The much awaited International Ballet Festival will be held from October 28th through November 7th in Havana under the slogan “Dance for Shakespeare” to pay homage to the English playwright’s 450th birthday.

At a press conference in Havana’s Melia Cohiba Hotel, festival organizers informed Thursday that the festival pays homage to Shakespeare because, though dance is not the center of the great English playwright’s work, he’s been one of the playwrights who has most inspired artists in different art forms, from music hall, fine arts, opera and ballet, such as Othello and Romeo and Juliet.

The festival is also dedicated to the 100th birthday of late maestro Fernando Alonso, one of the forefathers of Cuban Ballet, which is why, the festival is organizing the Fernando Alonso in Memoriam event that includes master classes and talks by ballet celebrities, such as Julio Bocca, José Manuel Carreño, and Orlando Salgado. The ballet gathering will take place in different venues, such as the Karl Marx Theater, as well as Mella Theater and the two halls at Havana’s National Theater.

Guest companies include Ballet Hispanico of New York, Linga of Switzerland;  Ballet Estable del Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires, Argentina; the Washington Ballet; the Cincinnati Ballet; the Hong Kong Ballet; the Nize Opera Ballet; China’s National Ballet; and dancers from Denmark, South Africa, Chile, Portugal and England. The Festival, presided over by prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso, is one of the oldest and most prestigious such events in the world. Fine art exhibits, video and film screenings, lectures, and conferences will be part of the ballet gathering