Cuban prima ballerina and teacher Aurora Bosch celebrates her 80th birthday, a good part of them dedicated to dance, either on stage or in the rehearsal rooms where she still shares her knowledge.

As announced by the National Ballet of Cuba, on December 16, a gala performance will be devoted to the dancer who is known as one of the “four jewels” along with Loipa Araújo, Mirta Plá and Josefina Méndez.

During this special function at the Teatro Marti, the company will present selections from works such as Giselle, Grand pas de quatre and The Lake of the Swans,in which Bosch shined with her performance.

Awarded the National Dance Prize in 2003, Bosch does not hide her fascination for teaching, a skill she has cultivated since the days when she thrilled the stage as the Queen of the Willis in Giselle and Odile in The Lake of the Swans.

Trained under the direct guidance of Alicia and Fernando Alonso, she is currently considered one of the most solid representatives of the technical, ethical and aesthetic method of the Cuban school of ballet.

On June 17, 1967, Arnold Haskell -considered the dean of the world’s ballet critics- gave the Cuban dancers Aurora Bosch, Loipa Araújo, Mirta Plá and Josefina Méndez the name of the four jewels.