Washington, May 28 (RHC) -- Cuban National Ballet Company director, ballet legend Alicia Alonso, travelled to the US Monday to close important Cuban Festival in Washington.

In recent statements to Prensa Latina news agency, the Cuban prima ballerina assoluta said that the ballet ensemble she runs will be highly welcomed in the US capital, following 40 years of her company’s debut in the US. Alonso also told Prensa Latina that this time it will be a memorable occasion to go back to the same stage 40 years later.

The dance troupe will show the classic Don Quixote at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House Tuesday and Wednesday and Alonso’s choreographic version of Giselle from Thursday through Sunday.  The Cuban ballet performances are set to close the Arts of Cuba Festival: From the Island to the World, which has been showcasing Cuban arts and culture since May 8th.

Alonso is a founding member of American Ballet Theatre –ABT-, the prestigious company in the United States, where she made her debut as Giselle, a role in which she became an unmatched legend, according to critics. Her choreographic version of Giselle and personal performance of the role received the Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris in France in 1966.

At the Tampa Bay Times US critic Andrew Meacham has just termed the company’s most recent performances of the classic at the Tampa Arts Center as stunning and spectacular.

The Cuban ensemble’s current tour of the US that has taken it to stages in Chicago, Tampa, Washington and Saratoga Springs, is part of celebrations marking its 70th anniversary in 2018.

The main roles will be assumed by Cuban dancers Viengsay Valdés, Grettel Morejón, Sadaise Arencibia, Dani Hernández, Rafael Quenedit, Patricio Revé, Raúl Abreu, Ernesto Díaz, Ariel Martínez, Ginett Moncho, Ely Regina Hernández, Chavela Riera and Claudia García, among others.