Castro honors late Spanish dancer

President Fidel Castro sat in the front row as Silvio Rodriguez, star of a ballad style known as Cuban trova, performed alongside conductor Leo Brouwer and a symphony orchestra at a free concert in Havana.

The event was dedicated to Antonio Gades, a noted Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer who died Tuesday in Madrid, Spain, after a long illness. Gades, who was 67, had close ties to Cuba and supported its communist revolution.

Thousands of Cubans filled the Revolution Plaza Thursday night for the concert, which featured an orchestra of 200 young musicians from various Cuban provinces.

Havana's Granma newspaper reported Friday that Gades' ashes will be buried next to guerrilla fighters in Cuba's Sierra Maestra. The urn was brought to Havana on Thursday by his widow and three daughters.