The International Festival of Ballet from Havana “Alicia Alonso” will return to the stage from October 20 to November 13, to celebrate its 27th edition after the pandemic put a pause on this event with more than 60 years of history.
The opening of the festival will coincide with the celebrations of the Day of National Culture on the Island and will mark the beginning of the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the founding of the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC)which will last until the last months of 2023, specifies a press release from the organizers sent to EFE.
The dancer Viengsay Valdés, general director of the BNC and president of the event’s organizing committee, announced the presentation of a series of performances of the great romantic ballet Gisellewith the performance of invited international stars who will assume the leading roles of that classic piece.
Galas are also scheduled with premieres of works created especially for this occasion.
The main venue will be the National Theater of Havana, and presentations are planned on the stages of the Sauto theaters, in the city of Matanzas; Terry, from Cienfuegos; and the Milanés, from Pinar del Río.
The Havana Ballet Festival is considered one of the most traditional and prestigious dance events at an international level.
Since its first edition in 1960, the event has been developed without competition, and has brought together artists from dozens of countries in the Cuban capital, who have represented the most diverse schools and styles of dance.
Every two years, in the last days of October, this event, which had as its main inspiration the legendary Cuban dancer and choreographer Alicia Alonso (1920-2019), receives great dance artists and is currently one of the oldest of its kind on a global scale.
Its version 26 was developed in 2018 with the participation of outstanding dancers, choreographers, teachers, specialists and personalities from 21 countries in Latin America, Europe, the United States and the Caribbean.
In 2020, the next Havana dance date was due, but it was not possible to do it then due to the epidemiological crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
