• Don Quixote

• Swan Lake

• Giselle

• The Magic of Dance

Featured dancers are:Viengsay Valdés, Anette Delgado, Sadaise Arencibia, Yolanda Correa, Yanela Piñera, Joel Carreño, Javier Torres, Elier Bourzac, Ernesto Álvarez and Alejandro Virreyes.  In 2004, Cuba’s National Ballet Company toured the United States and five dancers defected, which was a big blow for Cuba culture.  It was a painful time for Alicia Alonso, who had trained them for nine years.  They ended up with the Cincinnati Ballet, two of them becoming soloists.

Up and coming ballet dancers Cuba are hand-picked while very young and given free training.  Top dancers earn about $50 per month.  Stars in the US can earn up to $10,000 for just one gala performance!  However, in the US, classic training is extremely expensive, while it’s free in Cuba.  One thing for the current regime is that it seems to value this area of Cuba culture, at least just a little bit.

Vocalist Mayra Caridad Valdez and the rest of the group gained whooping admiration from the crowd as they built the intensity of their music. The played for about an hour and a half, and everyone forgot the rain, the mud, and everything else for that matter. It was all about Chucho Valdés, his group, and the fabulous Cuban music they shared with the audience. Encores and standing ovations followed, and the night was capped by a dueling set of gourd shakers. It was a spectacular show and a great night for fans of Cuban music.

This was a huge month in Jazz history, since Chucho Valdes has been missing from the scene for seven years…did he break a mirror?  He’s the Cuban ambassador of Latin jazz and one of the best pianists in the world.