International Ballet Festival of Havana

The International Ballet Festival of Havana (Festival de Ballet de La Habana), is a ballet festival held in the Great Theater of Havana, Cuba every two years. Created in 1960 by a joint effort of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, the Instituto Nacional de la Industria Turística and the cultural organizations of the government, the International Ballet Festival of Havana was added to the plans of massive diffusion of arts started after the popular Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959. The Festival, with its character, has allowed people to enjoy the performances and the works of prestigious figures of the world of the dance and has also shown to the visitors the high level reached by the Cuban ballet.

In the year 2000 it celebrated its 40th anniversary. This defines it as one of the oldest of all held in the world. Created in 1960 it quickly became one of the most transcendental events of the national Cuban culture and of the international dance as well.

The years that followed the first three festivals, 1960, 1966 and 1967, were a long and fruitful work period recorded as one of the most beautiful pages in the history of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba since its casting was enriched with the first graduates from the Escuela Nacional de Ballet (National Ballet School), its consolidation as one of the dance companies of greatest international prestige and the heroic battles fought against the unfair barrier that didn’t allow its worldwide recognition. The 4th Festival was held in 1974 and was dedicated to the 2nd Congress of the Federación de Mujeres Cubanas and from that year on the festival was celebrated every two years and has emphasized this peculiar aspect that has characterized its work. The 5th Festival was dedicated to the 30th Anniversary of the Granma landing. The 6th festival was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Foundation of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba and to the 35th anniversary of Alicia Alonso’s debut in the role of Giselle. This festival also made an emphasis on “the premiere of works created for the company by well-known international choreographers, Cuban and foreign”.

The 7th festival was dedicated to highlight the relationship of ballet with the rest of the arts and in it together with the Premiere Nights, Repertoire Nights with the usual works of the BNC and the Concerts of International Stars, there were galas dedicated to the dramatic theater, the plastic arts, the music, the cinema, the folklore and the literature as well as special galas dedicated to the birthday of the great Russian choreographer Mikhail Fokin and to the ballet Giselle on occasion of the performance of the couple made up by the Prima Ballerina Assoluta Alicia Alonso and the famous Russian dancer Vladimir Vasiliev. The 8th festival gave special attention to The presence of Latin America in its choreographic creation allowed knowing roots, experiences, ways and achievements of the dance in the continent. A transcendental event was the beginning, parallel to the festival, of the First International Practical Course of the Cuban School of Ballet, that was attended by dancers, advanced students and observers from eleven American and European countries as well as a big Cuban representation that created a tradition that stands up to now.

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