Britain's Royal Ballet makes first visit to Cuba

Members of London's Royal Ballet dance company pose for photographers before a news conference in Havana July 11, 2009.

HAVANA (Reuters) - Britain's Royal Ballet arrived in Havana before what officials said on Saturday would be five days of sold-out performances in the company's first visit to Cuba.

The performances, which begin on Tuesday, will include a tribute to Cuban ballet legend Alicia Alonso and feature the return of Carlos Acosta, a Cuban who is the ballet's principal guest dancer.

Administrative director Kevin O'Hare said at a press conference that 150 people, including 96 dancers who arrived Friday night, made the trip with the London-based company.

Julian Gonzalez, president of Cuba's National Council for

Visual Arts, said tickets to the performances had sold out "in a matter of hours" as Cubans looked forward to seeing the prestigious company and watching Acosta perform.

The company will perform at the Gran Teatro in central Havana the first three days, then move to Karl Marx Teatro for two more. Four of the performances will be shown live on big-screen televisions placed outside near the Gran Teatro.

The Royal Ballet's visit came about because of a desire to perform for Cuban audiences, known for their love and knowledge of ballet, and the efforts of Acosta, who used his Cuban contacts to move the project along, ballet executives said.

"Dance is central to the culture in Cuba. It's at the very heart of the Cuban people," Royal Ballet director Monica Mason said. She said the tribute to Alonso would include a dance from "Giselle," one of her best-known performances. Members of the Cuban ballet will dance in the Alonso homage, Mason said.

Alonso, 88, who danced in the United States and Europe, has led the Cuban national ballet since shortly after Fidel Castro took power in a 1959 revolution.

Acosta, considered one of the world's best dancers, was her student before leaving Cuba.