26th International Ballet Festival of Havana 

Through this exciting program, you will experience the vibrant richness of Cuban and international ballet companies, attending daily ballet performances. In addition, you will have a panoramic view of contemporary dance in Cuba. Our people-to-people exchanges take place when we visit the Cuban National Ballet School and have conversations with dance experts and dancers through a network of dance studios and museums. The program includes tickets for evening ballet performances.


Program Dates and Package Fees
Limited to 10-16 Participants


















What is included?


PROGRAM PACKAGE


  • Orientation before the day of departure
  • Cuba Travel Guide for a safe and fun trip
  • Emailed information about sites to be visited
  • Ground transportation from and to airport
  • Eleven or seven nights in Capri or Sevilla hotel
  • All breakfasts and lunches
  • Welcome and farewell dinners
  • Museums admission and docent fees
  • Private visits to five dance companies
  • Guided walking tour of Old Havana
  • Guided visit to las Terrazas
  • Bilingual Tour Leader traveling with the group
  • Educational / people-to people license to travel
  • Tickets for a daily ballet performances ( 5 pm or 8 pm)


What is not included? ($ Estimate)


FLIGHT PACKAGE

  • $180 airfare to Havana from Tampa. Airfare will include Cuban health insurance and Havana airport exit tax.
  • $50 Cuban tourist visa


OTHER EXPENSES

  •  Nine dinners
  •  Tips for maids, luggage handlers and servers in included meals
  •  Airfare for connecting flight to - from Tampa
  •  Tampa hotel the night before departure (for out-of-state delegates)
  •  Trip interruption and cancellation insurance


For a Registration Packet

Please visit our Contact Us page and provide all required Information. As soon as we hear from you, we will email a registration packet with required forms and instructions. You can also call us at 978-998-0039.


Itinerary


Our program will start at a hotel near Tampa Airport. That evening we will meet for an orientation at the hotel. A group rate for hotel room and transfer to and from airport-hotel will be available to be paid by program participants.

DAY 1

Our flight from Tampa to Havana will take one hour. Once in Havana we will be on our way to accommodations at a B&B in Havana. In the evening we will meet for a welcome dinner.

DAY 2

Our first day in Havana will start with breakfast (all breakfasts are included), followed by a visit to Old Havana. Founded in 1519, UNESCO declared Old Havana Universal Patrimony of Humanity. You will learn about Old Havana as a unique urban development project that integrates community and economic development with art. Through a walking tour guided by an architect-historian we will visit Cathedral and Arms Squares. In Cathedral Square we will visit the cathedral and the Experimental Graphic Workshop. After our tour of Plaza de Armas we will have lunch ( all lunches are  included) then visit San Francisco de Asis Plaza. In the evening we will participate in the opening parade and ballet performance.


DAY 3

During day 3 we will visit two contemporary dance companies in Old Havana, the Teatro Danza Retazos and Lizt Alfonso. Teatro Danza Retazos is the absolute vanguard in contemporary Cuban dance, projecting their choreography toward a singular scenic projection, representing a forceful chronicle of the Latin-American spirituality in an unpredictable reflexive dance. The Lizt Alfonso Dance Academy is the precursor and maximum exponent of the "fusion" style in Cuban dance. Founded 25 years ago by its creator, director and choreographer, Lizt Alfonso, it has conquered audiences of all ages in the five continents, performing in hundreds of cities with the strength and rythm of the Cuba that vibrates today. In the evening we will attend a ballet performance.


DAY 4

After breakfast we will visit the National Museum of Dance, with an exhibition of Alicia Alonso´s personal collection. The museum is also a collector of the history of dance in Cuba. The museum has eight permanent exhibition rooms, a specialized library, an information center and a video room. The exhibition room dedicated to Alonso displays her costume for Giselle´s first act, as well as her costume for Carmen. After the museum we will visit Callejón de Hamel, a street with living art installation filled with Afro-Cuban artist’s murals and various other stylized objects such as bath tubs and totem poles. Visitors can browse a gallery and purchase artwork at very affordable price.  In the evening we will attend a ballet performance.


DAY 5

This day will include a visit to the National Cuban Ballet School. Our visit to the National Cuban Ballet School will consist of a presentation of the school by its Director and faculty, a tour of the facilities and a ballet demonstration by students. The school is the biggest school of ballet in the world. As all the Cuban educational system, it is free, after rigorous selection. In the evening we will attend a ballet performance.


DAY 6


On this day we will visit the studio of Havana Queens. The selection criteria is ruthless, the training is merciless. Anyone who makes it onto the stage in Cuba’s top dance show, Havana Queens, belongs to the crème de la crème. In the eveningwe will attend a ballet performance.


DAY 7

Our trip will continue outside of Havana visiting Las Terrazas, a rural community managing a sustainable development project in the heart of Sierra del Rosario, declared a Reserve of the Biosphere by UNESCO. At the Buenavista Coffee Plantation in Las Terrazas we’ll learn about slave coffee production established by the French two centuries ago. plantation built on the crest of a mountain. In the evening we will attend a ballet performance.


DAY 8 - Seven nights program departure from José Martí International Airport

This is the day to explore the Afro-Cuban cultural heritage in Cuba visiting the Town and Museum of Regla. The history of Regla was born in the sea shore, it has influenced its abundance of links between process and essential events in Havana and the whole country. The museum inaugurated in December 29th, 1982, illustrates in its four rooms the origin of the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Regla, the evolution of the town from in the 17th and 18th Centuries, and the economic activity in the Havana harbor in the 19th Century, the action of Europeans, African and Asian immigrants, as well as the participation of the native population in the events of the war of independence in the Island. After lunch we will visit the Cucalambe Dance Company for a private performance. Eduardo Muñoz, is a choreographer, dancer, founder and director of the Ballet Folclórico Cucalambé (Cucalambé Folkloric Ballet) and has dedicated his life to studying and promoting Cuba´s rural roots as part of its identity. In the evening we will attend a ballet performance.


DAY 9


This day  will consist of a visit the Ballet Dance School at the University of the Arts (ISA) to share experiences and visions with dance professors and students. Located on the former American-owned country club in the western Havana suburb of Cabanacán, the university was founded when Fidel Castro and Che Guevara nationalized the land in 1961 for the express purpose of creating an arts academy for the citizens of Cuba. The University of the Arts in Havana is one of 14 higher education institutions built after the revolution, in each province, delivering graduate and undergraduate degrees. In the evening we will attend a ballet performance.


DAY 10


During our last day in Havana we will visit the Carlos Acosta Dance Company. In 2016, Carlos established a company of young local dancers, ready to perform a repertoire of contemporary pieces for Cubans and visitors. In the evening, after  a farewell dinner, we will attend the closing ceremony of the festival and a ballet performance.


DAY 11 - Eleven nights program departure from José Martí International Airport