very important companies , such as the Houston Ballet and the Royal Ballet of London . Although he holds multiple awards and was inducted Knight of the British Empire with the rank of Grand Commander , there is no single photograph of him at the National Museum of Dance . As a gift and deference to him , the Royal Ballet made the millionaire effort to bring to Havana the whole company , including the stage floor , to offer several functions . Neither the BNC leadership nor the cultural authorities bothered to cheer the prestigious guests with at least some significant award . Finally , Acosta received the National Dance Award in 2011 , which he had long deserved , but Alicia Alonso did not deign to appear at the award ceremony . In the middle of last year , Acosta ´ s autobiography , No way home ( Harper , 2007 ), was ready to be launched in Spanish ( Sin mirar atrás , Arte y Literatura , 2015 ), but the presentation was canceled under Alicia Alonso ´ s pressure , according to the extended criterion , in order to prevent the contact by the Cuban readership with testimonies about the racism that has been taking root for decades in the BNC . The actual sociopolitical model manipulates and uses even the most appreciated values as instruments in disregard of the human being . This model is highly deteriorated and has become unviable , but it has destroyed or depreciated many economic and cultural achievements that once were the pride of the whole nation . The BNC is not an exception . Sick of backwardness and hegemonies , the Cuban ballet company is not even the shadow of the one that delighted the entire world decades ago . Perhaps the great diva is much richer now than when she allied herself with the powers that be , but surely the company is much poorer and less prestigious nowadays . Many young dancers take advantage of their tours abroad to escape , like slaves , in pursue of better horizons for their life and work . None of the foregoing matters to the political and cultural authorities , who are guided by the same racist and discriminatory patterns that tarnish the track record by BNC hegemonic clique . It is unfortunate that some merchants — accustomed to traffic with popular culture while presenting themselves as defenders and promoters of Afro-Cuban culture — lowered themselves to reward Alicia Alonso with the unequivocal purpose of ingratiating with the powers that be and to protect private interests . However , it is more lacerating to see how those who present themselves as fighters against racism remain as silent as undignified before such slur . Progovernment anti-racist activists are more concerned with pleasing the state than with consistently denouncing the inequalities and injustices we are suffering . These anti-racists recently crushed prominent intellectual Robert Zurbano with a kind of inquisitorial media lynching because of his article , full of indeclinable truths , published by The New York Times . Now they keep quiet before an undeserved and offensive tribute . It doesn ´ t matter that , for the moment , the powers that be pay its servants with honors and perks , while denying , in miserable and arrogant manner , well-deserved awards to Celia Cruz , Bebo Valdés , Orlando " The Duke " Hernandez , Guillermo Cabrera Infante and many others . Fortunately , time and history will put everyone in the rightful place .
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