Amaya Rodriguez promoted to Primera Bailarina-(Principal Dancer)

[cubanmiamiboy]

Congrats to Miss Rodriguez!

[Natalia]

Where is Amaya? She's been off the roster since 2015, according to an answer by the company webmaster, when someone asked the same question in mid-2015. "She hasn't been with our company for a long time." So she may have left as early as 2014, soon after her promotion to the highest level. Does anybody know when this occurred and under what circumstances?

[Natalia]

Mystery solved. Updates based on my internet research:

Amaya Rodriguez is named in reviews at the Nov 2014 Int'l Ballet Festival of Havana. Last mention in Cuba, that I found.

Next, she reappears as a new ballerina in Monterrey, Mexico, this past fall (2015).

http://www.elnorte.com/aplicacioneslibre/preacceso/articulo/default.aspx?id=614749&v=4&urlredirect=http://www.elnorte.com/aplicaciones/articulo/default.aspx?id=614749&v=4

Next headline in the Monterrey press has her leaving Mexico.The same article has her being spotted taking classes in Miami.

Considering the heavy international press for mass defections of corps de ballet dancers in recent years, it's a little odd that the defection of a Prima Ballerina received no coverage. She graduated in 2006 so she was/is still young for a principal. So we may be seeing her dancing with a US company soon? We wish her well.

[Jayne]

There is a big rush for all Cubans to defect to the US, because the US Congress is making serious signals that it will vote to end the "wet foot / dry foot" policy in the coming year.