Samsara Ballet to Close Havana Ballet Festival

The ballet Samsara, one of the latest works by Spanish choreographer Victor Ullate, will be presented to a Cuban audience at the closing ceremony of the International Ballet Festival in Havana, on November 7.

The press office of the National Ballet of Cuba said that 18 ballet dancers will perform in a ritual seeking an approach to spirituality through a dialogue between Eastern and Western cultures, which begins with music composed by ethnic groups from Iran, India, Egypt, Nepal, China, and Japan.

Victor Ullate is an important figure in Spanish culture, a ballet dancer, choreographer, and indispensable professor, and recently has been heading the Primeros Pasos (First Steps) Foundation, aimed at recruiting children from shelters to teach them to dance.

He started his career in 1962 and was a member of the Antonio Ruiz Soler Ballet Company, and of Maurice Bejart's del Ballet del Siglo XX.

Ullate has collaborated with the National Ballet of Cuba and others. After leading various ballet companies in Spain, he found his own ballet company, Madrid Community Ballet.