An exclusive screening of the film Dance of My Heart, featuring the life and career of world famous dancer, ballet master, and choreographer Alberto Alonso, from his beginnings at Havana’s Pro Arte Ballet School until his death at the age of 90 in 2008 in Florida, where he had lived since receiving political asylum in the United States in 1993. Alonso joined Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville as master artist in residence and resident choreographer for the Dance Theater of Santa Fe. Internationally, Alberto Alonso was best known for his 1967 work Carmen Suite, the first role created specifically for the Bolshoi Ballet star Maya Plisetskaya. Although his contemporary style was controversial at the time, Carmen Suite has endured. Ballet Hispanico will soon feature a revival of the ballet under the supervision of the legendary Cuban dancer and choreographer Sonia Calero, Alberto’s widow.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Ricardo Acosta and Sonia Calero.
The evening will be capped by a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception attended by dancers from Ballet Hispanico, other ballet personalities, and representatives of the Santa Fe College Foundation.
This event is celebrated in loving memory of Raúl Villarreal, former Art Director of the Cuban Cultural Center of New York, and Coordinator of Cultural Programs at Santa Fe College until his untimely death on July 18, 2019.
The National Opera Center
SCORCA HALL
330 7th Avenue (at 29th Street)
7th Floor, NYC
RSVP at: info@cubanculturalcenter.org
Promo clip of Carmen Suite by the Mariinsky Ballet at London’s Royal Opera House:
This cinema and dance event is organized under
the sponsorship of the Santa Fe College Foundation
And is being hosted as part of our year-long celebration of the 500th
anniversary of the City of Havana, culminating in our 18th annual
flagship conference, Oda a La Habana: The first 500 years,
to be held at Barnard College on Sunday, November 17, 2019.
And is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
With the promotional collaboration of
