On October 28, 1948, a unique event took place in Cuba: the foundation of the Alicia Alonso Ballet, later the Ballet de Cuba in 1955, and from 1959, the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC).
Alicia and the brothers Fernando and Alberto Alonso began a path that turned the company into one of the best in the world, and that laid the foundations for the Cuban School of Ballet.
They also created an Academy, today the Fernando Alonso National Ballet School, from which exceptional figures would emerge, including the Four Jewels: Mirta Plá, Aurora Bosch, Loipa Araújo and Josefina Méndez.
Another of the BNC’s successes has been the organization, since 1960, of the Havana International Ballet Festival. The 27th edition is the first after the death, in 2019, of the prima ballerina absolute Alicia Alonso, and which now bears her name.
For the function of this October 28, it is announced for the Avellaneda Hall of the National Theater, GiselleAlicia Alonso’s version of the original by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot.
The meeting is the starting point of the celebrations for the 75 years of the company, which will be held in 2023, announced the director of the BNC, the prima ballerina Viengsay Valdés.