Washington, June 4 (RHC)-- An acclaimed performance by the National Ballet of Cuba, with Viengsay Valdés as the protagonist of Giselle, brought to an end on Sunday the Artes de Cuba Festival in Washington, DC.

The unprecedented event, which ran from May 8 through June 3, was hosted by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the U.S. capital.

On the closing night, the audience gathered at the Opera House of the complex appreciated the masterful performance by the Cuban ballerina Valdes, with Dani Hernández, as her partner in the role of Albretch.

Prensa Latina news agency reported it was a spectacular closing for the festival, which in its first stage, from May 8 to 20, held some fifty events encompassing music, dance, theatre, film, fashion, visual art and more, topped with a series of evening parties featuring live jams between the visiting musicians.

According to local critics, some of the concerts that stood out were those by drummer Yissy Garcia and Banda Ancha, acclaimed dance band Los Van Van and by singer Haydee Milanes and trio, featuring as guest her father Pablo Milanes.

Milanes’ concert at the Eisenhower Theater was described by National Public Radio as the most emotionally stirring concert of the festival.

The event, curated by Kennedy Center´s Alicia Adams and Gilda Almeida, was described as a historic rare treat for a U.S audience to experience the work of some 400 Cuban and Cuban-American artists that built a cultural bridge between the two nations.