Several cities on the island will host the traveling exhibition in the coming weeks; after opening in this capital, on the 29th, on a section of the boulevard, a few meters from the Alicia Alonso Grand Theater of Havana and with the participation of the Fernando Alonso National Ballet School, the journalist and photographer told Prensa Latina.
In this way, passers-by will be able to appreciate the Grand Prix for a week, the seven prizes for the winners in each category, as well as the 37 mentions awarded to works by lens artists from 10 countries in Latin America, Europe, Africa and Oceania.
The international jury of the contest was also made up of Gene Schiavone, from the United States; Pedro Simón and Yuris Nórido, from Cuba; Fatima Nollen, from Argentina; and Mark Olich, from Russia.
They had the task of assessing 1,763 works by 275 photographers, from 29 countries on five continents, and the vote was for Cuban Brian Canelles to distinguish him with the Grand Prix.
The exhibition includes a tribute to the legacy of seven personalities linked to dance, who were awarded for the work of a lifetime: seven photographers and a journalist, originally from Cuba, Spain, Italy and Mexico.
According to Dávalos, the Cuban School of Ballet has not only trained dancers, teachers, choreographers, but also journalists, photographers and this contest confirms it, since even dancers participated as lens artists.
One of them, Yoel Carreño -former first figure of the national companies of Cuba and Norway-, was the winner in the Study category.
Other winners are Alicia Sanguinetti from Argentina, in the Stage category; the Brazilian Pedro Vidal, in Backstage (Behind the scenes); the South African Nanette Melville, in Dance Classes; and the Cuban Yoandry Sardiñas, in Portrait.
Also from the Caribbean island, Ariel Cecilio Lemus won the Documentary Series award; and that of his countryman Frank D. Domínguez, in Dance in Landscapes.
At the opening ceremony of the journey, the Limited Edition of the Prize Winners Catalog will be presented.
The exhibition will only be in Havana for a week, then it will travel to various provinces of the country to be exhibited in public spaces in different cities.
The Alicia Alonso International Dance Photography Contest was organized by the Matria creative project with the support of the José Martí Cultural Society, the Cuban Fund for Cultural Assets and sponsored by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and culture).
According to Dávalos, such public actions seek, at the same time, to encourage professionals or photography enthusiasts from any country and nationality interested in photographing the daily life of dancers, teachers and choreographers, born in Cuba, in order to participate in the second edition of the contest, scheduled to take place in 2023.
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