Díaz-Canel bestowed the Félix Varela Order of First Degree to Prima Ballerina and BNC Director Viengsay Valdés, the company’s historian Miguel Cabrera, Dance Museum director Pedro Simón, and BNC scenic and graphic designer Ricardo Silvio Rey.
During the ceremony, National People’s Power Assembly (Parliament) President Esteban Lazo awarded the Juan Marinello Medal to the company’s deputy director Redento Morejón, and Dance Chair director Miriam Vila for their extraordinary contribution to artistic development.
Cuba’s Communist Party Organization Secretary, Roberto Morales, awarded the Alejo Carpentier Medal to the first dancers Mercedes Beltrán, Anett Delgado, Sadaise Arencibia, Gretel Morejón, Danni Hernández, and promoter José Ramón Rodríguez.
Dance director Mercedes Beltrán, first dancer Yanquiel Velázquez, pianist Keren Rodríguez, and cultural promoter Heriberto Cabezas received the National Culture Award, which recognizes the meritorious work of persons who devote their lives to promote, disseminate, and research the BNC.
Dancer Chavela Riera, dance professors Vilma García and Victoria Castellón, musical advisor and orchestra director Idalgel Marquetti, and press specialist Mauricio Abreu were also honored.
At the end of the ceremony, Viengsay Valdés recalled the origins of the BNC in the hands of Alicia, Alberto, and Fernando Alonso and assured that the new generations feel grateful for that legacy, which they serve with their art every day.
We receive these awards with commitment and humility, with the will to preserve and enrich a heritage that manifests the essence of national identity because the nation is its culture,” the prima ballerina said.
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