US Ballet Stars to Attend Havana Festival

HAVANA TIMES — Dancers from 20 countries — including dance stars from the United States such as Sarah Lene, Daniel Ulbricht and Tom Gold — will attend the 23rd International Ballet Festival of Havana (Oct. 28 – Nov. 7), the AP reported.

“The Jose Manuel Carreño and the Stars of North American Ballet,” directed by Cuban-born Carreño, will present figures of the American Ballet Theatre in New York, artists such as Argentinean Paloma Herrera, Cory Steaens, Cuba’s Xiomara Reyes and Hee Seo.

At the festival — where there will be about 45 premieres, with eight of these world debuts — also to be presented is the Tom Gold Dance Company and the New York City Ballet.

During the festival there will be a tribute for the centenary of the birth of Russian dancer Igor Yuskevitch, who for years was a companion of Cuban diva Alicia Alonso. In addition, awards will be received in the Ibero-American Choreography Competition for the works “El Crimen Fue en Granada,” by Cuban artist Irene Rodriguez, and “How Far?” by Israeli choreographer Sharon Fridman.