The International Ballet Festival of Havana (festivalballethabana.com), in Havana, Cuba, is one of the oldest and most prestigious dance festivals in the world. Established in 1960 to showcase the ballet talent of the country, this bi-annual festival lasts for approximately two weeks with performances by Cuba's top ballet companies as well as world-renowned groups such as the New York City Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre and the London Royal Ballet. The variety of stage performances include classics such as "Sleeping Beauty," "Giselle" and "Swan Lake" as well as several world premieres. Extra activities include special workshops on ballet technique for professionals, teachers and advanced-level students. The main venues for the festival are three locations in Havana: The Grand Theater of Havana, the Mella Theater and the Karl Marx Theater.
Salsafestival Switzerland (salsafestival.com), in Zurich, is an annual international salsa festival held on the last weekend of February. One of the largest and most renowned salsa gatherings in the world, it offers daily performances by many legendary international artists from Europe, North America and Asia, as well as a variety of workshops on the final weekend of the festival for all styles and levels. Popular salsa dance parties take place each evening until 4 a.m. and the venue can accommodate more than 3,000 salsa dancers on six different dance floors. Early ticket purchases are highly recommended since the festival is usually sold out.
The American Dance Festival (americandancefestival.org) is a six-week modern dance festival held each summer at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Founded as the Bennington Festival in 1934, it has become synonymous with the world of modern dance and its leaders have included internationally recognized dancers such as Martha Graham, Hanya Holm and Charles Weidman. Today, the festival offers a variety of main stage performances and world premieres by international modern dance groups as well as workshops for dance professionals, choreographers and young dancers (ages 12 to 16). All performances take place at the Reynolds Industries Theater on Duke University's West Campus and the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) in downtown Durham.
The Buenos Aires Tango Festival (tangobuenosaires.gov) is an annual festival held during the last two weeks of May in multiple venues throughout Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition to the daily performances by the invited international dancers and tango orchestras, it offers dance lessons and seminars to the public for beginner through advanced levels, as well as historical lectures, films and book presentations. It also includes the World Dance Championship, which is open to both professional and amateur dancers in two categories, salon tango and stage tango, with a first prize of 15,000 Argentinian pesos (approximately $15,000). The festival culminates with the Gran Closing Milonga where the competition winners are announced which has a free, outdoor dance with music by the festival orchestra.