Watching a troupe of some of the world’s finest dancers warming up and stretching their limbs into seemingly impossible shapes feels like quite a privilege.

These are the young members of Cuba Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, world-famous but rarely seen outside their home country.

Fusing the heat and passion of Cuba, and its Afro-Caribbean and Spanish influences, with contemporary dance, the company is celebrating its 50th anniversary with its first major UK tour, rolling into Bradford this spring.

In the splendid Teatro Real in central Madrid, where the company has been performing, I’ve been invited to watch a pre-performance warm-up class. It’s a mesmerising production in itself.

Cuba Danza has been described as “a group of people with different opinions, physiques and mindsets all moving in the same direction”.

Founded in 1959 by pioneering choreographer Ramiro Guerra, the troupe remains Cuba’s flagship modern dance company.

After training in New York with major modern dance artists, Guerra created a hybrid approach to making movement that influenced the way Cuban dance grew. His vision – a vibrant blend of Afro-Caribbean expression, classical ballet and American contemporary dance – lives on in the 60-plus members of today’s company.

Outside influences have been seeping into the company thanks to collaborations with choreographers such as Rafael Bonachela – who has worked extensively with Kylie Minogue and acts such as Tina Turner, Primal Scream and The Kills.

Cuba Danza’s choreographer and principal dancer George Cespedes has spent time working in the UK, picking up styles to take back to the company. To George, Cuba Danza is more than just a fusion of Spanish and African – it’s a way of life, a reflection of the freedom of expression in today’s Cuba.

The programme coming to Bradford includes his critically-acclaimed signature dance, Mambo 3XXI, a celebration of Cuba that challenges the stereotypes.

“People have an image of Cuba – Havana nights, cigars, carnival music, Communist state – but to me being Cuban today is about being who you want to be,” says George.

“It’s about how we interpret our own culture. The dancers bring their own ideas and I encourage each of them to have their own character.”

Like most members of the company, George, 32, studied dance and choreography at Cuba’s National School of Dance. Since joining Danza Cuba as a dancer he has become a prolific, prize-winning choreographer, creating works for his own company and for Cuban ballet companies and TV companies worldwide.

He learned dance from a young age, which is commonplace for both boys and girls in Cuba.

“We don’t have the view that boys don’t dance. In Cuba, dance is like football in the UK – everyone is involved,” says George. “Learning to dance gives children strength and confidence. As a child, I learned dance on the streets – but it’s much more than the salsa and rhumba that people outside Cuba associate with Cuban dance.

“We break traditions, but stay true to our roots. Breaking from the past doesn’t mean you forget where you came from.”

To George, the process of choreographing a routine is more rewarding than the performance itself.

“It usually starts with the music, sometimes an idea. It’s a creative process, but it has to be disciplined,” he says.

He doesn’t have much time for mainstream street dance, claiming it has sanitised the freestyle moves he picked up as a child. “Street dance in the Eighties was an expression of yourself and the neighbourhood you came from – now it’s a business,” he says. “The baseball caps and the baggy trousers are expensive designer clothes, not accessible for young kids.

“By making a connection with audiences, we want them to understand the history and culture of dance, and our own interpretation of that.”

Danza Contemporanea de Cuba is at the Alhambra on Friday, May 25, and Saturday, May 26. For tickets, ring (01274) 432000.