Ballet master draws on her family roots

The Prodonza troupe, led by Laura Alonso, director of Cuba's Prodanza Ballet Academy, is halfway through a three-month China tour. Photo provided to China Daily

Most people who catch their mothers stealing from them feel hurt and even angry, but most people aren't Laura Alonso.

The director of Cuba's Prodanza Ballet Academy has a rather famous mother, the ballerina Alicia Alonso, who with her late father founded the dance company that has won international acclaim as the Ballet Nacional de Cuba.

"Most of my dancers are young－I get them trained, then they go to the outside. Or my mother steals them!" exclaims Laura Alonzo, speaking to China Daily from her hotel in Wuhan, where her Prodanza troupe is currently halfway through a three-month tour of China. "And when I tell her that, she just says, 'Aren't you proud?'"

In fact, Laura Alonso is quite proud to be the incubator of Cuba's best ballet talent. Lauded as a ballet teacher, coach, and expert at staging the renowned classics－she says she inherited those skills from her father Fernando.

This is the third time Alonso has brought some of Cuba's most talented dancers to China, and she's excited about the ballet company's friendly reception in China.

"Audiences are fascinated by the technique and the productions. They need more knowledge－they know Swan Lake but they haven't seen The Corsair, Don Quixote, and Giselle. I am trying to get them to know more. It's like sitting in a restaurant, where you have so many dishes to choose from. They should have so many ballets to choose from," she says.