Cuban dance company brings ‘Drácula’ to the Manzanero

A Cuban ballet troupe brings “Drácula” to Mérida. Photo: Courtesy

Mérida, Yucatán — Ballet with bite is coming to the Armando Manzanero theater.

The Cuban Prodanza Ballet Academy, directed by grand maitre Laura Alonso, takes a departure from the classics to present “Drácula.”

The performance — at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29 — is at the top of a 41-city nationwide tour that begins the previous day in Cancun and ends Nov. 13 in Aguascalientes.

The director is the daughter of the famed Alicia Alonso, the leading figure in Cuban ballet, and has made a name for herself.

“Laura forged her own path of success because she stands out as a dancer, teacher, director, choreographer, researcher, among other areas,” said Roberto González, the promoter of the event.

The grand maitre de ballet is a professor at the Higher Institute of Art of Cuba and president of the International Association of Dance for the Americas (AIDA). She has received numerous awards and distinctions in several countries.

This speaks of the quality of the Prodanza ballet, which has made successful tours as far away as China.

For “Drácula,” Alonzo wrote the libretto, with choreography by Nana Badrena.

The company will arrive with a cast of 30 dancers. The performance lasts one hour and 45 minutes and is presented in two acts.

Tickets for “Dracula” can be purchased at the box office of the Teatro Armando Manzanero or tusboletos.mx. Tickets range from 425 to 725 pesos.

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