HAVANA, Cuba. July (acn) Cuban prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso received on Friday the Pablo Prize, given by Havana’s Pablo de la Torriente Brau Cultural Center, from the hands ofRuth de la Torriente, the sister of the anti-fascist fighter. Victor Casaus, director of the institution, pointed out that the distinction seeks to honor
Alicia’s dedication to art throughout his almost nine decades of existence -a fruitful life of incessant work, in which young artists find inspiration and strength.

The Pablo Prize was given to the director of Cuba’s National Ballet Company for “her creative will and her generous teaching, and for regaling the Cuban people and the world with living art in its entire splendor”, he added.

A new volume of the collection Palabra Viva (Living Word), a project created to keep the memory of figures interviewed by late journalist Orlando Castellanos, which are of great significance for national culture, was presented during the ceremony, held at Havana’s Dance Museum.

The production, entitled Una Giselle cubana y universal (A Cuban and Universal Giselle), includes fragments of interviews Alicia granted Castellanos, and two songs interpreted by Miriam Ramos and Celina Bernal, respectively.

Likewise, the CD offers testimonies by the UNESCO Good Will Ambassador, in which she highlights the significance of Giselle, a piece she immortalized and that it’s closely linked to her career as dancer and choreographer.

National Literature Award winners Pablo Armando Fernandez and Roberto Fernandez Retamar, humorist Carlos Ruiz de la Tejera, and singer-songwriter Pablo Milanes, are among participants in the tribute to this figure of world ballet.

The acknowledgement of the Pablo de la Torriente Cultural Center has been given to Cuban and foreign personalities and institutions since 1998, which stand out for the promotion and defense of cultural identity and solidarity between the peoples.

Eusebio Leal, Alfredo Guevara, Silvio Rodriguez, Teresita Fernandez, Noel Nicola and Leo Broker are some of the winners of the Pablo Prize on previous occasions.