• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 03 / 02 / 2011

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By Victor Swoboda, Postmedia News March 1, 2011 12:02 PM. The Montreal Gazette — A principal dancer with the Cuban National Ballet, Elier Bourzac, is one of five company members who declined to return home with the troupe after its triumphant first appearance in Montreal last month.

All five are seeking to stay in Canada in the hope of joining Canadian dance companies. Among their first acts in the week following their decision to stay was an audition with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal.

"My reason for staying is artistic," said Bourzac, 26, in a telephone interview Monday from Toronto, where he took a regular class with the National Ballet of Canada as part of an audition process.

"I went as far as I wanted to go in classical ballet — in Cuba, it's exclusively classical dance — and I'd like to continue to perform ballet, but now I'd like to explore contemporary dance, too, and work with international choreographers. As far as Canada goes, I like Canada's way of life better than that of other countries where I've toured."

In two appearances in Montreal in the ballet Giselle, Bourzac displayed brilliant technique in the lead male role of Albrecht, partnering with the company's eminent ballerina, Viengsay Valdez. His repertory includes leading roles in Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Corsaire and other major classical works.

Three of the other four Cuban immigrant claimants also took part in the Toronto audition, including Bourzac's wife, Patricia Gonzalez, 24, Jorge Villazon, 32, and Hugo Rodriguez, 20. All were members of the Cuban National Ballet corps.

The fifth Cuban, Yadil Suarez, 22, remains in Montreal. In December, Suarez, a company first soloist, partnered with Valdez in a duet, For Alicia, at a gala in Havana in honour of the 90th birthday of Cuban National Ballet founder, Alicia Alonso.

Over the past decade, the Cuban National Ballet has lost other dancers while on foreign tour. In 2008, three dancers left the company after its appearance in Hamilton, and eventually settled in the United States.

Source: www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/