María Elena Llorente

María Elena Llorente Duarte, prima ballerina and maître of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba and one of the defining classical dancers of her generation, died in Havana on 21 September 2026. She was 80. The company said she died at 9:10 a.m. in the intensive care unit of Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital after heart failure aggravated by kidney failure that did not respond to treatment. Her remains were interred the same afternoon in the family vault at Colon Cemetery, according to her wishes.

Born in Havana on 20 May 1946, Llorente trained first at the School of the Pro-Arte Musical Society and then at the Alicia Alonso National Ballet Academy under Alicia Alonso, Fernando Alonso and Jose Pares. She joined the Ballet Nacional de Cuba company in 1962, became a soloist in 1967 and was named prima ballerina in 1976. Her classical roles included Giselle, Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, Kitri in Don Quixote and Lisette in La fille mal gardee, a part closely identified with her.

She helped bring virtuoso showpieces into the BNC repertoire, among them the Grand pas classique, the La Bayadere pas de deux, the Tchaikovsky pas de deux and the Le Corsaire pas de deux, which she danced with Spanish star Victor Ullate at the 1976 International Ballet Festival of Havana. In May 1977 she appeared as a guest with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York, an engagement Harry Belafonte called a significant historical event at the time.

Beyond the stage she choreographed and taught for decades at the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, the National Ballet School and the Alicia Alonso Dance Institute in Spain, shaping generations of Cuban dancers. In 2015 she received Cuba's National Dance Award for her career and teaching at home and abroad. Her later years at the company were quieter: reports said that after Viengsay Valdes became BNC director in 2020, Llorente and her husband, set designer Salvador Fernandez (who died in December 2024), were gradually edged out of daily responsibilities.

The Ballet Nacional de Cuba called her a significant figure in Cuban dance and joined the grief of family, admirers and friends. Colleague Maria del Carmen Hechavarria, who had shared 56 years with her at the BNC, wrote that expecting the news did not make it hurt less. Llorente's death closes a chapter linking the Alonso school to international stages from Havana to New York.