Mirta Esteny Plá Cabal (1940 – September 23, 2003) was a Cuban dancer, 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 ...

, and

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 ...

. Along with Loipa Araújo, Aurora Bosch, 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 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

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.Conservatorio Municipal de la Habana. She continued her training under

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 ...

, Leon Fokine, Alexandra Fedorova, José Parés and

Mary Skeaping Mary Emma Skeaping (15 December 19029 February 1984) was an English ballerina who is better known as a ballet teacher, director, choreographer, and producer. She served as director of the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm for nine years (19531 ...

. She joined 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 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

and she became known as one of the "four jewels" with Loipa Araújo, Aurora Bosch, 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 A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...

in 1962. While still in her youth, Plá was a guest artist 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 ...

at the ballet of 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 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 ...

. 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 () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

'', by

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 ...

, which was produced by the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos. In 1964 and 1966, she was awarded the silver medal at the

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 ...

; 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 Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

for almost a decade, where she occasionally taught ballet at the

Institut del Teatre The Theatre Institute of 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 created in 1913 in Barcelona by Adrià Gu ...

. She also worked occasionally in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. She died from cancer in

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 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 ...

was published in 2011.

References

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