for a new version of Don Quixote choreographed by Anna-Marie Holmes.

Her long list of gala performances include, for example, Les Étoiles du XXIe Siècle in Paris, and among the festivals in which she has participated are those in Beijing, Japan, Laos, New York, Washington, Mexico, Turkey, Buenos Aires, Australia, and South Africa.

This past month, presented at the 2017 International Book Fair in Havana, was her biography written by Carlos Tablada, aptly entitled De acero y nube (Of steel and clouds.)

(Granma)

Thus far, dancers from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, South Korea, France, Britain, Spain, the United States, Mexico, Mongolia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Russia, and Uruguay are set to participate in the event.

According to the Festival organizing committee, a large number of performances will be led by stars of the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC) and the company’s famed dance troupe.

Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quijote and La fille mal gardée feature among classic works to be presented during the event taking place in the National and Mella theatres; as well as the Alicia Alonso Grand Theater of Havana.

Since its first edition in 1960, the Havana International Ballet Festival has become a social event in Cuba and continues to preserve its character of camaraderie character, with an emphasis on healthy cultural exchange.

With different styles, choreographies, schools of dance, old and new trends, people from around the world descend on Cuba to attend the festival which also includes visual arts; music; film; literature; folklore; and theatre presentations; the printing of commemorative stamps and posters; as well as photography exhibitions.

(Granma)

During a tour of the company’s headquarters, on Calzada 510 in the Havana neighborhood of Vedado, the visitors stopped in to watch rehearsals for the piece Tiempo de Danzón; inwhich Cuban choreographerEduardo Blanco offers a contemporary perspective on this traditional Cuban dance.

The guests were then received by prima ballerina assolutta and director of the National Ballet of Cuba, Alicia Alonso, with whom they also held a private meeting.

Princess Caroline of Monaco traveled to Havana together with theMonte Carlo Ballet, debuting here in the capital this Friday evening, with Cinderella, based on the original tale by German authors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
Led by the French former ballet dancer for over six years, the group – founded in 1926 – is also the national company of the Principality of Monaco, City-State located in Western Europe between the foot of the Southern Alps and the Mediterranean.

The company is renowned for the simplicity, symbolism and modern quality of its work, and was revived in 1985 on the initiative of Princess Caroline of Monaco.

Composed of 50 dancers from over 20 countries, the Monte Carlo Ballet has performed in important cultural spaces across Europe and Asia, and has taken its art to Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.

The company will debut this Friday in the National Theatre’s Avellaneda Hall in the context of the 16th International theatre Festival of Havana; with repeat performances scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

(Granma)

The company will offer full versions of classics such as “Swan Lake” and “Shakespeare and his masks,” the latter based on Romeo and Juliet work, with music by French Charles Gounod.

A unique presentation of Giselle will take place at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville on November 2, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Alonso’s debut in that role.

As part of the tribute, the Alicia Alonso exhibition Giselle’s Eternity and the documentary Alicia Alonso in Giselle will be opened.

The leading roles will be in charge of the first dancers Anette Delgado, Viengsay Valdes, Sadaise Arencibia, Yanela Piñera, Dani Hernandez, Ernesto Alvarez and Jose Losada.

The company directed by prima ballerina assoluta and “seconded by the children of the Canadian Ballet Youth

Ensemble, will perform at Hamilton Place Theater where they will dance the choreography, with a libretto by Marius Petipa, based on the free version of Alexander Dumas inspired in the tale The Nutcracker and the King Mouse, by Hoffman.

BNC’s leading figures as Anette Delgado, Viengsay Valdés and Dani Hernandez, will take the lead roles, supported by principal dancers Osiel Gounod, Jessie Dominguez Cuevas Amaya and Veronica Rodriguez, among others.

Besides The Nutcracker, the program will cover a repertoire consisting of the pas de deux from Act II of Swank Lake, the suites of Don Quixote and Coppelia, the choreography Dialogo a 4 and El Umbral, by Alonso, and Acentos, by Eduardo Blanco.

(Prensa Latina)

Viengsay Valdés in Venice

Cuban dancers Viengsay Valdés, Alejandro Virelles, Dani Hernández and Osiel Gounod were selected among the best 100 dancers of the 2010-2011 season by the prestigious Dance Europe magazine, confirmed to Prensa Latina sources of the National Ballet of Cuba.

In the magazine’s top 100, Valdez has the 4th place of female dancers and the 6th place of the world list; meanwhile Hernadez has the 16th place, Virelles the 18th and Gounod the 21st.

Critics from all over the world integrated the selection jury, like representatives of the Guardian newspaper from London; Dance Magazine form United States; The Toronto Star from Canada; and Danse from France.

Also The Herald from Scotland; El Pais from Uruguay; Frankfuter Allgemeine Zeitung from Germany; The Sydney Morning Herald from Australia; and other experts from cities such as Lisbon, Tokyo, Paris, New York, Madrid, Munich, Florence, Milan and Rotterdam.

Prestigious dancers like French Sylvie Guillem, Aurélie Dupont and Nicolas Le Riche; Spanish Tamara Rojo, Lucia Lacarra, Jose Martinez and Alicia Amatriain were also included in the top 100.

Also were included the Russian Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev and Diana Vishneva; Rumanian Alina Cojocaru; US Julie Kent and Rasta Thomas; British Steven McRae; Brazilian Marcelo Gomes; and the Argentinean Marianela Nuñez,among others.

(Prensa Latina)

The National Ballet of Cuba (BNC) is scheduled to perform Wednesday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where it will give four shows after a brief, warmly-received stay in Washington.

The Cubans will kick off their Brooklyn performances with “La magia de la danza” (the magic of dance), a show that is like an anthology of relevant moments of 19th century dance, including versions of classics like Giselle, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty and the Gottschalk Symphony.

The BNC came to New York after earning a burst of positive reviews, such as the one by Maritza Gueler, who wrote in Danza Hoy, “The Ballet Nacional de Cuba dances with passion, the passion of its own Cuban essence. And it dances with the pride of being one of the most famous companies in the world, whose main characteristic is the technique of the Cuban school of ballet.”

Meanwhile Sara Kaufman of the Washington Post wrote, “There are so many stellar qualities in this company, all of them underscoring a wide-open embrace of physical potential.”

Under the general direction of Alicia Alonso, the company has returned to New York as part of a U.S. tour after an eight-year absence.

The next cities on the tour agenda are the Costa Mesa and Los Angeles in California, where the tour will end on June 28.

(Prensa Latina)