Just returned from Cuba last night, where I saw 4 performances as part of the International Ballet Festival, including ABT's performance on Thursday, and other performances by Jose Manuel Carreno/Sarah Lane and Paloma Herrera/David Hallberg. The entire experience was so incredible. ABT performed both nights to a sold out crowd at the Karl Marx Theater. It was a shame that they could not perform at the Gran Teatro but the venue really is too small for an event of this magnitude. The audience loved every moment, as did I.
ABT was featured widely in the Cuban news-- they showed clips of their arrival where Julie Kent spoke of how wonderful it was to be in Cuba with Carreno and Xiomara Reyes-- and how she hoped that they could return in the future to stage an entire production. Ojala! Wednesday night's performance was televised live as was Saturday's performance (I think) which featured both ABT dancers and Cuban dancers, though not together.