Thursday, January 03, 2008

La famosa Tia Mirta (The famous Aunt Mirta)

I recently found out that youtube has videos of my wonderful aunt dancing. My aunt, Mirta Pla, was a well known and respected prima ballerina from the National Cuban Ballet (headed by Alicia Alonso). I was thrilled to find this video which showed her at her prime. I forget how perfect she was at her craft. Here she is dancing the Pas de Deux Clasique with Jorge Esquivel in Varna, 1964 where she won a silver medal. I hope you enjoy it!

8 comments:

  1. I met Mirta's daughter. We were both students of English at the Escuela de Idiomas of El Vedado in Havana. I wish her and her entire family the best.

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  2. Forgot to say that I met Mirta's daughter in 1984 or 1985. My real name is Julio.

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  3. Muchas gracias Julio. My cousin still lives in Spain. I'll pass along your good wishes.

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  4. You must be very proud of your aunt Mirta Pla, she was one of the best ballerinas that I have ever seen. I saw her many times in Cuba, when my parents used to take me to the theatre in Havana. I remember her in Coppelia, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. I recall vividly her debut in Giselle after she became Prima Ballerina. She was also very much loved as a person, for her kindness & thoughtfulness. A beautiful human being. We felt very sad when she passed away, but her memory will remain forever as the the sweetest and the best of all the Cuban ballerinas.

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  5. Ismaelillo,
    Thank you so much for your beautiful words. My family and I have always been very proud of tia Mirta and I always felt my relationship with her to be extra especial because she was "Madrina" to me. I forwarded your words to my mom, her sister.

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  6. Mirta fue mi bailarina preferida del BNC. En una oportunidad, al terminar una funcion, siendo yo adolescente, le regale una rosa y un poema escrito por mi. Me fui del pais. Vivo en EE.UU., y me gustaria saber si sus familiare conservan el poema que le escribi. Alguien me dijo que ella lo conservaba, pero no estoy seguro.
    Mi nombre es Leonardo Venta.

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