MIAMI (AP) — Some planned their exodus months in advance. One said she decided to flee at the last minute.
The seven dancers with the Cuban National Ballet who defected after a performance in Puerto Rico said Tuesday they all came to the same realization: They had no future in Cuba.
“In Cuba, there is a lot of monotony,” Carlos Ignacio Galindez said. “In every sphere: Sports, arts, engineering, computer science. And as a professional, you always feel a bit stuck.”
“It’s something that bothers the youth in Cuba today,” he said.
On Friday, the dancers performed works in San Juan from “Giselle,” ”Don Quixote,” ”Swan Lake,” and other classical pieces that the Cuban National Ballet has received international praise for perfecting. Then, in groups of two and three, they asked for their passports.
Raisel Cruz said he explained that he wanted to take out money. He didn’t mention he was leaving.
A Cuban painter living in Puerto Rico, Williams Carmona, picked the ballerinas up from their hotel and helped arrange their flights to Florida, the dancers said. In total, eight defected, four women and four men, all in their early to mid-20s in a career known for being notoriously short.
One dancer remains in Puerto Rico; the other seven have arrived in Miami.
On Tuesday, they practiced with the Cuban Classical Ballet, a company created by another exile dancer, Pedro Pablo Pena, who fled the island in 1980. In a large white house with stately columns in Miami’s Little Havana, the dancers performed grand pirouettes, circling rapidly in place as they pointed their toes.
“This is the platform for the Cuban dancers exiled in the United States,” Pena said.
Pena has taken in 25 to 30 Cuban National Ballet dancers since creating his company six years ago. A group of seven that arrived last year have all since found work in U.S. ballet companies.
The Cuban National Ballet is led by Alicia Alonso, 92, a former prima ballerina who has been closely aligned with Fidel Castro. Ballet dancers in Cuba earn, on average, no more than $30 a month. Despite the company’s prestige, dancers have defected on nearly every international tour.
“The dancers exiled because they want freedom, personal freedom and opportunity,” Pena said.
Asked specifically about politics, the dancers hesitated.
“We are artists,” Monica Cruz said. “Politics does not interest us.”
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