Bolshoi Ballet dancers to perform in Cuba

Bolshoi Ballet dancers to perform in Cuba
HAVANA
Fri Feb 5, 2010 8:13pm EST

HAVANA (Reuters) - Members of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet will perform in
Havana's Karl Marx theater next week in their first appearance on the
island in 30 years, Cuba's state-run press said on Friday.

Arts

The return of the Bolshoi comes as part of a renewal of relations
between Cuba and Russia, who were Cold War allies for three decades
before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Cuban press said dancers from the Bolshoi and the Cuban National Ballet
will perform pieces from ballets such as "Giselle" and "The Nutcracker"
on February 13 in conjunction with the annual Havana International Book
Fair, which this year features Russian writers and artists.

The reports did not say how many Bolshoi members would perform, but
among those listed were principal dancers Anna Antonicheva, Dmitry
Belogolovtsev and Galina Stepanenko. The company last performed in Cuba
in 1980, they said.

The Cuban National Ballet is led by 89-year-old ballet legend Alicia
Alonso, who has helped popularize ballet in dance-mad Cuba and trained a
number of Cuban dancers now performing in companies abroad.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will lead a delegation to the
opening of the book festival during a three-day visit starting February
11, officials said this week.

He is the latest in a series of Russian leaders to stop in Cuba, and
Cuban President Raul Castro went to Russia last year.

In recent years, the two countries have signed a range of economic and
diplomatic accords, including an agreement by Russian state oil company
Zarubezhneft in November to explore for oil along Cuba's northern coast.

Russia was communist-run Cuba's biggest benefactor until their alliance
ended with the Soviet Union's fall.

Relations went cold for a time, but are warming again as part of a
diplomatic offensive in Latin America by Russia, which wants more
political and economic ties with the region.

The Bolshoi's appearance follows performances in Havana last July by
Britain's Royal Ballet.

(Reporting by Jeff Franks; editing by Eric Beech)

Bolshoi Ballet dancers to perform in Cuba | Reuters (5 February 2010)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61505U20100206