Havana, Feb. 8 (RHC)-- Cuba’s flagship ballet Company Ballet Nacional de Cuba was awarded the La tórtola distinction granted by the cultural office in western Matanzas province to personalities and institutions with an outstanding contribution to Cuban culture.

Frist dancer and director of BNC, Viengsay Valdés, received the award from local cultural director Osbel Marrero, during a ceremony at Sauto theatre, where the prestigious classical dance troupe performed over the weekend.

About the performances in Matanzas, Valdés said the repertoire included world premieres, new choreographies on which dancers with the company worked really hard from home over the past several months amidst Covid-19.

The distinction is named after the text ‘La fuga de la tórtola’, one of the best known literary works by Matanzas-born writer José Jacinto Milanés (1814-1863), considered the first great Cuban poet.