The International Ballet Festival of Havana (Festival de Ballet de La Havana) is a biennial ballet festival held in Havana, Cuba. It takes place in various theatres in the city, including: the Great Theatre of Havana, the Karl Marx Theatre and the Mella Theatre. The festival was initiated in 1960 by a joint effort of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, the Instituto Nacional de la Industria Turística, and the Cuban government. The International Ballet Festival of Havana was part of an artistic movement following the Cuban Revolution.
The Festival has held over 20 performances including several world premieres. It is one of the oldest ballet festivals in the world attracting top ballet companies, choreographers, and dancers from around the globe.
Festivals
1st through 6th festivals
The years that followed the first three festivals, 1960, 1966, and 1967, are considered significant to the history of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba since its casting involved the first graduates from the Escuela Nacional de Ballet (National Ballet School). The 4th festival was held in 1974 and was dedicated to the 2nd Congress of the Federation of Cuban Women. Since that year, the festival has been celebrated every two years and has emphasized this particular 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 National Ballet of Cuba and to the 35th Anniversary of Alicia Alonso’s debut in the role of Giselle. This festival also placed an emphasis on “the premiere of works created for the company by well-known international choreographers, Cuban and foreign.”
7th & 8th festivals
The 7th festival was dedicated to highlighting the relationship of ballet with the rest of the arts, and in it, together with the Premiere Nights, Repertoire Nights, the usual works of the BNC, and the Concerts of International Stars, there were galas dedicated to the dramatic theatre, the plastic arts, the music, the cinema, the folklore, and the literature, as well as galas dedicated to the birthday of the 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 Russian dancer Vladimir Vasiliev. The 8th festival gave special attention to The presence of Latin America in its choreographic creation, allowing us to know the roots, experiences, ways, and achievements of the dance on the continent. A significant event was the beginning of the First International Practical Course of the Cuban School of Ballet, which was attended by dancers, advanced students, and observers from eleven American and European countries, and a Cuban representation that created a tradition that still persists today.
9th festival and 10th
The 9th festival put an emphasis on the styles and choreographers. This made it possible to see a panoramic of the principal choreographic landmarks that ballet has known throughout its history. The 10th celebration was an opportunity for the festival to be a part of art and friendship with the presence of hundreds of guests, among them famous stars and dance companies coming from all over the world, who, together with the members of the National Ballet of Cuba and other groups, carried out a varied choreography program.
11th through 14th
The 11th festival was dedicated to two anniversaries: the 150th Anniversary of the Gran Teatro de La Habana, the oldest theatrical institution of the country, and the 40th Anniversary of the foundation of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. The 12th had a slogan: "Past, present, and choreographic future," and showed a rich sample of styles and tendencies present in the dance of our times. The 3rd festival emphasized the Iberian American presence in the art of ballet while commemorating the 5th Centennial of the Encounter of the American and European Cultures, faithful to this credo participated in the festival important companies, stars, and personalities of the dance in Spain, and Iberian America that offered a rich sample arisen from the talent and common zeal of these cultural aspects. The 14th festival pointed out the diversity and richness of the choreographic art with a variety of styles and tendencies within academic, contemporary, and folkloric dance, where galas dedicated to Romanticism and Classicism excelled as well as concert programs with Cuban and foreign artists and the performances of nearly a dozen guest companies.