Mirta Esteny Plá Cabal (1940 – September 23, 2003) was a Cuban dancer, teacher of ballet, and ballet master. Along with

Loipa Araújo Loipa Araújo (born May 27, 1941) is a Cuban ballet dancer, ballet master, and teacher of ballet. Along with Aurora Bosch, Josefina Méndez, and Mirta Plá, she is regarded as one of the "four jewels of Cuban ballet". Nicknamed the "Cuban muse ...

Aurora Bosch Aurora de los Ángeles Bosch Fernández (December 10, 1942) is a Cuban dancer and teacher of ballet. Along with Loipa Araújo, Josefina Méndez, and Mirta Plá, she is regarded as one of the "four jewels of Cuban ballet". She was a principal art ...

, and

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 ...

, she is regarded as one of the "four jewels of Cuban ballet". She was a principal artist with the Cuban National Ballet (''Ballet Nacional de Cuba''; BNC).

Early years

Born in Havana, Plá began her studies at the Conservatorio Municipal de la Habana. She continued her training under

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...

, Leon Fokine,

Alexandra Fedorova Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

, José Parés and Mary Skeaping. She joined the Alicia Alonso Ballet Academy where Bosch remembered Plá as being very skinny with a very long neck. The Romanian ballerina, Mijaela Tesleoanu, recalled that Plá was never hurt nor did she ever complain about discomfort in the ankles, knees or arms.

Career

She debuted professionally in 1953, at the age of 13. She was trained at the Ballet Academy run by Alicia Alonso and she became known as one of the "four jewels" with

, and

. Alonso's school became the Cuban Ballet School. In 1956 the school lost its funding from the state, but in 1959 the new revolutionary government made ballet into a "national art form". The same year, Plá was promoted to soloist, acquiring the status of principal dancer in 1962. While still in her youth, Plá was a guest artist in California at the ballet of the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and the

Ballet Celeste 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 ...

in San Francisco. She portrayed the role of Myrtha, Queen of the Willis in the 1963 film of ''

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

'', by Enrique Pineda Barnet, which was produced by the

Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos The Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC, ''Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry'') was established by the Cuban government in March 1959 after the Cuban Revolution. Its prominent members are Tomás Guti� ...

. In 1964 and 1966, she was awarded the silver medal at the Varna International Ballet Competition; she missed the 1965 competition because she was expecting a child. She was a leading dancer and one of the "four jewels" of the first generation of the Cuban National Ballet. However she was based in Barcelona for almost a decade, where she occasionally taught ballet at the

Institut del Teatre The Theatre Institute of Barcelona ( ca, Institut del Teatre de Barcelona) is a public institution dedicated to training in the performing arts, classical dance, contemporary and Spanish as well as in theater, film, choreography, etc. It was crea ...

. She also worked occasionally in Madrid. She died from cancer in Barcelona in 2003, leaving behind a daughter, Lourdes, who also became a ballet dancer and teacher. Giselle Deyá's biography, ''Mirta Plá: una joya de la cultura cubana'', on the prima ballerina was published in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pla, Mirta 1940 births 2003 deaths Cuban female dancers Cuban dancers Cuban National Ballet dancers Cuban ballerinas Cuban ballet dancers Prima ballerinas Ballet teachers Ballet mistresses Deaths from cancer in Spain Cuban emigrants to Spain