Cuban students Carolina Rodríguez Pérez and Pedro Domínguez Alcántara, from the National School of Ballet Fernando Alonso, won gold medals in the ninth edition of the International Ballet Competition of South Africa.
The 18-year-old dancers obtained the highest award in the classical and contemporary modalities, senior category, with the interpretation of the works Grand Pas de Deux Classique Y Spirit, respectively.
Carolina Rodríguez also received the Special Jury Prize, according to a note published on the website of the Cubavisión Internacional television channel.
The Cuban presence at the event was possible thanks to the invitation of the director of the competition and the Mzansi Ballet, from South Africa, Dirk Badenhorst, “great admirer and collaborator of the Cuban School of Ballet and the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC)”, adds the publication.
???? Great representation of the National School of #Ballet Fernando Alonso at the 9th South African International Ballet Competition.
?Gold/ Contemporary Category
?Gold/Classic Category
?Special Jury Award to Carolina Rodríguez.#TheArtOfTeachingArt #CubaIsCulture pic.twitter.com/TvnBTeeKJZ— National Center of Art Schools_CNEArt Cuba (@CNEArtCuba) July 30, 2022
The results are valued by the media as “an important achievement for artistic education on the Island, as an expression of the talent of its young people and the quality of its educational program.”
Cuba has wide recognition in the teaching of danceespecially ballet, and over more than six decades has trained important dancers and choreographers who have shone both Cuban and foreign companies, and have been props to support the well-known Cuban school of ballet.
The imprint of his own style has been marked in various international dance festivals, which have served as a springboard to stardom for now world-renowned figures such as Carlos Acostaowner of one of the most solid international careers in recent decades, and Viengsay Valdés, current director general of the BNC.
The Cuban school has as its greatest reference the Prima Ballerina Assoluta Alicia Alonso, who founded and for many years directed the Cuban National Ballet, a widely acclaimed company considered among the best of its kind on the planet. Although it is also necessary to highlight the contribution of figures such as the master Fernando Alonso, whom the National Ballet School honors, not for nothing, and other notable dancers and pedagogues who have left their mark on the Island.
