Blood Wedding, choreography by Antonio Gades, and Carmen, choreography by Alicia Alonso. Alonso has been the untiring director of the National Ballet of Cuba since Fidel Castro’s rise to power in 1959. As prima ballerina one of her most fascinating interpretations was the title role in Alberto Alonso’s Carmen Suite, which inspired her own Carmen. Gades’ Blood Wedding, immortalised in Carlos Saura’s film of the same name, is an exciting choral piece based on Garcia Lorca’s Bodas de sangre, and ends with a breathtaking duel beautifully danced in slow motion.