The 28th edition of the Alicia Alonso International Ballet Festival in Havana will feature on Saturday three galas in this capital, which has turned into a world laboratory of dance, lasting from October 28 through November 10.

The Havana’s Marti Theater will open at 19:00 hours, local time, with the piece “Woman with Water,” a choreography by renowned Swedish choreographer Mats Ek and performed by the Cuban dance company Malpaso.

Dancer Ana Lorena Boyd, from the National Ballet of Panama, and Denys Cherevychko will perform the pas de deux of “Paquita,” while Sadaise Arencibia, from the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC), and Jose Iglesias, from the National Theater Ballet of Belgrade, Serbia, will do the pas de deux of the second act of “Giselle.”

Dancers Patricia Hernandez and Jonhal Fernandez, from the Ballet de Monterrey, Mexico, will demonstrate their skills in the virtuoso pas de deux of “Don Quixote,” while Rachele Buriassi and Esnel Ramos duo, from Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, will embody the lovers in “Espartaco” (Spartacus). The show will close with “Ritual Garden,” choreographed by Norge Cedeño and performed by Thais Suarez, Gabriela Perez, Dalila Morales and Lorena Garcia, from the Cuban company Otrolado.

Cuba’s Micompañía ensemble will present “Mondo,” choreographed by its director, Spanish dancer and teacher Susana Pous, with artistic direction and lighting design by Guido Gali, and original music by M. Alfonso, at Teatro Nacional de Cuba’s Covarrubias Hall in Havana.

The BNC will perform Swan Lake, featuring Anette Delgado, from the BNC, and Patricio Reve, from the Queensland Ballet, Australia, in the leading roles, at the Avellaneda Hall of the same theater, at 20:30 hours, local time.

The Symphony Orchestra of the Alicia Alonso Grand Theater of Havana will be conducted by guest conductor Nikolai Shugaev, of Russia.

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