Photo: Prensa Latina.

Panama City, Sep 2(RHC) Dani Hernandez, first dancer of the National Ballet of Cuba, highlighted Friday the welcome given by similar dance collective of Panama directed by teacher Gloria Barrios.

Applauded several times at the National Theater in Casco Antiguo, in this capital, during his participation as guest artist at the Gala for the 51st anniversary of the National Ballet of Panama, Hernandez told Prensa Latina that he feels at home in front of a very special audience.

The Caribbean artist performs the Pas de Deux The Black Swan with the first dancer of the nation, Ana Lorena Boyd, whom he said he met personally here but a close relationship was achieved that allows him to offer this beautiful experience.

In the classes and rehearsals I was able to exchange my knowledge with the Panamanian dancers, some of whom I knew from Cuba and other scenarios, but it has been a very rewarding and enriching experience, he said.

It is not the first time I visit this country, he recalled. In 2019 I participated with Cuban prima ballerina Grettel Morejón in the Panama International Ballet Festival, when we performed the pas de deux from Carmen.

About the National Ballet of Panama, Hernandez said that it combines a formation that comes from the Cuban school, as Master Juan Carlos Costoya, whom he is flattered by this invitation, but also the Russian and other academies where his dancers have been trained, and then manages to print a stamp and style, which should distinguish this type of company.Placed by the magazine Danza Europa as one of the 100 best dancers worldwide, Hernandez said that this time he has had to rethink what he has been doing in his version of Swan Lake, but that enriched him as an artist.

He said that in September he will start a tour in the Dominican Republic where he will perform this fairy tale-ballet with music by Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky in the second and fourth acts together with prima ballerina and general director of the National Ballet of Cuba, Viengsay Valdés; and also with his life partner, prima ballerina Anette Delgado.

The National Ballet of Panama was created in 1972, and is currently directed by the teacher Gloria Barrios.The program for the anniversary of its foundation included special moments and scenes such as Raymonda, with Melissa Gaona and Edgar Santamaría; Grand Pas Classique, with Manu Navarro and Yahir Castro; La Fille Mal Gardée, with Julieta Del Castillo and Isaac Chávez; Diana and Acteón, with Satoko Konishi and Pedro Paternina; and Una rosa contra el muro, with Julieta Del Castillo, among others. (Source: Prensa Latina).