Havana, Cuba.- With an emotional ceremony held on Monday at the Juan Abrantes Stadium of the University of Havana, the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC) commemorated the strong commitment that unites the company with the University Student Federation (FEU), 69 years after the organization’s act of redress dedicated to Prima Ballerina Assoluta Alicia Alonso and the then Ballet de Cuba.

According to a statement sent to the Cuban News Agency by the prestigious dance institution, on September 15, 1956, Alicia danced “The Dying Swan” and announced her decision to no longer appear on stage in Cuba while the Fulgencio Batista regime remained in power.

After 69 years, faithful to tradition and honoring its history, the BNC, led by its general director and prima ballerina, Viengsay Valdes, attended the meeting with university students to celebrate what Alicia Alonso defined as “a happy marriage” between the company and the FEU, as recalled by Historian PhD. Miguel Cabrera.

The commemorative event was also an opportune moment to recall the figure of Fructuoso Rodriguez, a student leader who served as interim president of the FEU in 1956 and who worked to promote the organization’s support for the young classical ballet company.

Thalía Morell Garcia, a member of the organization’s National Secretariat, recalled the circumstances under which that act of redress was held