The 14th International Ballet Festival of Miami, presented by the Miami Hispanic Ballet, opens this weekend with its traditional mix of young dancers who have won international competitions, plus more experienced modern and contemporary ballet troupes.

The young dancers, winners of the Youth America Grand Prix competition, take the stage tonight. Larissa Saveliev, founder and director of the Youth America Grand Prix, says this competition has turned into ``something huge because all ballet schools in the country try to participate. In Miami, you will see the winners, the créme-de-la-créme.''

Sunday's offering features Napoles Ballet Theater of San Francisco, directed by Luis Napoles, who specialized in Afro-Cuban and contemporary dance at the National Art School in Havana and had a career with the Ballet Theater of Havana and the Contemporary Dance of Cuba. In Miami, Napoles' company will perform his No More Strangers, with music by John Williams.

Also Sunday: Walter Garcia, another Cuban contemporary dancer who recently arrived in Miami, will represent Classical Ballet of Miami and will perform Folia, with music by Jordi Savall and choreography by García; and New York company Ballet Noir, which mixes dance and cinema.

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