Maria Antonietta Berlusconi Beretta has lived the world of ballet with that dedication and discretion that naturally translated into a sign of elegance and commitment. Far from any clamour in the news and close to the beating heart of artistic education, young people and their world, in relation to this world, Mrs. Etta has “listened to”, to grasp its expectations, thoughts, difficulties, dreams. Ballet was HER dream ever since, sublime instrument of training even firstly of the human being and then of the dancer.

The MAB Award is dedicated to her and it was created by the association after her name, therefore it intends to offer a testimony of her work in the promotion of art, culture and human growth through art, continuing on the path laid with the foundation and direction of the school Principessa Danza in Milan and, more generally, with a systematic attention to young people, their potential and their training.

Key figures of the project have always been: quality, professionalism and good taste. It is a precise path of excellence aimed at young people and aimed at carrying forward the ideas of those who knew how to love them, exhort them and simply stand by, “leaving like this, on tiptoe”.

Caridad Martinez graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, Cuba, where she studied with renowned instructors such as Fernando and Alicia Alonso, Joaquin Banegas, Azary Plisetski, Ramona de Saa, Karemia Moreno and Jose Pares. As principal dancer of the National Ballet of Cuba, she has danced in the most prestigious theatres in Europe, North and South America and Asia. His repertoire includes classics such as *Coppelia*, *Les Filles Mal Gardées*, *La Sylphide*, *Pas de Quatre*, *Don Quixote*, *Les Corsaires*, *Apollo*, *Papillon* and *Times Out of Mind*. Among the works created specifically for her are *Plasmasis*, *Muñecos*, *Dolores Santa Cruz en Cecilia Valdes* and *Cimarron*, among others.

After his experience with the Cuban National Ballet, Martinez founded and directed the Ballet Teatro de Havana, who introduced a creative theatre concept that transformed the performing arts of Cuba in the 1980s. He also choreographed for the Hispanic Heritage Awards and Julian Schnabel’s acclaimed film *Before Night Falls*. He also coached *La Joven Guardia*, a group of the most talented young dancers in Cuba, under the direction of Laura Alonso. Martinez also held the role of Director of the Cuban Ballet School in Veracruz, Mexico, and has received honorary membership in the Association of Dance Educators of Mexico and the Association of Dance Educators of America. His choreography has received numerous awards, including a prize from the Association of Cuban Writers and Artists for two consecutive years.

In New York, Martinez shared her experience as Director of the Brooklyn Ballet School and Conservatory and through the Ballet Training Program and Curriculum at Ballet Hispanico. Trained and taught at the Dance Theater of Harlem and served as Director of the Summer Program at 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center. As a guest teacher, he has collaborated with institutions such as the Alberta Ballet School in Canada, the Annarella Conservatory in Leiria, Portugal, and the Goh Academy School in Vancouver, as well as Ballet Clasico in Panama, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Recently, she was a special guest of the JKO School Director, Cynthia Gregory, to share the methodology of Cuban ballet with teachers and students in the series Raising the Barre at ABT, and was also featured in *Pointe* magazine. Martinez has participated in panel discussions on Cuban methodology, her experiences as a dancer and teacher, and the artistic movements in Cuba in the 1980s at various universities in the United States.

Currently, Martinez is a member of the faculty of the Studio Company and the Upper School of the American Ballet Theatre, as well as the certification programs of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Ailey/Fordham. She has collaborated with Ballet Beyond Borders and is currently engaged in an oral history project on her life and career under the auspices of NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts with Elizabeth Schwall. She is also featured in Nyama McCarthy-Brown’s *Skin Colored Pointes* and has been invited to choreograph for the ABT 2024 Fall Gala.