Featured Dancer: Fernando Pi Jhones

Fernando Jhones

For over ten years I had  a world renowned danseur noble as my ballet teacher. As a matter of fact I was the last dancer he rehearsed before his untimely death.

Fernando Pi Jhones of the National Ballet of Cuba (Ballet Nacional de Cuba) was my ballet mentor and master to our company Ballet Clasico de Queretaro Fernando Jhones.

Several members of the forum BalletAlert posted about “Fernandito” his life and his passing.

R.I.P. Fernando Jhones of Cuba virtuoso Cuban star

September 21, 2007

Fernando Jhones, principal with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba during the ’70s and ’80s, recently passed away (Sept. 3, ’07).

Jhones was especially well known for his interpretation of the toy soldier in Munecos, Ali in Corsaire, and one of the male virtuoso soloists in Canto Vital.

Yes, Jhones was only 56. He was one of several Cuban stars of the 70′s who has recently met a premature death, e.g., Mirta Pla, Josefina Mendez. A sad coincidence.

This is so sad…Jhones was one of the first male dancers from Ballet Nacional de Cuba, along Jorge Esquivel and Orlando Salgado, that I saw on stage when I was a kid. One of the loveliest choreographies that I recall from my early days at the Lorca Theatre in Havana at was “Munecos” (“Toys”), a little tragic fairytale piece which he danced with Ms. Caridad Martinez, (the first afro-cuban classical ballerina I ever saw at BNC ), which I’ve seen many times after, but never like them.

There are some clips on Youtube of this ballet with Lorna Feijoo. I also saw “Canto vital”, (vital song), by Azary Plisetsky (Maya Plisetskaya’s brother), a contemporary ballet danced on a Mahler symphony, in where he really made a full display of male force and power…and he was phenomenal. Yes, I’m really shocked and sad..he was still young…

To read all the posts follow this link to the forum.

Here’s a video of this very ballet: Muñecos with Mr. Jhones and Ms. Martinez. Get some tissues, it’s a bittersweet ballet!

Muñecos video from YouTube.

I miss my ballet teacher Fernando Pi Jhones, but I’m lucky to have his wife, Dubia Hernandez, a former soloist at the National Ballet of Cuba as our company director and their daughter, Dunet Pi Hernandez, principal dancer, as my teacher.

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