Viengsay Valdés Helps Inspire The Washington Ballet
BY Martha Sánchez

Cuban prima ballerina, Viengsay Valdés, who dances with the Cuban National Ballet, has been very well received by the US media after her first guest appearances with The Washington Ballet (TWB).

"The performance wouldn't have been the same without Valdes's infectious high spirits and truly splendid technique," reports Washington Post staff writer Sarah Kaufman in a dance review entitled "Cuban Star Helps Inspire Washington Constellation. Viengsay Valdes's Lively Spirits Are En Pointe."

Valdés was invited to dance in the TWB’s premiere of a new version of the classic Don Quixote, half-way through October at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater. She has received widespread critical acclaim for her both her artistic and technical merits.

"She displayed the power and play-to-the-audience tactics for which the Cuban company is famous and brought down the house in the last act with extended — and astounding — miracles of balance," affirmed Washington Times critic Jean Battey Lewis, in an article entitled "DANCE: Miraculous ‘Quixote’."

In a press release prior to the presentations, TWB artistic director Septime Webre said, "She will bring a real shine to this fantastic company and demonstrate the high level of Cuban ballet and culture." The testimonies of critics and the applause of the public proved him right.

"Viengsay Valdés as Kitri -- I don't know where to begin. I have run out of superlatives to describe her performance. The balances! The turns! The personality! The energy!" an En Pointe article read.

Alexandra Tomalonis, from Dance View Times, wrote, "A spirited Kitri in the first act, a softly enticing Dulcinea in the second, before getting down to business and turning in a medal-winning level grand pas de deux."

US leading dancer Jonathan Jordan accompanied Viengsay in her three performances, and according to Tomalonis, "Jonathan Jordan gave Valdes fine support as Basil and danced with a charm and flash of his own."

Viengsay Valdés has proudly brought the Cuban tradition of ballet as guest star at different festivals and artistic galas in Moscow, Beijing, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Budapest, Paris, Cannes, London, Manchester, Prague, Lisbon, Madrid, Dortmund, Istanbul, Caracas and Seoul.

In March 2009, the Mariinsky Ballet invited her to dance Don Quixote with the company at the Saint Petersburg International Ballet Festival, in Russia. Many critics consider Viengsay Valdés as the best interpreter of this piece in the world.

Taken from Granma Daily