El bailarín español Gonzalo García, quien asumió este mes como director artístico del Miami City Ballet (MCB) en medio del cuadragésimo aniversario de la institución, dijo que busca mantener su gran calidad e imprimirle al mismo tiempo su “personalidad”.

García explicó que “el nivel del MCB siempre ha sido muy alto”, algo que sorprende a la gente, pues es una compañía mediana, que “tiene de 45 a 55 bailarines y actúa como si fuera una de estas compañías de 100”.

“Lo pienso mantener y al mismo tiempo darle mi personalidad”, afirmó el prestigioso bailarín, con 25 años de trayectoria. Se propone, dijo, que la gente sepa que existe el MCB», una entidad cultural “muy importante y probablemente la más avanzada dentro de las artes en la ciudad”.

Para conseguirlo, el zaragozano ha pedido a sus nuevos compañeros que le lleven “a todos los eventos” para “llegar a la comunidad e involucrarla”. “Nosotros tenemos que salir a la calle a contar nuestra historia”, aseguró.

“Entiendo esta comunidad y como migrante dentro de este país, que se ha convertido en ciudadano americano, soy un poco parte del sueño americano”, explicó el bailarín, quien se vio “muy reflejado en esas cualidades” que buscaba el MCB.

Recalcó que quiere “que en el escenario seamos una compañía internacional, en una ciudad que representa a inmigrantes de muchísimos sitios”. Entre ellos a los cubanos, de gran presencia en Miami.

Para García “es importantísima” la influencia del ballet cubano. “He trabajado muchísimo con la gente cubana y conozco muy bien la pasión latina que hay por el arte, porque los españoles también la tenemos”, remarcó.

“La escuela cubana y la escuela latina tienen mucho que aportar y han aportado mucho dentro de la danza, entonces creo que merecen un hueco y ser parte de la conversación del MCB”, añadió.

García, quien fue primera figura en el San Francisco Ballet (SFB) y en el New York City Ballet (NYCB), considera “una casualidad del destino”, pero a la vez “una gran responsabilidad”, llegar en un momento tan especial para la compañía como es aniversario 40 para la temporada 2025/26.

“Celebras el pasado pero al mismo tiempo no te puedes quedar viviendo en el pasado. Tienes que celebrar también la posibilidad de otros 40 años”, subrayó. “Mi parte favorita de ser director artístico y de ser una persona de liderazgo en las artes es el tiempo que paso con los bailarines en el estudio. Para mí eso es mi pasión”, destacó.

Ansioso por conocer al grupo, García se fue a California en junio pasado para ver a los bailarines interpretar el ‘Lago de los cisnes’ del coreógrafo ruso Alexei Ratmansky. Dijo que este agosto, su primer día en el MCB fue “maravilloso”.

“Me recibieron súper contentos, me aplaudieron muchísimo. Les dije que dentro de un año volveríamos a hablar, a ver si seguían aplaudiendo de la misma manera”, bromeó.

El español es un claro representante del legado del coreógrafo georgiano George Balanchine, fundador del New York City Ballet, y del bailarín estadounidense y coreógrafo de esa institución Jerome Robbins, algo que la compañía de Miami, que basa su técnica y filosofía en ellos, quería mantener.

Al mismo tiempo, García piensa que “buscaban a alguien que tuviera una visión del mundo abierta y con experiencia”.

Para él es “un gran honor” ocupar este cargo que solo han ejercido dos “grandes personas” antes que él: el bailarín y coreógrafo estadounidense Edward Villella, durante 27 años, y la bailarina cubanoestadounidense Lourdes López, durante 13 años, con quienes ha trabajado en el pasado.

“Me dejan el plato muy lleno, con una historia muy importante que yo quiero mantener y elevar todo lo que pueda”, señaló.

Recuerda en ese sentido que se tomó muy en serio cuando el bailarín ucraniano Yuri Pozokov le dijo que tenía una nueva responsabilidad, después de que se convirtiera a los 15 años en el bailarín más joven de la historia en ganar el Prix de Lausanne, conocido como la Champions del ballet.

La clave cree que está en ese amor y pasión por su oficio, que han hecho que “la danza me haya tratado muy bien a mí, y yo le he tratado muy bien a la danza”.

Fuente: EFE

FIRST ON FOX: An office within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) terminated a federal grant funding California’s sex education program aimed at preventing teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases after the West Coast state reportedly refused to remove «radical gender ideology» from its curriculum, Fox News Digital exclusively learned Thursday. 

«California’s refusal to comply with federal law and remove egregious gender ideology from federally funded sex-ed materials is unacceptable,» acting assistant secretary at the Administration for Children and Families Andrew Gradison said in comment provided to Fox News Digital Thursday. «The Trump Administration will not allow taxpayer dollars to be used to indoctrinate children. Accountability is coming for every state that uses federal funds to teach children delusional gender ideology.»

The Administration for Children and Families — which is an office under HHS’ umbrella that funds state, local and tribal organizations to provide support for families such as child care — announced Thursday morning that it was terminating the funding to California’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grant. 

The PREP program aims to educate California’s youth, ages 10–19, on preventing teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted infections, which the state says has led to students in the program «delaying sexual activity, increasing condom or contraceptive use for sexually active youth, or reducing number of sexual partners.» 

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«Program services are engaging, nonjudgmental, medically accurate and tailored to the unique needs of youth participants and their communities,» PREP’s website states. «Services are offered in a range of settings, including schools, juvenile justice facilities, homeless shelters and foster care group homes. CA PREP activities also include community engagement and promotion of clinical linkages to youth-friendly reproductive health services.»

PREP specifically aims to assist those who «reside, attend school or receive reproductive health services in a high-need geographic area; are homeless and/or runaway; attend an alternative or continuation school; are in or emancipated from foster care; are in the juvenile justice or probation system; identify as LGBTQ; are receiving treatment for mental health or substance abuse issues; have special needs; live in migrant farmworker families or are expectant/parenting female youth up to age 21.»

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The PREP grant has been under scrutiny by the Trump administration since at least March, when the ACF requested program leaders send copies of its curriculum and other relevant course materials to them for review. The probe was initially launched to ensure the state’s sexual education programming is medically accurate and age-appropriate.   

Previous grant funding shows California’s PREP program received just under $6 million from the federal government in fiscal year 2022. All in, California could lose $12.3 million in funding that it has not yet received, covering multiple years, according to HHS. 

The Administration for Children and Families reviewed the program’s curriculum and other teaching materials, and found a lengthy list of subjects and language deemed to fall outside the program’s «authorizing statute,» in particular references to «gender ideology.» In June, Fox News Digital reported Administration for Children and Families gave the sex education program a 60-day deadline to remove all references to gender identity or face potential termination of its funding.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is an office within HHS  that funds state, local, and tribal organizations to provide support for families such as child care. (Rod Lamkey, Jr./The Associated Press)

The 60-day deadline just ran dry, with the Administration for Children and Families subsequently terminating the funding and sending a letter to Sydney Armendariz, the division chief of Maternal Child, and Adolescent Health Division at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and Matthew Green, the deputy director of the Center for Family Health at CDPH, declaring it was «terminating all California State Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) awards and suspending the funding effective August 21, 2025.»

The letter sent Thursday reported that following Administration for Children and Families’s June request to remove what it said was radical gender ideology from PREP teachings, California refused in a letter of its own. 

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«CDPH will not make any such modifications at this time for several reasons,» the California Department of Public Health said in a letter to ACF earlier this week, according to HHS. «The listed reasons were: 1) PREP materials had already been reviewed and approved by ACF; 2) the materials are medically accurate; 3) the gender ideology content is relevant to purposes identified in the authorizing statute, specifically the adult preparation subjects listed at 42 U.S.C. § 713(b)(2)(C); and 4) ACF does not have authority to take an enforcement action.»

Among the materials Administration for Children and Families found amid its review of the curriculum was a lesson for middle school-aged students that sought to introduce them to the concepts of transgenderism, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

«We’ve been talking during class about messages people get on how they should act as boys and girls—but as many of you know, there are also people who don’t identify as boys or girls, but rather as transgender or gender queer,» the lesson states to students. «This means that even if they were called a boy or a girl at birth and may have body parts that are typically associated with being a boy or a girl, on the inside, they feel differently.»

One lesson in California’s PREP program aimed at middle school-aged students sought to introduce them to the concepts of transgenderism, HHS said (ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)

Other flagged lessons in the materials included curriculum for high school-aged students included instructions on what it means to be «nonbinary» and language that informed students «gender-identity» is «essentially a social status.» 

«In a disturbing and egregious abuse of federal funds, California has been using taxpayer money to teach curricula that could encourage kids to contemplate mutilating their genitals, ‘altering their body … through hormone therapy,’ ‘adding or removing breast tissue,’ and ‘changing their name.’ It instructed teachers to ‘remind students that some men are born with female anatomy,’» HHS said in a Thursday press release of the teachings.

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The Administration for Children and Families also had raised concerns over materials for teachers within the program, including lessons on avoiding misgendering individuals. 

«All people have a gender identity,» the teacher training materials stated, Fox Digital previously reported. It also instructed educators to refer to people who identify with their sex «assigned at birth» as «cisgender,» and added that those who are not «cisgender» may identify as «non-binary, agender, bigender, genderfluid, [or] genderqueer.»

Gradison’s letter to the California health leaders Thursday underscored that ACF’s decision to terminate the grant is final unless California health leaders file an appeal.

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«This is the final decision of the Administration for Children and Families. It shall be the final decision of the Department unless, within 30 days after receiving this decision, you submit a notice of appeal to the Departmental Appeals Board (DAB),» the letter reads. 

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report. 

As the debate heats up over the delivery of aid into Gaza, Israeli officials have once again questioned the United Nations over its data, specifically, aid getting stolen or intercepted, and the number of trucks entering the enclave from Israel.

As of August 12, the U.N. Office for Project Services showed that 3,140 trucks have been intercepted en route to their destinations since May 19. Only 412 trucks, 11.6% of the total sent into the region, reached their targeted location. The U.N. said the aid was taken «either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully armed actors.»

On Tuesday, a review conducted by the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) claimed to have found that the U.N. figures have failed to account for the entry of around 6,000 additional trucks since May.  COGAT said that Israel has allowed about 9,200 trucks to deliver aid to Gaza in the last three months, a figure 2.5 times higher than the around 3,500 trucks counted by the U.N.  

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«The fact that the U.N. presents only part of the aid actually transferred misleads the international community and creates a false picture of the situation, directly influencing global media coverage and shaping the positions of international decision-makers regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza,» a COGAT statement read.

Meanwhile, the often-maligned U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) out-of-the-box aid delivery mechanisms continue to show success, according to the group. Theft and looting have not been an issue for the GHF – which continues to provide between one and two million meals per day through distribution sites secured by armed guards. GHF has provided over 130 million meals since the start of its operations on May 27.

«The presence of armed security is one of the reasons why GHF has been able to deliver aid successfully without a single truck being looted,» noting that «in one of the most volatile and complex operating environments in the world, that security is the only reason food consistently reaches civilians without interference from Hamas.»

Though a group of about 230 NGOs initially rejected the organization on account of what they called «militarized distribution sites,» Fay said things might be changing as over 200 international organizations, «sent a letter calling on the U.N. to collaborate with us.»

«This is not the militarization of aid … It is the only way to make sure food actually reaches civilians. Every decision we make is guided by protecting lives.» 

He said «more aid is the solution to many of the problems in Gaza today» and that GHF is «willing to work with any organization that wants to help feed the people of Gaza.» 

Several weeks ago, Fay toured the vast lots in Kerem Shalom crossing, where pallets of U.N. aid await pickup by drivers. «I saw about a dozen [trucks] sitting roasting, fully laden with dozens of pallets of food in each truck. I saw flour rotting on the side of the road. There were medical supplies that had already expired.» 

Hamas terrorists carrying clubs and firearms secure humanitarian aid trucks in the northern Gaza area of Jabaliya on June. 25 (TPS-IL)

Speaking with the drivers who deliver aid to Gaza, he was told they had been in the loading area for five days, living out of their trucks. The drivers said that on the fourth day, they attempted to enter Gaza from Kerem Shalom but were shot at by unknown gunmen in Gaza. He reported that the drivers are now in «fear for their lives,» and asked if GHF would provide security for their trucks.

A U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) spokesperson told Fox News Digital that «the use of armed escorts can undermine perceptions of humanitarians’ neutrality and independence, in turn jeopardizing community acceptance and staff security, and hindering access to civilians in need.» The spokesperson called for armed escorts to «only be used in exceptional circumstances as a last resort.» 

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«Everyone working in Gaza is operating under extremely dangerous circumstances … what is clear is that conditions are not in place for humanitarians or those who support them to deliver aid at scale safely, rapidly and efficiently. We have consistently called for civilians to always be protected and for us to be enabled to reach people in need. 

«In order to reach people in Gaza facing starvation, we need a predictable lifeline of aid via all available crossings and through all available corridors. We also need removal of the impediments we continue to face: delays at checkpoints; impassable, dangerous or congested routes; and restrictions on what can enter and on who is allowed to bring supplies.»

Jordanian and UAE planes drop humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip on July. 27 (TPS-IL)

The spokesperson did not respond to questions about the fate of aid that has not reached its destination, or about whether drivers’ fear of kidnap, death, and looting is hindering aid dispersion. The spokesperson did claim that «the U.N. and our partners have strict monitoring in place with oversight on deliveries when enabled to do so,» and said that «we do not have evidence of systematic aid diversion from the U.N. to Hamas.» 

Despite statements to the contrary, there continues to be growing evidence that Hamas is diverting and benefitting from humanitarian aid. 

A State Department public assessment provided to Fox News Digital stated that the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of the Inspector General «has received and is actively investigating credible allegations of systematic interference by Hamas in Gaza. These allegations can come from aid workers, whistleblowers, and other parties, rather than sanitized disclosures sent by U.N. agencies which refuse to name Hamas as the party responsible for the interference. Whistleblowers, including U.N. staff, may fear political retaliation or violent retribution for sharing information and outing Hamas.»

Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) posted this photo that shows humanitarian aid pallets waiting to be distributed in Gaza. (COGAT)

An Israeli military official told Fox News Digital that of the aid that is diverted from U.N. trucks, he estimates about 40% percent is taken by local communities, and about 60% taken by armed looters. He said that it is difficult to assess how much aid is being diverted by Hamas. «Hamas is not a force wearing a uniform and identifying themselves,» he said. 

An Israeli military official told Fox News Digital that, of the aid diverted from U.N. trucks, about 40% is taken by local communities and 60% by armed looters. He said it’s difficult to assess how much aid is stolen by Hamas, as «Hamas is not a force wearing a uniform and identifying themselves.»

The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) shared a video X of Hamas looting aid packages on July 29, explaining that «even when aid is delivered into Gaza – Hamas loots it for its own use, blatantly disregarding the needs of the population.»

On Aug. 12, COGAT showed another video on X of armed members of Hamas attempting to avoid targeting by affixing a World Central Kitchen emblem to their vehicle and donning yellow vests. The NGO confirmed that the vehicle was not affiliated with the organization.

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People carry boxes of relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US-backed aid group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory, as displaced Palestinians return from an aid distribution centre in the central Gaza Strip on June. 8 The UN and major aid organisations have refused to cooperate with the GHF, citing concerns that it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.  (EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)

Orde Kittrie, a law professor at Arizona State University and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that Hamas’ obstruction of aid violates international law. 

«Intentionally obstruct[ing] the passage of humanitarian relief, including food, to civilians in need» is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. He said Hamas is violating «the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 11 of which recognizes ‘the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger,’ because it is «starving its own people.»

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«What Hamas is doing represents an unusual, if not altogether new, type of violation of the prohibition on ‘starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.’ This prohibition is typically violated by a military intentionally starving enemy civilians in order to pressure the enemy to surrender or to abandon positions or to divert limited resources to the enemy’s own civilians. In contrast, Hamas appears to be intentionally starving their own civilians in order to leverage their suffering as a strategic information weapon against Israel,» he added.