Cuban ballet is at an extraordinarily high level. “The question is how such a small, impoverished country can produce such a huge quota of talent. Acosta claims it’s all due to the national temperament – the music on every street corner, the heat, the vibrancy, the instinct for rhythm. Cubans dance as soon as they can walk. But the primacy of ballet also has everything to do with the vision of Cuba’s prima ballerina, Alicia Alonso, and its president, Fidel Castro.”