Dialogue between Cuban and Russian ballet schools has been essential for the island's artists.

▲ Cuban dancer Alicia Alonso during a show in London, England, on May 17, 1953. AP Photo

Sputnik

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, September 9, 2025, p. 4

Havana, Cuba. The Cuban Ballet School, world-renowned for its exquisite technique and the passion of its dancers, drew from a variety of sources, although experts believe its closest ties lie with Russian methodology.

Art critic Yuris Nórido explained that the Cuban school is a "new school, the youngest of the ballet schools in the world," and for various reasons has had a "particularly close" dialogue with Russia, especially during the years of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Nórido, vice president of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), noted that in the early years the influence was primarily American, but then exchanges began between prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso (1920-2019) and maestro Fernando Alonso (1937-1975) with the Russian school.

Thus, "this dialogue became more emphatic," and after the triumph of a socialist revolution in Cuba in January 1959, many Russian teachers arrived on the island to teach classes at the nascent National Ballet School.

Some of the leading figures of the Cuban National Ballet (BNC) in its early days were Russian dancers, said Nórido, who recalled figures such as Azari Plisetski, born in Moscow and partner of Alicia Alonso for several years, and a reference for the training of male dancers on the island.

This dialogue between the two schools, which was very intense during the Soviet era, has continued to this day, emphasized the journalist and photographer, who noted that renowned Cuban teachers and dancers, such as Lázaro Carreño and Laura Alonso, trained in Russia for part of their careers.

Alicia Alonso even stated on one occasion that during the formation process of the Cuban school they studied the Soviet school closely, especially when she performed in the main theaters of the USSR between 1957 and 1958, and visited several educational institutions.

Approaches

Cuba was the first Latin American country visited by the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova (1881-1931), in 1915, and a few years later, in 1930, the Russian Private Opera of Paris arrived on the island with its solo dancer, Nikolai Yavorsky (1892-1947).

Specialized literature indicates that Yavorski was a key figure in the creation of the Cuban Ballet School; for most of the 1930s, he served as a professor at the Pro-Arte Musical Society. One of his most esteemed students was Alicia Alonso, who was barely a teenager.

From 1939, Alonso joined the cast of several companies in the United States and worked with important figures of Russian ballet, such as Mikhail Fokine (1880-1942), George Balanchine (1904-1983), Leonide Massine (1896-1979), Bronislava Nijinska (1891-1972) and Igor Youskevitch (1912-1994).

According to principal dancer Dani Hernández, the internationally prestigious Cuban Ballet School developed from all the artistic peculiarities and techniques of different academies, with a strong influence from the Russian school.

Currently, added the director of the National Ballet School, Fernando Alonso, the Vaganova method, the most recognized of the Russian school, is fundamental in Cuba, "but we don't have the direct status of the Vaganova Academy; that would be a privilege for us."

Furthermore, the National Ballet School has character dance teachers who did study in Russia and "drank directly from the source"; some of them even trained in the USSR, he recalled.

"We hope that in the future, Russian schools can collaborate and continue contributing to the development of Cuban schools, and that our students and all the participants who come to the academy meeting in Havana can see the Russian school from the inside," Hernández emphasized.

To this day, the versions studied in Cuban ballet academies and presented as part of the BNC's repertoire are based on Russian choreographies of classical pieces such as Don Quixote, Swan Lake , and The Sleeping Beauty, among others.

▲ The award will be presented to Victoria Díaz (pictured) on December 5 at the Guadalajara International Book Fair. Photo: Elio Henríquez

Elio Henríquez

Correspondent

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, September 9, 2025, p. 5

San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chis., The winner of the Indigenous Literature of the Americas (PLIA) Prize, Victoria Díaz, stated that receiving the award "means giving another weight to the Tsotsil language and making us feel proud as indigenous peoples, not ashamed of being indigenous, as the Western mind calls it."

He added: "It means not being ashamed of our origins and showing that we can achieve narrative in Spanish and Tsostil. A lot of Indigenous work is being published now because it's our interest as Indigenous peoples to raise our voices through our writing. If we can't do it verbally, let it be written."

Originally from La Candelaria, a municipality in San Cristóbal, where she speaks the Tsotsil language with the Chamula variant, Díaz won the PLIA with Sokem Viniketik (Absurd Men), a six-story short story in which she “addresses themes such as violence, absence, rebellion, machismo, and how men treat women.”

In an interview, he stated that "the title has a story, because the book deals with the absurd, and I was guided by the philosophical aspect of The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus and Frank Kafka's works The Metamorphosis and The Castle. That's what I based my work on."

She stated: “I'm making a complaint about how men treat women, or how they conceive them when they grow up. I feel like it hasn't been captured in Indigenous literature. It's a very sensitive topic, because they take advantage of women who haven't yet had intimacy. It's a very powerful thing. We know that men like that exist in society. I wanted to write about how a Tsotsil woman experiences and suffers from this, although not focusing solely on the Indigenous context, although it does in some ways.”

“I don’t have enough time to read”

Dressed in her traditional clothing, she explained that this is her first contest, and that Sokem Viniketik is her first solo publication, as she has other stories that have been compiled in anthologies.

He said that the story of absence, one of the six with which he won, was influenced by the death of his father, Carlos Díaz, a teacher, five years earlier, "because I saw changes, the reaction of my mother, Manuela Ruiz, and that the father plays an important role; so much so that when he disappears, it seems like a support is missing."

Victoria is 30 years old and a bilingual teacher at a school in the municipality of Chenalhó. She started reading about six years ago. “I couldn't do it before; I would fall asleep. Now that I like to read, I don't have enough time.” She is working on a novel, which is well underway.

In his opinion, the Zapatista movement, which emerged in 1994, "gave more weight to Indigenous peoples; it paved the way for us to raise our voices, giving us the opportunity to speak out. As Indigenous people, many doors have been opened for us. Before 1994, Indigenous people were not respected; they were humiliated, treated like animals, although racism still exists. In some stores, we are treated differently when we dress in Indigenous clothing."

She added that "there are Indigenous women writers who have achieved good work, such as Susy Benzulul, who has worked hard to defend women's rights; Ruperta Bautista (who won in the poetry category last year); Cristina Patishtán; and other Tsostil women."

Díaz reiterated that her book "is a denunciation and seeks to change the Western mentality that Indigenous peoples live happily in the countryside, but no, we have problems. The main ones are machismo, which is widespread, poverty, and marginalization, although not as much in my community, but in more remote ones it is."

She said she's "very excited" and can't wait for December 5th for the award ceremony, which will take place at the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL), especially since the first presentation of the printed book will likely take place during that time. "I can't wait to see it. I like my stories. They're interesting."

César Arellano García

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, September 9, 2025, p. 5

The academic sector of the Union of Trade Unions of the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (USINBAL), made up of four union representatives, demonstrated at the National Palace to demand respect for their labor rights.

The protesters demanded decisive working groups with the participation of union representatives, the Ministries of Culture, Finance, Interior, Anti-Corruption, and Good Government, as well as the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL), in order to "guarantee concrete responses and immediate actions to address the urgent demands that affect our fundamental labor rights and compromise the country's educational and cultural quality."

Carlos Barajas González, general counsel of the Independent Union of Workers of the Ministry of Culture, stated that they delivered a document to President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, seeking to have their demands addressed, including the dignified recognition of federal positions, respecting seniority, ensuring equitable working and academic conditions, and recognizing the professional value of each member.

Likewise, "promotion in accordance with current regulations and in compliance with the Rules Governing the Specific Working Conditions of the Base Academic Staff of the INBAL Professional Schools. Fair General Working Conditions, aligned with the reality of the artistic and educational sector, supported by joint admissions, promotion, and training committees that guarantee transparent, democratic, and participatory processes."

“They are inalienable rights”

They also demand "immediate legal status, as an urgent measure to provide job security to those who contribute with commitment and excellence to the institutional mission. Furthermore, they demand timely payment of salaries and benefits, including timely seniority bonuses, and the provision of work clothes for 2024 and 2025. These are not discretionary benefits, but inalienable rights, the omission of which violates the dignity of the workplace."

In their petition, they also demand equal pay and benefits for teachers at INBAL and the Ministry of Public Education (SEP), as well as violence-free work environments through effective mechanisms that prevent and punish workplace hostility in all its forms, in compliance with national laws and international conventions. "We demand spaces where safety, respect, dignity, and professional integrity prevail."

The attendees placed banners on the fences protecting the National Palace and performed a batucada while chanting slogans.

They also indicated that the protest is taking place in other cities across the country, such as Morelia, Chihuahua, and Guadalajara.

AFP

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, September 9, 2025, p. 5

Berlin. German conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi, considered one of the greats of his generation, died at the age of 95, public radio NDR announced yesterday.

Christoph von Dohnanyi died in Munich “just a few days before his 96th birthday,” NDR reported.

Hendrik Lünenborg, the radio station's general manager, spoke of a "great loss" and paid tribute to "one of the most important figures in international music."

Born in Berlin, Von Dohnanyi was the grandson of the Hungarian composer and conductor Ernst von Dohnanyi. His father, uncle, and several relatives were part of the resistance against Nazism.

He is best known for having conducted the Cleveland Orchestra in the United States for almost 20 years, from 1984 to 2002.

He was also a guest conductor at major European operas in Vienna, London, Paris, and Zurich, as well as at the Salzburg Festival.

He also directed the Hamburg State Opera from 1978 to 1982, and the Frankfurt State Opera as music director.