Backstage, stars shine at Cuba's National Ballet

Cuba's National Ballet, founded in 1948 in Havana, became a pet project of Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. Castro gave aspiring dancers free training, underwrote the companies' infrastructure, and cemented the national ballet's reputation for beauty and talent.

Communist-led Cuba is struggling through economic crisis but its talented dancers continue to practice and perform.

The rigorous, state-subsidized ballet and associated school have produced an outsized share of dance stars over the years, including Carlos Acosta and José Manuel Carreño, for a small island nation of 11 million inhabitants.

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