Two Dancers Defect from Ballet Nacional de Cuba

Two Dancers Defect from Ballet Nacional de Cuba
By Emily Quinn
November 8, 2005

Two dancers from the Ballet Nacional de Cuba defected on October 30, the New York Times reports.Principal dancer Octavio Martín and his wife, Yahima Franco, crossed the border at Matamoros, Mexico, after a performance in Villahermosa. From there, the dancers took a bus to Miami, where they are now staying.
Franco dances with the company under the stage name Vanessa Franco.
Martín said that Alicia Alonso, the company’s director, denied him permission to dance abroad permanently. He and his wife plan to audition for U.S. companies, and have applied for asylum.
Rolando Sarabia, another principal dancer with the company, defected in August.

http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/3259.html