Alicia Alonso
Encyclopedia
Alicia Alonso Martínez is the Cuba
n prima ballerina assoluta
and choreographer. Her company became the Ballet de Cuba in 1955.
She is most famous for her portrayals of Giselle
and the ballet version of Carmen
. From the age of nineteen, Alicia was afflicted with an eye defect and was partially blind. Her partners always had to be in the exact place she expected them to be, and she used lights in different parts of the stage to guide them.
, Cuba. She was the one of two daughters of an army officer and his wife. The family was financially comfortable and lived in a fashionable section of the then-vibrant capital. Alonso indicated at a very early age, produced an affinity for music and dance - her mother could occupy her happily for long periods with just a phonograph
, a scarf
, and some records. She started dancing at the age of seven and at the age of eight, she studied ballet at Sociedad Pro-Arte Musical in Havana with Sophie Fedorova
. A year later she performed publicly for the first time in Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty. Alonso danced in Cuba under the name of Alicia Martínez.
The dancers rapid progress in her lessons came to an abrupt halt in 1937, when the 16-year-old fell in love with a fellow ballet student, Fernando Alonso
, whom she married. After her marriage, she changed her last name to Alonso. The new couple moved to New York City, hoping to begin their professional careers. There they found a home with relatives on the Upper West Side
of Manhattan
, near Riverside Drive
. Alonso soon gave birth to a daughter, Laura, but managed to continue her training at the School of American Ballet
and took private classes with Michel Fokine
, Alexandra Fedorova, Enrico Zanfretta, and Anatole Vilzak. She then arranged a travel to London to study with the renowned Vera Volkova
. Meanwhile, her husband had joined the new Mordkin Ballet Company in New York.
. She had surgery to correct the problem and was ordered to lie in bed motionless for three months to allow her eyes to heal. Unable to comply completely, Alonso practiced with her feet alone, pointing and stretching to, as she put it, "keep my feet alive." When the bandages came off, Alonso was dismayed to find that the operation had not been completely successful. The doctors performed a second surgery, but its failure caused them to conclude that the dancer would never have peripheral vision. Finally, Alonso consented to a third procedure in Havana, but this time was ordered to lay completely motionless in bed for an entire year. She was not permitted to play with Laura, chew food too hard, laugh or cry, or move her head. Her husband sat with her every day, using their fingers to teach her the great dancing roles of classical ballet. From Women in World History, Alonso later recalled of that period, "I danced in my mind. Blinded, motionless, flat on my back, I taught myself to dance Giselle."
Finally, she was allowed to leave her bed, although dancing was still out of the question. Instead, she walked with her dogs and, against doctor's orders, went to the ballet studio down the street every day to begin practicing again. Then, just as her hope was returning, Alonso was injured when a hurricane shattered a door in her home, spraying glass splinters onto her head and face. Amazingly, her eyes were not injured. When her doctor saw this, he cleared Alonso to begin dancing, figuring that if she could survive an explosion of glass, dancing would do no harm.
in 1943 to begin rebuilding her skills. However, before she had barely settled, out of the blue she was asked to dance Giselle
to replace the ballet Theater's injured prima ballerina. Alonso accepted and gave such a performance that the critics immediately declared her a star. She was promoted to principal dancer of the company in 1946 and danced the role of Giselle until 1948, also performing in Swan Lake
, Antony Tudor
's Undertow (1943), Balanchine's Theme and Variations (1947), and in such world premieres as deMille's dramatic ballet Fall River Legend
(1948), in which she starred as the Accused. By this time in her career, she had developed a reputation as an intensely dramatic dancer, as well as an ultra-pure technician and a supremely skilled interpreter of classical and romantic repertories.
Alonso's longtime dance partnership with the Ballet Theater's Igor Youskevitch
has been compared to that of Fred Astaire
and Ginger Rogers
. Youskevitch and her other partners quickly became expert at helping Alonso conceal her handicap. To compensate for only partial sight in one eye and no peripheral vision, the ballerina trained her partners to be exactly where she needed them without exception. She also had the set designers install strong spotlights in different colors to serve as guides for her movements. Alonso knew, for instance, that if she stepped into the glow of the spotlights near the front of the stage, she was getting too close to the orchestra pit. There was also a thin wire stretched across the edge of the stage at waist height as another marker for her, but in general she danced within the encircling arms of her partners and was led by them from point to point. Audiences were reportedly never the wiser as they watched the prima ballerina.
. Fernando was general director of the company, which was at that time composed mainly of Ballet Theater dancers temporarily out of work due to a reorganization in the New York company. Fernando's brother Alberto, a choreographer, served as artistic director for the company.
The company debuted briefly in the capital and then departed for a tour of South America. The performances were a hit with audiences everywhere, but Alonso found herself funding the company with her savings to keep it going despite donations from wealthy families and a modest subsidy from the Cuban Ministry of Education. Meanwhile, she commuted between Havana and New York to recruit the world's best teachers to train her new students. She remained a sought-after prima ballerina during this hectic time, dancing twice in Russia in 1952 and then producing and starring in Giselle
for the Paris Opéra Ballet in 1953.
Between 1955 and 1959, Alicia danced every year with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as guest star. She was the first dancer of the Western Hemisphere
to perform in the Soviet Union, and the first American representative to dance with the Bolshoi
and Kirov
Theaters of Moscow and Leningrad
(St. Petersburg) respectively in 1957 and 1958. During the decades to follow Alicia Alonso had cross-world tours through West and East European countries, Asia, North and South America, and she danced as guest star with the Opera de Paris, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Bolshoi and with other companies. She has staged her versions of Giselle
, Pas de Quatre
, and The Sleeping Beauty for the Paris Opera. She also staged Giselle at the Vienna State Opera
and the San Carlo Theater of Naples
, Italy; La Fille Mal Gardée
at the Prague State Opera
, and Sleeping Beauty at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan
.
's Path of Thunder, and other pieces. Her performances earned her the coveted Dance Magazine
Award in 1958.
inviting her to head the company upon the triumph of the July 26 Movement. A movement that started as anti dictatorship and left millions of people scratching their heads after Castro rebutted all that he promised especially of not being a communist and promising free and open elections. She officially founded the school in 1960, and within several years her dancers were winning international dance competitions.
ended and Richard Nixon
left the presidency, Fidel Castro
permitted Alonso to perform again in the United States in 1975 and 1976. An American reviewer said of the dancer, then 54 years old and a grandmother, "she creates more sexual promise than ballerinas half her age." The state-run Cuban film industry made a film containing all of Alonso's repertoire, but in American ballet circles she had been all but forgotten.
Alonso continued to serve as the director of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba in the early twenty-first century. Numerous books have been written on the ballerina, including Alicia Alonso: At Home and Abroad (1970), Alicia Alonso: The Story of a Ballerina (1979), Alicia Alonso: A Passionate Life of Dance (1984) and Alicia Alonso: First Lady of the Ballet (1993). During a November 2003 on-stage interview prior to a Cuban National Ballet performance in San Diego, California, she exclaimed, "I'm so happy to be here. And I'm happy whenever I'm on the stage. The stage is where a dancer should be, even if it's only to walk or sit. I am at home on the stage."
As director and leading dancer of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Alicia Alonso has been an inspiration and guide to the new generations of Cuban dancers. With her own consummate style, she has left her mark on the international world of dance. Some of her former and more famous students are now dancing at the American Ballet Theatre
, the Boston Ballet
, the San Francisco Ballet
, the Washington Ballet
, the Cincinnati Ballet
and the Royal Ballet, among others. She has created her own works including La Tinaja, Ensayos Sinfonicos, and Lidia. She appeared in a feature-length documentary made in Cuba about her and her work Alicia
(1977). She has served on juries at international dance competitions in Bulgaria, Russia, Japan, Brazil, and the United States.
In June 2002 she was designated UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for her outstanding contribution to the development, preservation and popularisation of classical dance and for her devotion to the art-form, through which she has promoted the ideals of UNESCO and the fellowship of the world's peoples and cultures.
She continues to direct her Ballet Nacional de Cuba, even though she is in her nineties and almost blind.
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n prima ballerina assoluta
Prima ballerina assoluta
Prima ballerina assoluta is a rank or title given to notable female ballet dancers. To be recognised as a prima ballerina assoluta is a very rare honour, reserved only for the most exceptional soloists, usually those who have achieved international acclaim....
and choreographer. Her company became the Ballet de Cuba in 1955.
She is most famous for her portrayals of Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
and the ballet version of Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
. From the age of nineteen, Alicia was afflicted with an eye defect and was partially blind. Her partners always had to be in the exact place she expected them to be, and she used lights in different parts of the stage to guide them.
Early life
Alonso was born in HavanaHavana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba. She was the one of two daughters of an army officer and his wife. The family was financially comfortable and lived in a fashionable section of the then-vibrant capital. Alonso indicated at a very early age, produced an affinity for music and dance - her mother could occupy her happily for long periods with just a phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
, a scarf
Scarf
A scarf is a piece of fabric worn around the neck, or near the head or around the waist for warmth, cleanliness, fashion or for religious reasons. They can come in a variety of different colours.-History:...
, and some records. She started dancing at the age of seven and at the age of eight, she studied ballet at Sociedad Pro-Arte Musical in Havana with Sophie Fedorova
Sophie Fedorova
Sophie Fedorova was a Russian ballerina graduated from the Bolshoi School in 1899 and joined the Bolshoi Ballet, where she was most admired as a character ballerina. She danced with the Diaghilev Ballet from its beginning in 1909, dancing major roles throughout the entire history of the Diaghilev...
. A year later she performed publicly for the first time in Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty. Alonso danced in Cuba under the name of Alicia Martínez.
The dancers rapid progress in her lessons came to an abrupt halt in 1937, when the 16-year-old fell in love with a fellow ballet student, Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso (dancer)
Fernando Alonso is a Cuban ballet dancer and ex-husband of Alicia Alonso.-References:...
, whom she married. After her marriage, she changed her last name to Alonso. The new couple moved to New York City, hoping to begin their professional careers. There they found a home with relatives on the Upper West Side
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, near Riverside Drive
Riverside Drive (Manhattan)
Riverside Drive is a scenic north-south thoroughfare in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The boulevard runs on the west side of Manhattan, generally parallel to the Hudson River from 72nd Street to near the George Washington Bridge at 181st Street...
. Alonso soon gave birth to a daughter, Laura, but managed to continue her training at the School of American Ballet
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the...
and took private classes with Michel Fokine
Michel Fokine
Michel Fokine was a groundbreaking Russian choreographer and dancer.-Biography:...
, Alexandra Fedorova, Enrico Zanfretta, and Anatole Vilzak. She then arranged a travel to London to study with the renowned Vera Volkova
Vera Volkova
Vera Volkova was an influential Russian ballet dancer and dance teacher. Born in Tomsk, she trained in Petrograd at Akim Volynsky's School of Russian Ballet, also studying with the renowned Russian ballet mistress Agrippina Vaganova. She danced professionally with the Imperial Russian Ballet,...
. Meanwhile, her husband had joined the new Mordkin Ballet Company in New York.
Vision problems
After seeing the doctor for worsening vision problems, Alonso was diagnosed in 1941 with a detached retinaRetina
The vertebrate retina is a light-sensitive tissue lining the inner surface of the eye. The optics of the eye create an image of the visual world on the retina, which serves much the same function as the film in a camera. Light striking the retina initiates a cascade of chemical and electrical...
. She had surgery to correct the problem and was ordered to lie in bed motionless for three months to allow her eyes to heal. Unable to comply completely, Alonso practiced with her feet alone, pointing and stretching to, as she put it, "keep my feet alive." When the bandages came off, Alonso was dismayed to find that the operation had not been completely successful. The doctors performed a second surgery, but its failure caused them to conclude that the dancer would never have peripheral vision. Finally, Alonso consented to a third procedure in Havana, but this time was ordered to lay completely motionless in bed for an entire year. She was not permitted to play with Laura, chew food too hard, laugh or cry, or move her head. Her husband sat with her every day, using their fingers to teach her the great dancing roles of classical ballet. From Women in World History, Alonso later recalled of that period, "I danced in my mind. Blinded, motionless, flat on my back, I taught myself to dance Giselle."
Finally, she was allowed to leave her bed, although dancing was still out of the question. Instead, she walked with her dogs and, against doctor's orders, went to the ballet studio down the street every day to begin practicing again. Then, just as her hope was returning, Alonso was injured when a hurricane shattered a door in her home, spraying glass splinters onto her head and face. Amazingly, her eyes were not injured. When her doctor saw this, he cleared Alonso to begin dancing, figuring that if she could survive an explosion of glass, dancing would do no harm.
Back to work at last
Nearly mad with impatience and still partially blind, Alonso traveled back to New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1943 to begin rebuilding her skills. However, before she had barely settled, out of the blue she was asked to dance Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
to replace the ballet Theater's injured prima ballerina. Alonso accepted and gave such a performance that the critics immediately declared her a star. She was promoted to principal dancer of the company in 1946 and danced the role of Giselle until 1948, also performing in Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
, Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
's Undertow (1943), Balanchine's Theme and Variations (1947), and in such world premieres as deMille's dramatic ballet Fall River Legend
Fall River Legend
Fall River Legend is a ballet based on the life of Lizzie Borden. One of choreographer Agnes de Mille's best-known works, it featured an original score by Morton Gould, lighting design by Jean Rosenthal and scenic design by Oliver Smith....
(1948), in which she starred as the Accused. By this time in her career, she had developed a reputation as an intensely dramatic dancer, as well as an ultra-pure technician and a supremely skilled interpreter of classical and romantic repertories.
Alonso's longtime dance partnership with the Ballet Theater's Igor Youskevitch
Igor Youskevitch
Igor Youskevitch was a ballet dancer and a choreographer of Russian-Ukrainian origin, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century, as a master of the classic style, e.g., in Afternoon of a Faun, and as a dance partner to Alicia Alonso.- Early years :Born in the village...
has been compared to that of Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
and Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
. Youskevitch and her other partners quickly became expert at helping Alonso conceal her handicap. To compensate for only partial sight in one eye and no peripheral vision, the ballerina trained her partners to be exactly where she needed them without exception. She also had the set designers install strong spotlights in different colors to serve as guides for her movements. Alonso knew, for instance, that if she stepped into the glow of the spotlights near the front of the stage, she was getting too close to the orchestra pit. There was also a thin wire stretched across the edge of the stage at waist height as another marker for her, but in general she danced within the encircling arms of her partners and was led by them from point to point. Audiences were reportedly never the wiser as they watched the prima ballerina.
A new endeavor in Havana
Alonso's desire to develop ballet in Cuba led her to return to Havana in 1948 to found her own company, the Alicia Alonso Ballet Company, which she maintained with little financial support, this company eventually became Ballet Nacional de CubaBallet Nacional de Cuba
The Cuban National Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Great Theatre of Havana in Havana, Cuba. Founded by the Cuban prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso in 1948, it has become recognised as one of the world's leading ballet companies...
. Fernando was general director of the company, which was at that time composed mainly of Ballet Theater dancers temporarily out of work due to a reorganization in the New York company. Fernando's brother Alberto, a choreographer, served as artistic director for the company.
The company debuted briefly in the capital and then departed for a tour of South America. The performances were a hit with audiences everywhere, but Alonso found herself funding the company with her savings to keep it going despite donations from wealthy families and a modest subsidy from the Cuban Ministry of Education. Meanwhile, she commuted between Havana and New York to recruit the world's best teachers to train her new students. She remained a sought-after prima ballerina during this hectic time, dancing twice in Russia in 1952 and then producing and starring in Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
for the Paris Opéra Ballet in 1953.
Between 1955 and 1959, Alicia danced every year with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as guest star. She was the first dancer of the Western Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
to perform in the Soviet Union, and the first American representative to dance with the Bolshoi
Bolshoi
Bolshoi may refer to:*Bolshoi Theatre, a major ballet and opera theatre in Moscow, Russia**Bolshoi Ballet, resident ballet company at the Bolshoi Theatre**Moscow State Academy of Choreography, commonly known as The Bolshoi Ballet Academy...
and Kirov
Mariinsky Ballet
The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...
Theaters of Moscow and Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
(St. Petersburg) respectively in 1957 and 1958. During the decades to follow Alicia Alonso had cross-world tours through West and East European countries, Asia, North and South America, and she danced as guest star with the Opera de Paris, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Bolshoi and with other companies. She has staged her versions of Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
, Pas de Quatre
Pas de Quatre
Pas de Quatre is a ballet divertissement choreographed by Jules Perrot in 1845, on the suggestion of Benjamin Lumley, Director at His Majestys Theatre to music composed by Cesare Pugni....
, and The Sleeping Beauty for the Paris Opera. She also staged Giselle at the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
and the San Carlo Theater of Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Italy; La Fille Mal Gardée
La Fille Mal Gardée
La Fille mal gardée is a comic ballet presented in two acts, inspired by Pierre-Antoine Baudouin's 1789 painting, La réprimande/Une jeune fille querellée par sa mère...
at the Prague State Opera
Prague State Opera
The Prague State Opera , is an opera and ballet company in Prague, Czech Republic. The theatre was originally founded in 1888 as the New German Theatre and from 1949 to 1989 it was known as the Smetana Theatre....
, and Sleeping Beauty at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
Political change in Cuba
Alonso worked with the Ballet Rousse until 1959, during which time she performed in a 10-week tour of the Soviet Union, dancing in Giselle, the Leningrad Opera BalletMariinsky Ballet
The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...
's Path of Thunder, and other pieces. Her performances earned her the coveted Dance Magazine
Dance Magazine
Dance Magazine is an "influential" American trade publication for dance, currently published by the Macfadden Communications Group. It was first published in June 1927 as The American Dancer. William Como was its editor-in-chief from 1970 to his death in 1989. Wendy Perron became its editor-in...
Award in 1958.
Return to Cuba
When Fidel Castro took power from the Batista dictatorship on 1 January 1959, Castro vowed to increase funding to the nation's languishing cultural programs. Cuba in the 1950s was the center of Modern Latin American entertainment and art. It was a Mecca for Latin American and other International artists to come and earn international acclaim. Etc. Nat King Cole, Libertad Lamarque, Mirta Silva, Lola Flores. Encouraged by this sudden change and eager to see her homeland of which she was never exiled and always permitted to return again, Alonso returned to Cuba and in March 1959. received $200,000 in funding to form a new dance school, to be called the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, along with a guarantee of annual financial support. It is noted that Castro needed a staple artist that would remain with his revolution. Artists were fleeing the island and were debilitating the fake image that Castro proposed. Alonso has since described receiving a message from Castro in 1958 sent from the Sierra MaestraSierra Maestra
Sierra Maestra is a mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old Oriente Province from what is now Guantánamo Province to Niquero in southeast Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. Some view it as a series of connecting ranges , which joins with others extending to the west...
inviting her to head the company upon the triumph of the July 26 Movement. A movement that started as anti dictatorship and left millions of people scratching their heads after Castro rebutted all that he promised especially of not being a communist and promising free and open elections. She officially founded the school in 1960, and within several years her dancers were winning international dance competitions.
Disappearance from American artistic scene
Because of her intense and passionate affiliation with the new communist government in Havana, American audiences turned their backs on the prima ballerina and she vanished from the country's cultural radar. In addition, as with the Russian ballet companies, exposure to western audiences would promote defectors who would cause huge embarrassment to the Soviet Union. The Cuban Government throughout the 1960s to the 1980s did not allow Cubans to return and monitored any person who had contacts outside of Cuba via phone cables and letters. However, her company continued to build its powers and achievements in both Eastern and Western Europe. In 1967 and 1971 she performed in Canada, where reviewers noted that Alonso was still the greatest ballerina of her time. When the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
ended and Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
left the presidency, Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
permitted Alonso to perform again in the United States in 1975 and 1976. An American reviewer said of the dancer, then 54 years old and a grandmother, "she creates more sexual promise than ballerinas half her age." The state-run Cuban film industry made a film containing all of Alonso's repertoire, but in American ballet circles she had been all but forgotten.
Ended days of dancing and beyond Alonso's career
Alonso danced solos in Europe and elsewhere well into her 70s, although her near blindness became increasingly apparent. In 1995, she and a number of other aging National Ballet members performed in San Francisco in a piece called In the Middle of the Sunset.Alonso continued to serve as the director of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba in the early twenty-first century. Numerous books have been written on the ballerina, including Alicia Alonso: At Home and Abroad (1970), Alicia Alonso: The Story of a Ballerina (1979), Alicia Alonso: A Passionate Life of Dance (1984) and Alicia Alonso: First Lady of the Ballet (1993). During a November 2003 on-stage interview prior to a Cuban National Ballet performance in San Diego, California, she exclaimed, "I'm so happy to be here. And I'm happy whenever I'm on the stage. The stage is where a dancer should be, even if it's only to walk or sit. I am at home on the stage."
As director and leading dancer of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Alicia Alonso has been an inspiration and guide to the new generations of Cuban dancers. With her own consummate style, she has left her mark on the international world of dance. Some of her former and more famous students are now dancing at the American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
, the Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet, founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams, was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. Boston Ballet’s national and international reputation developed under the leadership of Artistic Directors Violette Verdy , Bruce Marks , and Anna-Marie Holmes...
, the San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet
The San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States...
, the Washington Ballet
Washington Ballet
The Washington Ballet is an ensemble of professional athletic classical ballet dancers. It was founded in 1976 by American ballet pioneer Mary Day, and has been under the artistic directorship of Septime Webre since 1999.-The Mary Day years :...
, the Cincinnati Ballet
Cincinnati Ballet
The Cincinnati Ballet is a professional ballet company founded in 1958 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The current artistic director is Victoria Morgan.-Founding:...
and the Royal Ballet, among others. She has created her own works including La Tinaja, Ensayos Sinfonicos, and Lidia. She appeared in a feature-length documentary made in Cuba about her and her work Alicia
Alicia
- People :* Alicia , list of people with this name* Alisha , US pop singer* Alisha Chinai , Indian pop singer* Alesha , UK pop singer...
(1977). She has served on juries at international dance competitions in Bulgaria, Russia, Japan, Brazil, and the United States.
In June 2002 she was designated UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for her outstanding contribution to the development, preservation and popularisation of classical dance and for her devotion to the art-form, through which she has promoted the ideals of UNESCO and the fellowship of the world's peoples and cultures.
She continues to direct her Ballet Nacional de Cuba, even though she is in her nineties and almost blind.
Awards (selected)
- the Dance Magazine Annual Award, 1934
- the Dance Magazine Annual Award, 1958
- the Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris, 1966
- Anna Pavlova Award of the University of Dance, Paris, 1966
- the Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris together with her company, 1970
- Order of Work of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 1974
- Gold Medal of the Gran Teatro by Premio Gran Teatro de La Habana in 1985
- National Prize for Dance from the Ministry of Culture of Cuba, 1998
- Gold medal from the Circulo de Bellas Artes of Madrid, 1998
- UNESCO Pablo Picasso Medal for her extraordinary contribution to dance, 1999
- Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris, 1999
- Premio Benois de la Danza, 2000
Recognitions (selected)
- Honorary doctorate in art from the University of HavanaUniversity of HavanaThe University of Havana or UH is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, Cuba. Founded in 1728, the University of Havana is the oldest university in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas...
, 1973 - Received an international homage in Paris, organized by UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
, 1980 - Council of State of the Republic of Cuba gave her the Order Felix Varela, 1981
- Honorary doctorate in dancing art from the Superior Institute of Arts of Cuba, 1987
- Rreceived the Commendation of Isabel Catholic Order, given by the King of Spain Juan Carlos I, 1993
- Public recognition was given in her honor at the Scientific, Artistic, and Literary Ateneo of MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
for her valuable artistic and cultural creations, 1996 - The Ballet Nacional de Cuba honored Alicia Alonso on the 50th anniversary of Theme & Variations, the great ballet created by George BalanchineGeorge BalanchineGeorge Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
for her and Igor YouskevitchIgor YouskevitchIgor Youskevitch was a ballet dancer and a choreographer of Russian-Ukrainian origin, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century, as a master of the classic style, e.g., in Afternoon of a Faun, and as a dance partner to Alicia Alonso.- Early years :Born in the village...
, 1997 - Honorary degree from the Universidad Politecnica of Valencia, 1998
- Art & Letters Order, Commander Degree, from the Ministry of Culture and Communication of France, 1998
- Order José MartíJosé MartíJosé Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...
by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba, 2000 - Received the highest official awards from Mexico, the Dominican RepublicDominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, and PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
: the Order Aguila Azteca, the Order Vasco Nunez de Balboa, and the Order Duarte, Sanchez, and Mella, respectively - Named National Hero of Labor in Cuba
- Holds membership in the Advisory Council to the Ministry of Culture in the National Committee of Writers and Artists Union of Cuba
- Holds membership in the Collaborating Council of the Governing Boards of the Federation of Cuban Women
- Honorary Citizen of Mérida (México)and Messenger of Peace, 2011
Sources
- Magazine Cuba in the Ballet. Founded in 1970. ISSN 0864-1307.
- Cuba Magazine in the Ballet ISSN 0864-1307. Cultural Publication specialized in the world of the Cuban ballet, includes critical, chronicle, and comments..., as well as a news section.
- National Ballet of Cuba: half a century of glory. Book that collects the fifty years of the company. Written by Miguel Cabrera (Punta Bava, Havana, 1941), Historian of the BNC, summarizes the most outstanding aspects in five decades where generations of dancers, choreographers and specialized personnel have given the best. The book provides good information of the NBC, including tours, ballets throughout its history. Published by Ediciones Cuba in the Ballet. Format: 20 x 21 cms. 285 pages.
- University for All (Tabloid). History and Appreciation of the Ballet. Format: 38 x 29 cm. 32 pages. Cultural publication with texts that support the telelectures delivered by specialists of the National Ballet of Cuba and other guest personalities.
- DIALOGUES WITH THE DANCE, by Alicia Alonso. It is the fourth edition of this title, in which the reader will be able to find memories of the initial moments of her career, brief impressions on some works of her repertoire, testimonies about famous personalities she worked with, as well as points of view sometimes referred to polemic questions concerning the dancer's profession and the art of the dance in general. Política Publisher. Format: 15 x 22 cms. 378 pages.
External links
- 1 - Alicia Alonso entry in Encyclopædia Britannica
- 2 - Alicia Alonso Biography
- 3 - Alicia at UNESCO
- 4 - Alicia, the Grand Diva
- Alicia Alonso entry in the Columbia Encyclopedia