The National Ballet of Cuba (BNC), directed by the legendary ballerina Alicia Alonso, announced that it will make a tour of several U.S. cities next May and June.
The Cuban company has chosen the classical ballets of its repertoire, Giselle and Don Quixote, for its new presentations in Chicago, Washington and New York.
The first presentations are programed for Chicago on May 18, 19 and 20, and the following ones are previewed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in Washington, from May 29 to June 3.
The BNC will close its tour in the New York city of Saratoga Springs, from June 6 to 8, where it will present Giselle in Alicia Alonso’s choreographed version.
Giselle is considered the peak character of the artistic career of Alonso and she won the Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris in 1966 for her version of that ballet; and in 1972 the Paris Opera Company incorporated it to its repertoire.
The leading characters of both pieces will be interpreted by the ballerinas Anette Delgado, Viengsay Valdés, Grettel Morejón, Sadaise Arencibia, Ginett Moncho, Ely Regina Hernández, Chavela Riera and Claudia García, and dancers Rafael Quenedit, Patricio Revé and Raúl Abreu, Ernesto Díaz, Ariel Martínez, among others.
Until 2015, the National Ballet of Cuba had made 10 tours of 38 U.S. cities, and U.S. choreographers like Jerome Robbins, William Forsythe, Al-vin Ailey and Karole Arrmitage have created or ceded their works for the Cuban company’s repertoire and the festivals it organizes on the Caribbean island, according to BNC data.
EFE / OnCuba
