Towering figure in Cuban dance
Cuban ballerina
LEGENDARY Cuban ballerina Alicia Alonso (98) achieved global acclaim in the 1940s and went on to run the internationally renowned National Ballet of Cuba for decades.
‘‘Alicia Alonso has gone and left an enormous void, but also an unbeatable legacy,’’ President Miguel DiazCanel said in a post on Twitter.
‘‘She positioned Cuba at the altar of the best of dance worldwide. Thank you Alicia for your immortal work.’’
One of the greatest 20th century ballerinas, Alonso used her star power to make a sometimes elitist art form popular on her Caribbean island, forging the world’s largest ballet school with a unique bravura style.
Alonso immediately identified herself with the 1959 revolution and, with her dance partner of many years, the Russian Igor Youskevich who died in 1994, performed for the bearded guerrillas of Fidel Castro’s rebel army after they took power in Havana. She remained closely associated with the communist government until the end.
So revered is Alonso in Cuba that she carried the rare title of prima ballerina assoluta, reserved for only the most exceptional of dancers.
‘‘As the daughter of a small Caribbean island, Alonso confronted all the barriers, those who said ballet was an art of developed countries, that the Latino physique and temperament could not adjust to the needs of classical dance,’’ Cubanborn Carlos Acosta, former principal guest artist of the Royal Ballet, said.
‘‘Alicia Alonso destroyed all these prejudices when she made her entrance on the stage.’’
Alonso’s breakout role was in Giselle in New York on November 2, 1943, when she replaced
British dancer Alicia Markova, who fell ill, in the newly formed company that would become the American Ballet Theatre (ABT).
For her debut in the ethereal 1841 French Romantic role, Alonso had learned the steps with her hands while recovering from eye surgery.
‘‘Her imprint on ABT as one of the charter members of Ballet Theatre is immeasurable,’’ said Kevin McKenzie, artistic director of the New Yorkbased company.
‘‘Alicia’s grace, intelligence and courage will surely leave a lasting impact on our art form.’’
Petite with an angular face, Alonso danced until her 70s despite having trouble walking, and continued to direct her company with the help of trusted artists who served as her eyes.
Alonso for years did not name a successor because, she said, ‘‘I will live until I’m 200,’’ according to several of her dancers and collaborators.
Together with her first husband Fernando Alonso and his brother Alberto, the ballerina forged a national ballet style that Castro used to showcase Cuban culture.
‘‘We Cubans were born to dance as a people, thanks to the mix of races, the Spanish and the African, both lovers of dance,’’ Alonso said in 2004. ‘‘Cuban dancers immediately stand out with their expressive way of performing the great classics or the moderns.’’
According to Alonso’s own account in a 1981 biography, Castro asked her how much money she needed to organise the National Ballet.
‘‘I said $100,000,’’ she recalled. ‘‘We will give you $200,000,’’ he replied.
Alonso choreographed a small repertoire of classic masterpieces in isolation from the rest of the world, creating a style for her company that some critics have called oldfashioned but others have commended as preserving elements neglected outside Cuba.
Born on December 21, 1921, Alonso first appeared on stage in Havana in 1931. She married fellow student Fernando at the age of 16 and they soon moved to New York, joining Ballet Caravan, the precursor of New York City Ballet.
By the late 1940s she had performed starring roles, particularly Giselle, at the old Metropolitan Opera House in New York and London’s Covent Garden.
Her vision became so bad that she had trouble seeing her fellow dancers. A series of operations in the early 1970s improved her vision.
In 1948, the Alonsos founded the Alicia Alonso Ballet Company in Havana, but she continued to dance for a while with the American Ballet Theatre. Her ballet company folded in 1956 . The National Ballet was formed after the revolution.
Fernando and Alicia Alonso had one daughter, Laura, who was born in 1938.
Alonso died on October 17. — Reuters