Viengsay Valdés dances Giselle again in Havana at the Cuban National Ballet's UN anniversary gala

Foto: Wikimedia Commons / Citizenkane7 (public domain)

October 25, 2026

Viengsay Valdés, prima ballerina and director of the Cuban National Ballet (BNC), headlined the gala the company scheduled for Saturday, October 24, at 7:00 p.m. in the Avellaneda Hall of Havana's National Theater to mark the 81st anniversary of the United Nations.

For the occasion the company chose Giselle, in Alicia Alonso's version of the original choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. Dani Hernández partnered Valdés as Albrecht, with Ernesto Díaz as Hilarion and Gabriela Druyet as the Queen of the Wilis, according to the company's press office as cited by the Cuban News Agency (ACN) and Cubadebate.

The ballet returns on Sunday, October 25, at 5:00 p.m. with a different cast: Anette Delgado in the title role, Ányelo Montero as Albrecht, Ernesto Díaz as Hilarion and Nadila Estrada as the Queen of the Wilis.

These are the BNC's first performances of Giselle in Cuba since its tour of Russia, which included the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg and the Bolshoi in Moscow, Granma noted.

Fuente: Cubadebate / ACN / Granma

Viengsay Valdés Herrera

Ballet, Society

===BODY=== Prima Ballerina, she is considered one of the most solid values of the Cuban School of Ballet. She has been a guest artist of the Washington Ballet, in the United States, the Puerto Rico Concert Ballet, the Joburg Ballet of South Africa, the Bolshoi and the Mariinski, of Russia, among other companies. She has been named artistic subdirector of the National Ballet of Cuba.