Actress Natalie Portman, winner of an Oscar for playing the part of a ballerina in the 2010 film “Black Swan,” visited Havana and met with ex-ballerina and choreographer Alicia Alonso, sources at the National Ballet of Cuba, or BNC, the company the legendary artist founded and still directs, told EFE on Friday.
Also attending the private meeting at BNC dance studios was Portman’s husband, French choreographer and ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied, the current dance director at the Paris Opera Ballet, independent media on the island reported.
The couple also visited the mansion in Havana’s Vedado district to see rehearsals of the second act of “Giselle,” currently being staged by the BNC at Havana’s recently restored Gran Teatro.
According to the online site Oncuba, the Israeli-born actress of U.S. nationality went to the island in support of her friend, Cuban ballet dancer Carlos Acosta, who is readying the debut of his own ballet company.
Acosta invited Portman to the temporary studios of the Cuban Ballet School, where the actress “observed the rehearsals and encouraged the dancers,” the note said.
Also to be seen online is a picture of the actress smiling as she poses with workers at the popular private restaurant La Guarida, while Vistamagazine features a photo of Alicia Alonso meeting with Portman, who holds her little son Aleph in her arms.
(EFE)
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