Cuban Lizt Alfonso gives conference at dance event in the U.S.

August 13, 2019

Cuban director and choreographer Lizt Alfonso gave a conference on August 10 in the city of Los Angeles, United States, at the invitation of Ballet Beyond Borders, an event held with the attendance of artists from several countries.

The event took place from August 7 to 10 and fostered cultural exchange around different styles of dance and ways to promote the development of the arts from companies, programs, organizations, and others.

Alfonso was introduced by former Cuban dancer Caridad Martínez, instructor of the Ballet Hispánico of New York, and the conference titled 'The World of Lizt' was held at Loyola Marymount University.

The Ballet Beyond Borders event included an international competition in styles ranging from classical ballet to hip hop, and its winners performed in a gala of stars on the closing day at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.

Also, the program included special guests from the Ballet of Boston and Washington, as well as from the Ballet Nacional Panamá, among other artists.

For almost three decades, Alfonso has cultivated in Cuba what is called the 'fusion style,' which brings together elements of flamenco, ballet, contemporary dance, folklore, and diverse popular dances.

The maestro founded her own company in 1990, Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba (LADC), based in La Habana, where she has an Artistic Teaching Unit that provides study opportunities to numerous adolescents and, at the same time, trains thousands of children and young people in her vocational workshops.

For her relevant work, Alfonso was named Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef); furthermore, in 2016, she received the International Spotlight Award for the Arts and Humanities, granted in the United States by the White House, and in 2018, the BBC chose her as one of the 100 most influential and inspiring women.

The artist leads the only dance group in Cuba that has managed to perform at the Latin Grammy ceremony and, in 2008, won the international DORA Award in Toronto, Canada, for Best Choreography of a Musical for the year, for the show Vida.

The majority of Alfonso's works have triumphed on stages across all five continents, so her presentations span more than 200 cities in the world.