Alicia Alonso

Alicia Alonso

Source Wikipedia

Yesterday was Alicia Alonso's 95th birthday. I was alerted to that anniversary by Javier Torres who mentioned it on his Facebook page. She founded the National Ballet of Cuba and her company's website describes her as:

"Prima Ballerina Assoluta y Directora del Ballet Nacional de Cuba, es una de las personalidades más relevantes en la historia de la danza y constituye la figura cimera del ballet clásico en el ámbito iberoamericano."

I never saw her dance except on film but I did see her company when it visited Sadler's Wells in September 2006 to perform Magia de la Danza and Don Quixote. Torres was a principal of the company, He is now a premier dancer with Northern Ballet.

Joanna Goodman was lucky enough to see Alonso when she joined the company on stage for its curtain call after it had danced Swan Lake (see Goodman We are the dancers, we create the dreams: Ballet Nacional de Cuba’s El Lago de los Cisnes in Havana 8 July 2014). I am sure all my readers will join me in congratulating that great dancer and wishing her well for the future.