Next Saturday Cuban Top Ballet Dancers Performing in Istanbul

Cubans Viengsay Valdes and Elier Bourzac, first dancers of the Cuban National Ballet Company (BNC), will dance on Saturday, July 10, during the Gala of Awards of the International Ballet Contest of Istanbul in Turkey.

The Cuban ballet stars were invited to perform at the Concert Hall of Istanbul as part of this international contest that will run from July 8 to 10.

The pieces chosen by Valdes and Bourzac are the ‘Diane and Acteon’ pas de deux and the pas de deux of the third act of ‘The Blak Swan’, in both cases choreographed by prima ballerina assoluta and BNC Director Alicia Alonso based on the originals by A. Vaganova and Marius Petisa, respectively.

The Cuban dancers will share the stage in the Gala of Awards with stars such as Alina Cojocaru, Olesya Novikova, Johan Kobborg and Leonid Sarafanov.

The jury of the competition is made up of Yuri Grigorovich, Irak Mukhamedov, Julio Bocca and Vladimir Malakov.

Valdes' performances have received outstanding reviews from the world's leading dance critics, including Anna Kisselgoff and Jennifer Dunning of the New York Times, and Lewis Segal of the Los Angeles Times and others.

Cuba is currently recognized for having dancers of the highest technical and emotional ability who have found fame with leading world companies.