Cuban Ballet Faces Exodus of Talent
The stage of the national Ballet of Cuba, once a symbol of the island’s cultural pride, is becoming increasingly empty. Young artists, trained in the prestigious school founded by Alicia Alonso, are leaving for abroad. They’re driven by the economic crisis and a desire for a dignified future for themselves and their families.
“It’s not about the National Ballet of Cuba itself, but what’s happening outside of it… what makes you realize you need a better future for you and your family,” confessed dancer Carolina Rodríguez, 21, to The New York Times. She left the company last year to join the Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo.
Rodríguez remembers surviving in Havana on a salary of just $14 a month, while trying to make ends meet in crowded clubs, amidst blackouts and shortages of pointe shoes stuck in customs.
Now, she earns 3,200 euros per month – an amount that allows her to help her family in Cuba and enjoy luxuries that were previously unattainable, like treating her parents and grandparents to dinner at a restaurant.”It was something I had wanted to do for a long time,” she said excitedly.
Rodríguez isn’t alone. Narcissus Medina, 26, also left the company in 2022 and now dances with BalletMet in Ohio, United States.
“In Cuba, things we consider luxuries are normal here, like having internet 24 hours a day or eating chocolate,” he told the American newspaper.
Even though he dreams of returning, he acknowledges it would only be possible if cuba’s political and economic situation improved. “If these things change,I will come back. But I don’t think they will change,” he said.
An Exodus Reflecting the Country’s Crisis
Ballerinas leaving isn’t new, but it has intensified in recent years. Since the 1960s, artists have deserted during international tours. However, the current scale reflects the depth of the Cuban crisis: soaring inflation, daily blackouts lasting up to 10 hours, empty supermarkets, and a collapsed tourism industry that has even forced the government to ask for help from the World