Special To The Hamilton Spectator The Ballet Nacional de Cuba will be making a rare North American appearance in Hamilton in December (2007) to perform The Nutcracker.

CBYE Media Releases

Cubans for Christmas

Prestigious Havana ballet company will perform Nutcracker here

By Gary Smith
Special to The Spectator
(Apr 3, 2007)

What's Hamilton getting for Christmas that New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Toronto are not? The Ballet Nacional de Cuba, that's what.

The prestigious Havana company, brainchild of prima ballerina Alicia Alonso, will play Hamilton Place Dec. 13 to 16 for a total of five performances.

The company comes to town as guests of the local Canadian Ballet Youth Ensemble whose young dancers, picked through local auditions, will be incorporated into the Cuban company's traditional version of The Nutcracker.

"This is a real coup for Canada and for Hamilton," says Belma Diamante, head honcho of the CBYE.

"The Cuban company hasn't played here in 31 years. Though they travel through Europe and have played many engagements in Russia, they are not scheduled to play in the United States these days because of the embargo on Cuban goods and arts."

The company's last American engagements in California and New York were pretty much sold out.

"The fact we have copped them for Hamilton is of major interest for the whole country."

Diamante met Alicia Alonso at a performance of the Cuban ballet in Havana seven years ago. She began a relentless campaign to get the Cuban company to Hamilton. She didn't think she had much chance because they usually play longer engagements in big cities.

Wangling a lunch date with Alonso, Diamante impressed the amazing 83-year-old star with her great passion for ballet. "You bring back my youth," Alonso is reported to have said.

The two became simpatico almost instantly. That led to discussions about the Cuban company playing Hamilton Place with a Nutcracker that would include local dancers, as well as A -list Cuban dance stars.

The production to play here will be Alonso's own version of The Nutcracker with the choreography of the ballet's original choreographer, Lev Ivanov. The troupe will be accompanied in The Great Hall by our own Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.

Because the production is such a huge thing to travel, new softer designs, after the originals by Guido Fiorato, are being made for the Hamilton engagement.

Alonso herself will come to Hamilton to supervise the production. She will also give workshops and lectures on dance for students as well as the general public.

"It just goes to prove nothing is impossible if you are determined," Diamante says. "Alonso is rescheduling an engagement in Italy to fit us into the company's schedule.

"Alonso, who built her company in Cuba with the aid of funding from the Castro government, has popularized ballet in a country where it literally had no previous history," Diamante says. "I think she will help spread the joy of dance here in Hamilton just as she has there."

Auditions for young dancers wishing to be part of this exciting project will take place in late May. Watch for details in The Hamilton Spectator. Tickets for the Hamilton Place performances of The Nutcracker will go on sale in early June.

Canadian companies with connections to business in Cuba will help sponsor the Hamilton engagement.

"We had offers to take the production to Toronto," Diamante says. "But this year this is strictly going to be a Hamilton engagement. Toronto and the big American cities are going to be jealous of us for a change."