Ballet Festival of Havana pays tribute to its roots

Havana - The 21st edition of the International Ballet Festival of Havana is set to showcase the best of contemporary classical dance with a tribute to Cuba's 'prima ballerina assoluta' Alicia Alonso. From October 28 to November 6, theatres and squares across Havana and other cities are to host performances of ballet from 19 countries including Argentina, Canada, Chile, South Korea, Denmark, the United States, France, Mexico, Russia and Spain. This edition of the biennial festival has good reason to celebrate as it marks the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the National Cuban Ballet (BNC), which has been boosted to one of the the best in global ballet under the leadership of Alonso. 'We are celebrating 60 years of the triumph of the BNC, of Cuban culture and of the shout by Cuba that we DO exist, that we are alive and that we will go on with our culture, our values, our right to exist and to be the BNC all together, a part of the culture of our homeland,' Alonso said when presenting the festival's programme. She has been the soul and the driving force of Cuban ballet for decades, but stresses that a lot remains to be done 60 years down the road. 'With the BNC, I have never thought about where we are going to get to, we are never going to stop asking to get better. I have always thought that we have to be better and that whatever we do we have to do it better,' Alonso insisted. Alicia Alonso turns 88 in December. With top-notch classical ballet, she gave a new dimension to a Caribbean island known for rum, cigars and revolutionary leader Fidel Castro - a long-time friend of the dancer. International experts have put Cuban classical dance almost on a par with the Russian or the French schools. This year's edition will see BNC dancers perform on several stages. They are to be accompanied by the likes of Spaniard Cristina Hoyos, director and star of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucia, the leading dancers of the permanent ballet of the Argentine Teatro Colon Karina Olmedo and Juan Pablo Ledo, Paris Opera Ballet dancers Emmanuel Thibault and Myriam Ould-Braham and the soloist of the mythical Bolshoi Theatre Nina Kaptsova, among others. The festival will also feature the revival of the 'Sleeping Beauty,' one of Alonso's landmark choreographies. The piece was originally created for the Paris Opera, and it is 'one of the classics of universal ballet,' said Pedro Simon, Alonso's husband the head of Cuban Dance Museum. 'It was the right time to put on a revival for the Cuban people,' Alonso said. The performance of 'Giselle,' a piece that international critics consider Alonso's greatest role, is bound to be another highlight. The ballet is being staged to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the Cuban dancer's debut in a leading role on November 2, 1943 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. As usual, the biennial event will feature several world premieres such as Alicia Alonso's 'Lucia Jerez', based on the same-named novel by Cuban independence hero Jose Marti, or the works 'Una rosa, una rosa' and 'Curioso' by Spanish choreographers Ramon Oller and Ivan Perez Aviles. Loyal to the Cuban ballet principle of allowing everyone access to this performing art, Cubans await grand performances of favourites such as 'Swan Lake' on Cathedral Square in Havana. Special courses for dancers and choreographers, art exhibitions, documentaries and book presentations will complete the array of cultural events to be held during the festival which has become renowned as one of the world's best during its 40-year history.