Havana, April 13 (RHC) -- The 14th International Contest for young students of ballet began Thursday in Havana and runs through the 18th.

Depending on the competition, participants must show control and the technical mastery of the movements incorporated in the choreography, as well as the interpretive part of the musical performance.

Dance teachers and critics from Venezuela, the United States, Mexico, Italy and the Netherlands will judge the event.  And jurors from Cuba include the director of the National School of Ballet, Ramona de Sáa, and island's principal dancer, Viengsay Valdés.

The event is the culmination of the twenty-third International Meeting of Academies for teaching ballet, which has been taking place in Havana since the 9th with the participation of students and teachers from more than a dozen countries.