Ramona de Sáa, who died in Havana at the age of 85, joins the company’s legends such as Josefina Méndez, Loipa Araújo, Aurora Bosch, Mirta Plá, along with Alicia and Fernando Alonso.

“May her legacy live forever. Thank you very much,” Valdés, current director general and prima ballerina of the BNC, stated at the beginning of the performance in this Andalusian city.

Speaking to the audience at the “García Lorca” Hall of Granada’s Exhibition and Congress Palace, Valdés referred to the death of Ramona de Sáa, “one of the most significant ballet teachers in Cuba and Latin America. She was the teacher of all the dancers who currently form the BNC.

She said we owe much of what we are to her rigor and teaching.

The BNC performed “Don Quixote” in a version choreographed by Marta García and María Elena Llorente, based on the original ballet by French choreographer Marius Petipa and the version by Alexander Gorsky, under the artistic and choreographic direction of Alicia Alonso.

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