Alicia Alonso:
Canada is always on my Mind

An exclusive interview given by Alicia Alonso on the presentation of the Cuban National Ballet in Ontario this December. After an absence of 29 years, the Prima Ballerina Assoluta recalls her ties with Canadian people.

The headquarters of the Cuban National Ballet (BNC) in Havana is a constant coming and going of dancers, maitres, and other participants of the ballet world. They are all preparing for the European tour, mainly to France and Spain.

Despite the hustle and bustle around, its General Director, Alicia Alonso, has found a spot in her always busy schedule to see us and to recall her ties with Canada - a country that on many occasions was a port of call, for its geographic location, on her trips between Cuba and Europe.

The Cuban company has not visited Canada since 1978 on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of Les Grands Ballets Canadians (LGBC) in Montreal. 29 years have passed and we are all amazed of the time that has passed since that last visit.

Nevertheless, the reunion with the Canadian public is increasingly approaching. In early December, the BNC will be performing in Hamilton, Ontario. The program for the occasion is the classic Nutcracker, with choreography by Alicia Alonso on the original by Lev Ivanov with music of Tchaikovsky.

I was looking at old news on your tours over the years and realized that it has almost been three decades since the last time you were to Canada.

- That much? It seems incredible when so many Canadian dancers, choreographers and personalities have visited us. But even if we haven't had the chance to go we have never been apart