The Plight of the Cuban Ballerina
The Need for New Shoes
Published in
2 min readJan 3, 2020
On a recent visit to Cuba I was able to visit ProDanza Ballet Academy in Havana and watched as the students practiced for the upcoming holiday performance of The Nutcracker. In the US, these students would be wearing new shoes that they receive every 2–4 weeks. At ProDanza, and at other ballet schools in Cuba, students go 1–2 YEARS with the same shoes. The prima ballerina has been dancing in her shoes for 1.5 years. The shoes are held together with string, tape, sweat, and a bit of luck.
Story and all pictures are copyright Katherine Pollock
