Bolshoi Ballet returns to Cuba after 30 years

Another acclaimed international dance troupe is heading to Havana, with Russia's famed Bolshoi Ballet slated to perform alongside Cuban peers at a festival next weekend.

The 89-year-old Cuban ballet icon Alicia Alonso, who heads the Cuban National Ballet, will direct a performance by her troupe and Bolshoi dancers, including Anna Antonicheva, Dmitry Belogolovtsev, Galina Stepanenko, Elena Andrienko and Ruslan Skvorsto, according to Cuban state media.

The performance, slated to include excerpts from Swan Lake, Giselle, The Nutcracker and Carmen,will take place at the Karl Marx Teatro on Saturday. The event is part of the Havana International Book Fair, which this year spotlights Russian writers and artists.

It is the renowned Russian troupe's first visit to Cuba in three decades.

Last July, Britain's Royal Ballet made its first trip to Havana, bringing nearly 100 dancers including one of Alonso's former students, Cuban-born Royal Ballet principal guest dancer Carlos Acosta.