Alicia Alonso makes a comeback at 91

 ballet  No Responses »
Oct 302012
 

Alicia Alonso 90 Alicia Alonso makes a comeback at 91, at 91 years of age, has made a stage comeback at the 23rd Inter­na­tional Bal­let Festival.

Prensa Lat­ina repor­ted that the Cuban bal­let legend danced Un retrato para el recuerdo (A por­trait to remem­ber) with two of her former part­ners: Laz­aro Car­reño and Jorge Vega.

The news ser­vice said,

Alonso was again an excep­tional act­ress, inspir­ing ova­tions through­out her per­form­ance and stand­ing ova­tions afterwards.

It was a sur­prise for the pub­lic to see her once again in the arms of dance part­ners as the num­ber was not pre-announced, and a great way to kick off the Fest­ival, which runs until Novem­ber 7.

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  • wp socializer sprite mask 16px Alicia Alonso makes a comeback at 91
  • wp socializer sprite mask 16px Alicia Alonso makes a comeback at 91
  • wp socializer sprite mask 16px Alicia Alonso makes a comeback at 91
  • wp socializer sprite mask 16px Alicia Alonso makes a comeback at 91
  • wp socializer sprite mask 16px Alicia Alonso makes a comeback at 91
  • wp socializer sprite mask 16px Alicia Alonso makes a comeback at 91
  • wp socializer sprite mask 16px Alicia Alonso makes a comeback at 91
  • wp socializer sprite mask 16px Alicia Alonso makes a comeback at 91

Alicia Alonso on her dancers, her company and Fidel Castro

 ballet, interview  3 Responses »
Feb 122012
 

alicia alonso1 476x600 Alicia Alonso on her dancers, her company and Fidel CastroKevin Griffin of the Van­couver Sun asked (via email) some questions:

On clas­sical bal­let being elitist

Bal­let does not have to be an elit­ist art form.  If the pub­lic have access to a good bal­let show, they will greatly enjoy it. Cuba has worked for years to attract new audi­ences, through lec­tures, con­fer­ences and demon­stra­tions in work­places, schools and even in army units. We also have tele­vi­sion and radio shows that sup­port and spread the art of bal­let. In Cuba, bal­let is a pop­u­lar art, which has large audi­ences from all sec­tors of soci­ety. Fur­ther­more, since the tri­umph of the revolu­tion in 1959, the gov­ern­ment has sup­por­ted it completely.

 

On sup­port­ing Fidel Castro in Cuba

Due to very deep per­sonal con­vic­tions, I felt and I still feel obliged to con­trib­ute to the devel­op­ment of the cul­ture of the coun­try where I was born.… [con­tinue reading]

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Carlos Acosta “a genuine product of the Revolution” receives Cuba’s 2011 National Performing Arts Award

 awards, ballet  No Responses »
Aug 312011
 

Cuban dan­seur and cho­reo­grapher was bestowed with the 2011 National Per­form­ing Arts Award, which he devoted to Fernando, Alberto and , founders of the that trained him as a bal­let dancer.

“I owe them what I am,” he said at ’s Gar­cia Lorca Grand Theatre to a stand­ing ova­tion. He also devoted the award to his fam­ily, espe­cially to his father, who intro­duced him to bal­let and thought him the value of humble­ness, and to all the teach­ers along his career. Acosta described dan­seurs Jorge Esquivel, Laz­aro Car­reno and Andres Wil­li­ams, “the Prince of Prin­cesses”, as his guides and early day inspiration.

Car­los Acosta, 38, has become the young­est bal­let dan­cer in Cuba to be honored with the pres­ti­gi­ous award of the Coun­cil of the National Per­form­ing Arts for its con­tri­bu­tion to dance and bal­let.… [con­tinue reading]

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Ballet Nacional de Cuba prepares for its 30 city (yes, thirty!) tour of Spain

 ballet  No Responses »
Aug 202011
 

Ballet Nacional de Cuba Swan Lake Ballet Nacional de Cuba prepares for its 30 city (yes, thirty!) tour of Spain

The in early Septem­ber for on a tour that will take the com­pany to almost 30 cities.

They will take their greatest hits rep­er­toire, includ­ing , Cinder­ella and . Less known pieces include En las som­bras de un vals (In the shad­ows of a waltz), with cho­reo­graphy by on Strauss waltzes; Acen­tos (Accents), and Idilio (Idyll), both by the young Cuban cho­reo­grapher Eduardo Blanco.

Alonso’s ver­sion of Swan Lake will open the Septem­ber 7 — 18 sea­son at the Tívoli Theatre, Bar­celona; Cinder­ella, by Pedro Con­suegra will be per­formed at the Teatros del Canal Theater of Mad­rid from Septem­ber 23, and Alonso’s ver­sion of Gis­elle will start at the Val­lad­olid Theater on Novem­ber 23.… [con­tinue reading]

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Alonso talks before the Moscow Gala: Viva Alicia, Viva Legend! says the Voice of Russia

 ballet  No Responses »
Aug 032011
 

Alonso 2011 Alonso talks before the Moscow Gala: Viva Alicia, Viva Legend! says the Voice of RussiaOn August 2nd the Bolshoi audi­ence again saw the legendary baller­ina and the founder of the () . The gala con­cert at the Bolshoi Theatre in on Tues­day was ded­ic­ated to her 90th birthday.

The day before the gala Alonso said that she was very happy to visit Rus­sia again and that she felt a little nervous before the performance:

I’ve vis­ited Moscow many times, but it always seemed to me that it was not enough. Each time I came to Rus­sia I received a hearty wel­come here. The Rus­sian audi­ence showed great respect for me, and my col­leagues — Rus­sian bal­let dan­cers — gave me all their ten­der­ness. I’m very happy that I’ve returned to Moscow again but at the same time, I’m in a mel­an­choly mood now  because, for dif­fer­ent reas­ons, I  won’t be able to see many of my friends here.… [con­tinue reading]

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