Viengsay Valdés Returns as Star of the Classic Giselle

October 31, 2022

The prima ballerina and director of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba (BNC), Viengsay Valdés, returns to the stage as the star of the classic Giselle, highlighted the organizers of the 27th International Ballet Festival of Havana.

The institution's historian, Miguel Cabrera, emphasized that the first Italian dancer of Teatro La Scala di Milano, Jacopo Tissi, will accompany Valdés as Albrecht in the performance on November 2nd at the National Theater, the culmination of a cycle of five performances of that classic in commemoration of the 74 years of the Cuban company.

The director of the BNC, who has been away from the stage for some time due to her maternity, said at a press conference that it has been a long process, but of complete dedication and commitment to achieve excellence.

"Bringing together in the same performance the technical difficulties, the mastery, the artistic details and a new partnership, will be one of the greatest achievements of my career, in tribute to the 79th anniversary of the debut of prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso with this piece at the American Ballet Theatre," said Valdés.

Regarding the performance of the young Cuban director, Cabrera recalled that 25 years ago, on December 14, 1997, Viengsay debuted as a new Cuban Giselle, while considering it an honor for the BNC that she reappears on the day that this work put the Caribbean island on the world ballet map, on November 2, 1943.

The prima ballerina of the BNC noted that despite having rehearsed only once, she achieved with Tissi that "alchemy" that precisely constitutes the magic of the International Ballet Festival, the possibility of confronting different techniques, uniting schools and nationalities, that combine the universal language of dance.

Giselle is the most performed work at the Havana Festival, with a total of 85 presentations, explained the historian of the Cuban company, Ramiro Guerra.