Mexican dancer Elisa Carrillo will bring together, from August 13 to 16 in Texcoco, State of Mexico, figures from the Royal Ballet of London, the Stuttgart Ballet, and the Hungarian National Ballet for the ninth edition of Festival Danzatlán, with free admission for all audiences.

Carrillo, the first Latin American dancer to reach the rank of principal at the Staatsballett Berlin and current director of the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart, Germany, leads this festival for the ninth consecutive year. The event is organized by her foundation and the State of Mexico's Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The program includes 19 artistic, cultural, and academic activities across seven venues throughout the region, according to Excélsior. Carrillo told El Universal that the goal of building a bridge between dance and the public has been achieved, and that audience interest has grown year after year.

The "Elisa and Friends" Gala, scheduled for August 15, brings together Tatiana Melnik and Motomi Kiyota from the Hungarian National Ballet, Fumi Kaneko and Vadim Muntagirov from the Royal Ballet of London, soloist Marti Paixá from the Stuttgart Ballet, and American contemporary dancer Braylon Browner. Carrillo will perform Transparente, with choreography by Ronald Savkovic, and the third act of John Cranko's Onegin.

The festival opens on August 13 with the talk "Ask Elisa" at 12:00 at the Auditorio Miguel León Portilla, where the dancer converses with children about the life of a professional dancer. That same day at 16:00, the Academia de Danza del Bosque, under the direction of Blanca Estela Bautista Rivera, presents Swan Lake at the "Elisa Carrillo" Concert Hall. The closing event, on August 16 from 9:00 to 10:30, will be a mass ballet class with live music taught by Carrillo herself, with prior registration required until capacity is reached.

The State of Mexico's Secretary of Culture and Tourism, Nelly Carrasco Godínez, noted that the festival will bring internationally caliber dance to various municipalities across the state. For families in the State of Mexico, Danzatlán 2026 represents the opportunity to see on the same stage artists who regularly perform in the theaters of London, Stuttgart, and Budapest.

This article was written with artificial intelligence assistance based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.