The American Girls travelling to Communist Cuba�For lavish 15th�Birthday Celebrations�

It has long been a rite of womanhood for Latin American girls, marking their 15th birthdays with lavish celebrations including a ballgown and huge party for family and friends and a glamorous photo shoot to capture the experience.

But as relations between the US and Cuba thaw, increasing numbers of teenagers born on the Caribbean island and raised in America are returning back to their families' homeland for glamorous occasions - that are also a fraction of the price of similar events in the US.

For Daniela Santos Torres, 14, from Glendale, Arizona, who left Cuba when she was three, returning to the island in December for her celebration in Punta Bravo, near Havana, was a 'dream', that saw her wear a voluminous dress, don a glittering headdress and invite all her extended family and friends on the island.