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Jorge Esquivel
- University Press of Florida
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167 and repressed feelings, and exercising the utmost restraint. When this madness finally burned itself out, we were all sobbing. All the while, Alicia was on the proscenium in front of the curtain as it opened and closed, with the audience in a standing ovation. In spite of all this, we were honored with the Grand Prix of the City of Paris, and various prizes for our “Four Jewels,” and a special one for the corps de ballet for its exemplary work, and I imagine that Fernando experienced one of the most painful moments of his life because of what had just happened to Alicia, and that the role he had to dance was unforeseen. What was the most comic or pleasant moment with him? Lupe: It was in Cuba. My two daughters Lorena and Lorna had chosen this same career as mine, and Lorena, who is the eldest, had participated in national and international competitions, and won prizes of every kind. Fernando knew her, as she was born when I was still dancing. Lorna also danced and did extremely well, and had leanings toward becoming a choreographer , and choreographed several pieces, and had won awards. Fernando and his brother Alberto went to see a school competition, but had never seen Lorna dance before. Afterwards, as they were coming downstairs , they asked me, “Why didn’t you just keep on having children?” So I said, “Why? Were you thinking of creating a company named after me?” We all laughed, and I will always remember that moment as the warmest one with Fernando. In addition, I would like to take this opportunity to credit those who are seldom mentioned: all the teachers from the Alejo Carpentier Elementary School, the Middle Level High School and all the ballet schools in Cuba, directed and supervised by Ramona de Sáa, ballet adviser. Thankyou to everyone, each and every one of our principal dancers in the best companies in the world: This is a great honor for the Cuban school of ballet. Jorge Esqu]vel Jorge Esquivel danced with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba for eighteen years, most of them as Alicia Alonso’s partner. They traveled the world, and he also partnered other outstanding ballerinas from Cuba and other nations. He received the Laureates Festival Medal; Diploma of Honor Katia Popova, Pleven, Buglaria; Order of Merit Rubén Martínez Villena from the Cuban Union of Part III. Recuerdos (Recollections) 168 Young Communists; the Italian international art prize, Il Sagitario de Oro; as well as many other prestigious awards. He currently teaches at the San Francisco Ballet School. I was able to interview Jorge Esquivel at his home in Novato, California, on April 3, 2010. When did you begin to study ballet, and with whom? I started to study ballet in 1961, when I was eleven years old, at the provincial ballet school, where I remained for five years. My teachers were Michel Gurov , Anna Leontieva, and then Joaquín Banegas. I went on to the National School of the Arts for two years, where I had several other teachers, but Joaquín Banegas was always my principal teacher. I graduated in 1968. We were the first graduates of the revolution. My parents were still alive, but I was raised at La Beneficiencia orphanage from around the time I was five years old. My mother got pregnant, gave birth, and at some point I got lost, and the police took me to the orphanage. My parents stayed in contact, and my dad would come and visit me. It was better for them, because at La Beneficiencia they gave me everything. My parents had eleven children. The eldest died when I was four and he was five. I didn’t know what ballet was, but they got a bunch of boys together. And in Cuba, there was machismo. Parents of kids who wanted to study ballet would say, “Study anything but ballet!” We were the first ones, and the most disciplined of the Beneficiencia group. We had no idea of what ballet was, but we wanted to get out of that orphanage and open a path to get to know other worlds, other people, and other ways of life. As I studied ballet, I developed an appreciation and liking for it. They took us to shows. It was nice to hear the music, see the paintings, performances, or the ballet. All of it got us excited. It reached the point that there were about...