Cuban National Ballet
| Cuban National Ballet | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| Name | Cuban National Ballet |
| Local name | Ballet Nacional de Cuba |
| Year founded | October 28, 1948 |
| Founders | Alicia AlonsoAlberto Alonso[Fernando Alonso]] |
| Principal venue |
Great Theatre of Havana 458 Paseo de Prado esquina a San Rafael Havana  Cuba
|
| Website | www.balletcuba.cult.cu |
| Artistic staff | |
| Artistic Director | Alicia Alonso |
| Resident Choreographers | Alicia Alonso Iván Tenorio Eduardo Blanco |
| Artistic Staff |
Ballet Masters
Régisseurs
|
| Other | |
| Associated schools | Cuban National Ballet School |
| Formation | Principal First Soloist Soloist Coryphee Corps de Ballet |
The Cuban National Ballet (Spanish: Ballet Nacional de Cuba) is a classical ballet company based at Alicia Alonso Great Theatre of Havana in Havana, Cuba. Founded by the Cuban prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso in 1948. The official school of the company is the Cuban National Ballet School.
The company was founded by Alicia Alonso, her husband Fernando and Fernando's brother Alberto on October 28, 1948 as Alicia Alonso Ballet Company. Two years later, a school was established to promote the talents of young Cuban dancers.
Although the school was thriving artistically, it struggled financially. When Fidel Castro took control of Cuba in 1959, he committed to leveling the social structure and to make the arts available to everyone. “The old government was out and the new hope was coming for the arts and the ballet in Cuba,” recalled Margarita de Saá, former BNC ballerina. The coming of the Revolution, marked the beginning of a new stage for the Cuban ballet, Castro gave $200,000 to Alonso, a supporter of the revolution. With state funding, suddenly the ballet became important to the country and its identity. That year, as a part of a new cultural program, the company was reorganized and it took the name of National Ballet of Cuba. Significant improvements in traditional repertory, unique and diverse choreographic advances, have established works that are recognized routinely as visionary achievements in the contemporary choreography. The BNC has choreographed and performed completely new versions of classics such as Giselle, The Swan Lake or Coppélia. These masterpieces are sometimes accompanied with works coming from the renovating movement of Sergei Diaghilev Russian Ballets Petrushka, or Afternoon of a Faun; and ballets created by Cuba's national choreographers.
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