Viengsay Valdés

Viengsay Valdés is a Cuban ballerina.

Born in Havana, Viengsay Valdés moved at three months to Laos, where her father was the Cuban Ambassador. At age three, her family moved to the Seychelles. At six, she moved back to Havana, Cuba, where her grandmother continued her education.

Viengsay began artistic gymnastics at age six. She put her first ballet shoes on at the age of nine, [1]which is when she began her ballet studies at the Alejo Carpentier Provincial Ballet School in Havana. At age 15, she continued her studies at the Escuela Nacional de Arte (ENA). Ramona de Sáa and Mirtha Hermida were her main ballet professors, the latter being her main inspiration. While she was still a student she won numerous prizes and distinctions. [2]

An acute asthma sufferer, Valdes was warned by teachers and doctors not to pursue professional ballet, because of its physical challenges. Valdes was determined to transcend her ailment and continued to fight for her chosen career. Her work was made even harder by the economic crisis into which Cuba descended after the loss of Soviet aid in 1989. Acute food shortages made her intense physical training extremely tough.

In July of 1994, Ms. Valdes graduated from the National School of Art (ENA) with a degree in Dance and Choreography, and gold honors.

Legendary director Alicia Alonso spotted Valdés' talent, and invited her to join the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. She was 17. A year later, she was promoted to the position of 'principal dancer'.

In July 2001, Alonso promoted Ms Valdés to the category of first dancer (primera bailarina), becoming one of the four top female dancers in the company. She toured to important theatres in Spain and the United States.

Ms. Valdés developed a reputation for her interpretations of the female lead roles in the ballets Carmen, Giselle, Swan Lake, Blood Wedding, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Coppelia, La Fille Mal Gardee, and The Nutcracker. She also danced in notable pas de deux from the Corsair, Diana and Acteon, Silvia, and Black Swan.

Every year since 1994, Ms. Valdés has been a participant in the prestigious International Ballet Festival in Havana. She was named the most outstanding dancer in the XVIII International Festival of Ballet of Havana (October 20-28, 2002). This was thanks to her starring performances in Giselle, and her performance as Kitri in Don Quixote. Her partner in Don Quixote was premier dancer Carlos Acosta.

Ms. Valdés performed at the World Stars Ballet Gala in Budapest, September 14, 2002. In February of 2003, Ms Valdés was a guest for the Closing Gala of the Dessau Ballet-Festival in Germany. She was invited to dance in the Real Place of San Lorenzo of The Escorial for second time in 2003 and 2005 during her tour of Spain. In September of 2003, Ms Valdes participated as a guest in the World Gala, “Les Étoiles du XXIe Siècle,” which took place on the Champs Elysées in Paris. Ms. Valdés first partner for the Gala was the Italian ballet star Giusseppe Picone and also her next partner was the Russian star Alexei Tyukov.

In October of 2002, Ms. Valdes was invited to guest star as Kitri for a performance of Don Quixote with La Scala in Milán, but she could not participate because she had a prior commitment to tour in the USA, with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. In January of 2004, she participated in the 1st Festival of Ballet of Beijing with Swan Lake.

In 2003, Alicia Alonso made Valdés the company's prima ballerina, the highest position for a dancer in Cuba. From then on, she took the leading roles in all the company's major galas.

In September 2004, she was invited for a second time to participate in the World Stars of Ballet Gala in Budapest. The dancers, managers, personalities and other distinguished personages, voted to choose Ms Valdés as their favorite dancer of this World Gala, and she was subsequently awarded the Prize for Popularity.

In the summer of 2005, Ms. Valdes danced throughout Spain. She was invited on July 23, 2005 to appear in Cannes at the Etoiles du Ballet 2000 Festival, an association of the world’s most important dance critics. In August 2005 she starred in a four-day run of Giselle at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London and she received outstanding reviews from several dance critics.

In the summer of 2006, Ms. Valdes participated in the World Ballet Festival in Tokyo, and also starred as Kitri at Sadler`s Wells Theatre in London, receiving outstanding reviews from several critics.

She participated in the Prague Ballet Gala and in the International Danze Gala in Lisbon in 2007.

She has performed leading roles in the major theatres of Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America; she has toured in Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus, Czech Republic Hungary, Portugal, United Kingdom, Germany, Holland, China, Laos, Venezuela, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Panama , Brasil, Argentina, Chile, Tunisia, Egypt , Japan and other countries.

Ms. Valdes' performances have received outstanding reviews from the world’s leading dance critics, including Anna Kisselgoff and Jennifer Dunning of the New York Times, and Lewis Segal of the Los Angeles Times and others.[3]

Judith Mackrell, writing about her performance in September 2006 at Sadler's Wells in the Guardian: "Valdes, apparently in league with the devil - or with ball bearings fitted in the pointes of her shoes - whirled through countless fouettées before pulling off a series of phenomenal balances. Smiling wickedly as she disdained Carreno's supporting hand, she made time stand still as she perched on one unwavering toe, even sustaining her balance as she lifted and folded her leg through a teasing adage of arabesque and attitude. The audience, barely able to believe what they were seeing, bayed like a football crowd." [4]

Clement Crisp, the distinguished Dance Critic of The Financial Times wrote a 2007 article entitled: "Pariah Island where the classical virtues thrive". In this article he wrote, "The artists of the ballet believe utterly in what they are doing. I thought Viengsay Valdes a lovely and touching Giselle, moving from beguiling innocence to heart-torn tragedy and then to vaporous compassion with sweetest grace and displaying radiant technique throughout". [5]

Mary Ellen Hunt wrote in Dance Magazine: "Cuban ballerina Viengsay Valdes could be justly famous for her rock-solid eternal balances, thrilling multiple turns, and bravura technique. But in an age of superlative technicians, it's the passion and heart that Valdes brings to her dancing that has captivated audiences from Havana to Paris. Whether playing an effervescent Swanhilda in Coppelia or a biting Black Swan, Valdes' every move emerges as a natural expression of her zest for dancing. One of the youngest of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba's primeras ballerinas, Valdes made an auspicious debut as Kitri in Don Quixote at the age of 19, under the demanding tutelage of Alicia Alonso. Since then, she's polished all international reputation, partnering with such danseurs as Carlos Acosta, Jose Manuel Carreno, and Giuseppe Picone, and winning enthusiastic critical praise." [6]

The Stage wrote: "In Don Quixote the ballerina role of Kitri was outstandingly danced by Viengsay Valdés with thrilling balances." [7]

1993 - First Prize in the National Competition of Dance for the Union of Artists and Writers of Cuba (UNEAC).
1993 – Gold Medal in the Vignale Festival of Dance, Italy.
1994 – Grand Prize in Ballet for the National Competition of Dance, Union of Artists and Writers of Cuba (UNEAC).
1999 – National Medal of Culture from Cuba
2003 – Ms. Valdes was awarded the Medal "Alejo Carpentier" by the Ministry of Culture of Cuba.
2005 - 23 July, Ms.Valdes was awarded the Les Ètoiles de Ballet 2000 prize at the in Palais des Festivals, Cannes.

'Viengsay' is the Laotian word for Victory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub3yUMwbKo8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K15twr9IWPM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pCrRarAeWc