The American Ballet Theatre Will Perform in Havana

The USA's leading dance company, the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), will participate in the 20th International Ballet Festival of Havana scheduled to begin on October 28 in the Cuban capital.

The company offered a gala last month to honor Alicia Alonso.

The American Ballet Theatre was founded in 1937 as the Mordkin Ballet, and then reorganized in 1940 with a new name as the Ballet Theatre. For 40 years Lucia Chase directed it, working with many choreographers and ballet masters. In 1956, it was renamed the American Ballet Theatre, and has kept that name ever since. American Ballet Theatre performs at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York.

Its last performed in Cuba was in 1960 and last month it organized the gala to pay tribute to the director of the Cuban National Ballet, prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso, on the occasion of her 90th birthday.

Alicia Alonso was a member herself of the ABT between 1941 and 1948. In her debut with the ABT she played the main role in the classic "Giselle".

Figures from the New York City Ballet, the Royal Ballet of London, the English National Ballet, the Scala di Milano and the Ballet of Columbus Theatre are also expected to participate in the 20th International Ballet Festival of Havana.

The event will include galas dedicated to the centennial of Russian ballerina Galina Ulanova and Cuban writer Jose Lezama Lima. Tribute will also be paid to former director of the Bolshoi Theatre Vladimir Vasiliev.