International ballet competitions begin in Cuba

The competition sessions in their different age categories of the 29th International Meeting of Academies for Ballet Teaching continue today in Havana.

Dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the birth of Fernando Alonso, dancer, choreographer and founder of the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC), the event also has galas for participating academies and schools planned for this Monday and Tuesday in the Covarrubias room of the National Theater.

About 230 people from some 70 academies in the region of the Americas and Europe participate in the meeting, with representation from El Salvador, Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia, the United States, Italy and the Netherlands.

Teachers, students and dancers meet to analyze core issues of academic dance pedagogy and exchange criteria based on different techniques, styles, training, choreographic creation and other elements from national and foreign experiences.

The competition segment will be key to stimulating scenic creation and the protection of the classical, romantic and neoclassical repertoire of pointe art. For this reason, the Small Children, Children, Youth, Choreographic and Young Critic categories return this year to the contest.

The dance meeting maintains the imprint of Fernando and Alicia Alonso, who directed the BNC since its founding and for several decades, as well as of Cuban ballet figures who opted for teaching.

This edition of the International Meeting of Academies for Ballet Teaching proposes looking once again look at the school and artistic training as a path towards a professional future of excellence.