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20TH
INTERNATIONAL BALLET FESTIVAL OF HAVANA
Dedicated
to Mozart and choreographic creation
BY
MIREYA CASTAÑEDA —Granma International
staff writer—
ACCORDING to diva Alicia Alonso, human beings
express everything through dance, given that through
that creative form movement, music, theater and even
painting are united.
"It is for this reason that we afford such
tremendous importance to our Festival. We are
staging it at an exceptional point in time with
respect to the world. We feel as though we are
bringing some hope, a road along which humanity can
travel through dance."
According to Alicia’s comments during a press
conference, this 20th Festival is distinguished not
just for the artists and companies that are giving
us the honor of visiting and sharing their art, but
also with respect to significant choreographic
events, such as the SGAE Award.
"We are also going to present something that has
never been done before in an international ballet
festival. It won’t just be characterized by
performances of the great classics, incorporating
three different theaters, but something that is
really going to attract people’s attention. Every
night at the García Lorca Theater, there will be a
premiere. It’s going to be a real privilege."
"We are commemorating the 20th anniversary of our
festival," stressed the director of the Cuban
National Ballet (BNC), "although the emphasis will
be on the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart."
Thus, at the opening Gala, following an emotive
procession in which dozens of children from the BNC
Workshop, plus students from the ballet schools and
the National Company took part, the audience was
regaled by the premiere of Mozart Divertimento,
one of three pieces choreographed by Alonso herself
for the festival.
Naturally, the piece is conceived as a tribute to
the genius of Salzburg, and was performed by
soloists and the corps de ballet. The music used was
the adagio section of Divertimento K287; the
Minuet from Divertimento K334 and lastly,
from Rondo, allegro assai from
Divertimento K251.
Alonso’s other pieces are Cuadros de una
exposición (Paintings from an Exhibition), with
music by Modest Mussorgski and Desnuda luz del
amor (The Naked Light of Love), created
especially for Italian prima ballerina Carla Fracci,
who will be accompanied by Víctor Gilí, principal
dancer with the BNC, and youngsters Javier Torres
and Taras Domitro.
Every night from October 28 to November 6, there
is a premiere, several of them at world level, with
pieces by Cubans Iván Tenorio (Theseus and the
Minotaur), Pedro Consuegra (Le Roman d’un
Boston de Rose) and Eduardo Blanco (Dances by
Mozart), from Canadian Jean Grand-Maitre (Solitary),
U.S. choreographer James Kelly (Through Your Eyes),
and Goyo Montero from Spain (The Day of Creation).
And others such as Cuban Gonzalo Galguera (Second
Symphony of Johann Brahms), Israeli Igal Perry (Nocturnal),
Swede Mats Ek (Potato, Memory),
Spaniard José Martínez (Delibes Suite),
and German Patrick de Bana (Good
night¼ Amadeus).
Three of the great classics included in the BNC’s
large repertoire will be performed during the
festival: Don Quijote, at a special function
in the Plaza de la Catedral in Old Havana, whilst
Giselle and Swan Lake are at the
Avellaneda Hall of the Teatro Nacional.
The greatest announcement, without doubt, is that
the celebrated Argentine dancer Julio Bocca is to
dance the leading role for the very last time in
Swan Lake at the Festival, the role in which he
debuted for the very first time here in Havana at
the 10th festival in 1986.
Bocca, one of the stars of world ballet, has
always been very well received by the Cuban public
and on this occasion, he will also be performing
with his company, the Julio Bocca Ballet Argentino.
Equally, there is the greatly-anticipated arrival
of another ballet star, Maximiliano Guerra, also
from Argentina, who is to perform in Brian McDonald’s
Prologue to a Tragedy.
There are two Cubans currently at the pinnacle of
world ballet, namely, José Manuel Carreño and Carlos
Acosta. The former will perform the role of Albrecht
in one of the performances of Giselle, whilst
Acosta will dance a pas de deux in the ballet
Mayerling by Kenneth MacMillan, together with
Leanne Benjamin, prima ballerina with the Royal
Ballet in London and also, Diana and Acteon
alongside BNC prima ballerina Viengsay Valdés.
The Festival is on the brink of opening and the
performances are both varied and delectable.
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