Aurora de los Ángeles Bosch Fernández (born December 10, 1942) is a Cuban dancer and teacher of

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

. Along with Loipa Araújo,

Josefina Méndez Josefina Méndez (nickname Yuyi; 8 March 1941 – 26 January 2007) was a Cuban ballet dancer and ballet mistress. Along with Loipa Araújo, Aurora Bosch, and Mirta Plá, she is regarded as one of the "Four jewels of Cuban ballet". Her style ...

, and

Mirta Plá Mirta Esteny Plá Cabal (1940 – September 23, 2003) was a Cuban dancer, teacher of ballet, and ballet master. Along with Loipa Araújo, Aurora Bosch, and Josefina Méndez, she is regarded as one of the "four jewels of Cuban ballet". She was a pri ...

, she is regarded as one of the "four jewels of Cuban ballet". She was a principal artist with the

Cuban National Ballet The Cuban National Ballet () is a classical ballet company based at Great Theatre of Havana in Havana, Cuba, founded by the Cuban prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso in 1948. The official school of the company is the Cuban National Ballet ...

(''Ballet Nacional de Cuba''; BNC).

Early years

Bosch was born in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. Bosch received a scholarship to attend the

Alicia Alonso Alicia Alonso (born Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad del Cobre Martínez del Hoyo; 21 December 1920 – 17 October 2019) was a Cuban prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer whose company became the Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1955. She is bes ...

Ballet Academy, now the Cuban National Ballet School. There, she trained with Magda González Mora,

José Parés José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

and

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...

. Her stage debut occurred with the Ballet Alicia Alonso, now the BNC, in 1954 in a production of ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

''.

Career

She joined the BNC company in 1956. However, her small stature initially prevented her from assuming roles of relevance, relegating her to the ''

corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French language, French for "body of the little dance") is the group of ballet dancer, dancers who are not principal dancers or Soloist (ballet), soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and ...

''. But in her first year, before the temporary closure of the BNC, a ballerina was absent for a performance in

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ; ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas Province, Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-American religions, Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Mat ...

, and Bosch was asked to take her place in ''

Les Sylphides () is a short, non-narrative '' ballet blanc'' to piano music by Frédéric Chopin, selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. The ballet, described as a "romantic reverie","Ballet Theater", until 1955. A compact disk of ABT's product ...

'', where she made her true professional debut in a leading role. In 1958, Alicia Alonso asked Bosch to participate in the ''corps de ballet'' of ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

'' at the

Greek Theatre A theatrical culture flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. At its centre was the city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, and the theatre was institutionalised there as par ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and the following year the ballet ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

''. While in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, she also performed with Ballet Celeste in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. At the same time, Bosh began a long career as a ballet teacher at Alicia Alonso school. In 1959 the new revolutionary Cuban government made ballet into a "national art form" and Bosch having completed her studies, participated in ballet auditions at the newly formed BNC. In the same year, she made an extensive tour of South America with the company and the following year to Mexico and Eastern Europe, which lasted until 1961. Promoted to the rank of soloist in 1962, she gradually assumed roles within the company's traditional and contemporary repertoire. In 1963, she portrayed one of the friends in the

Enrique Pineda Barnet ''I Am Cuba'' (; , ''Ya – Kuba'') is a 1964 film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov at Mosfilm. An international co-production between the Soviet Union and Cuba, it is an anthology film mixing political drama and propaganda. The film was almost ...

film ''Giselle'', which was produced by the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos and starring Alicia Alonso. In 1967, she was promoted to

prima ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancers ...

at the BNC and still later served as

ballet master A ballet master (also balletmaster, ballet mistress, ''premier maître de ballet'' or ''premier maître de ballet en chef'') is an employee of a ballet company who is responsible for the level of competence of the dancers in their company. In mo ...

. At an invitation from José Antonio Ruiz, she taught at the

Ballet Nacional de España Ballet Nacional de España (English: ''National Ballet of Spain''; BNE) is a dance company founded in 1978. It is part of the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y ...

. She was associated with the Ballet Clásico de México, Ballet Independiente y Ballet Clásico, Romanian National Opera, Moscow Ballet, Ballet de Victor Ullate, Royal Ballet of Denmark, International Summer Stage of Madrid, Ballet Zurich, Boston Ballet, Central School of Ballet London, National Ballet Hungary and the Vienna State Opera. She also participated in the international dance festivals in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

Awards

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova. (born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova; – 23 January 1931) was a Russian prima ballerina. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, but is most recognized for creating ...

prize, Dance University in Paris *Dance Critics Special Prize, France *Gold Medal,

Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL, ), located in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, is the Mexican institution in charge of coordinating artistic and cultural activities (both at the political and the educati ...

*International Sagitario de Oro Art Prize, Italy *Medal Dance Merit, Brazilian Dance Council *1965,

Varna International Ballet Competition The Varna International Ballet Competition is a biennial ballet competition held in Varna, Bulgaria. The competition was founded in 1964 and subsequently held in 1965 and 1966, and then every two years starting in 1968. Many dancers have gained th ...

, Silver Medal *1966 Varna, Gold Medal *2003, National Dance Prize, Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC) and National Council of Performing Arts *2005, Emeritus Member, UNEAC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosch, Aurora 1942 births Living people Dancers from Havana Cuban female dancers Cuban ballerinas Ballet mistresses Cuban National Ballet dancers Cuban people of Spanish descent Cuban people of Catalan descent