Authenticity and Politics Hurting Cuba Dance Fest

Cuba’s International Festival of Ballet is featuring the work of George Balanchine this year. Or is it? The festival only has official permission to perform one of the seven Balanchine ballets it is presenting, and copied the rest from videotapes. “The debate over the authenticity of these productions has emerged at a festival already hurt by the United States government’s restrictions on travel to Cuba. Nine dancers from the New York City Ballet and one from the Dance Theater of Harlem were barred from attending, making this the first time in 30 years that an American has not performed at the festival.”