The Enchanted Shrimp: Cuba's National Ballet

Cuba's National Ballet will celebrate International Children's Day with a presentation of The Enchanted Shrimp (El Camaron Encantado), performed by about 500 children and young dancers.

Under the direction of prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso, the piece, with choreography by Eduardo Blanco, will be performed at the Karl Marx theater in a gala sponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).

Inspired by a Jose Marti version of the story by French writer Laboulaye, El Camaron Encantado, published in the book La Edad de Oro (The Golden Age), also features the music of Giaccomo Rossini, Benjamin Britten, Serguei Prokofiev, Joseph Luigini, Jules Massenet, and Leo Delibes.

Set design is by Eduardo Romero and Luis Carlos Benvenuto.

Young ballet dancers Monica Gomez (the enchanted shrimp) Dayesi Torrintes (Masicas), and Josue Justiz (Loppi) will dance the main roles, backed by a ballet group of children 5 to 14 years old who will play mice, bats, butterflies, birds, rabbits, deers, bears, among others.

The Enchanted Shrimp premiered in June 2002. The leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, attended the second show and recommended that it be presented nationwide.

A Night of Ballet Dedicated to Lezama Lima

The dance is closely connected with the rest of the arts and, during the International Festival of Ballet of Havana, this friendship was on stage. Literature is one of them. For this reason, during the centenary of the birth of the great Cuban intellectual, there was a night dedicated to José Lezama Lima.

Death of Narcissus (Muerte de Narciso), a ballet with choreography by Alicia Alonso inspired on a poem by the Cuban poet and writer was premiered Friday night in the context of the Ballet Festiva.

The performance at the Great Theater of Havana was attended by Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto, prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso and other government and cultural figures in attendance.

Death of Narcissus is based on a poem written by Lezama Lima when he was in his early twenties and it was published by the Verbum magazine in 1936.

The Narcissus myth, taken to the stage by Yanier Gomez of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba (BNC), with music by Julian Orbon, tells the story of an exceptionally beautiful boy who never fell in love and instead became fascinated with his own image reflected on the water.

In an evening of premieres, Night of the Eclipse (La Noche del Eclipse), with choreography by Alonso as well, was brought to the stage for the first time on Friday with Anettet Delgado and Yadil Suarez, both with the BNC, on the leading roles.

The ballet is based on the personality of Cuban poet Juana Borrero and her first encounter with Carlos Pio Uhrbach, the man she loved in spite of her father's opposition and who was also a poet from the 19th century.

Both writers were deeply admired by Lezama Lima.

The program included The Dying Swan that was masterly performed by Russian dancer Vladimir Malakhov, with the Berlin Opera Ballet, choreographed by Camile Saint-Saens.

Apollo, Naked Light of Love (Desnuda Luz del Amor) and Habanera Suite comleted the gala offered to Lezama Lima at a packed Garcia Lorca Auditorium of the Grand Theater of Habana.

Worth mentioning was also the performance of the Solistas de La Habana Orchestra directed by Maria Elena Mendiola.

Stars from Important Companies to Ballet Festival

The International Ballet Festival of Havana will turn 50 years old in 2010 in the company of stars from the most important international companies, and with Prima Ballerina Assoluta Alicia Alonso at the center of tributes.

Sources from the organizing committee said top figures from the Royal Ballet of London, the English National Ballet, the Scala de Milan, the Colon Theater of Argentina, and others will perform on the island from October 28 to November 7.

Also attending will be figures from the New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theater, where Alonso improved her training and became established as an internationally renowned figure, along with making artistic contributions.

The 22nd edition of the festival coincides with the Year of Alicia Alonso, established by the Cuban Culture Ministry to mark the 90th birthday of the director of the National Ballet of Cuba.

Apart from its main headquarters at Havana's Gran Teatro, the festival's venues include the Karl Marx, Lazaro Pena, and Mella theatres.

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.