Alicia Alonso

Alicia Alonso
Alicia Alonso in 1955
Born
Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad del Cobre Martínez del Hoyo

(1920-12-21)21 December 1920
Died17 October 2019(2019-10-17) (aged 98)
Havana, Cuba
OccupationBallet dancer
Spouses
(m. 1937; div. 1975)
Pedro Simón Martínez
(m. 1975)
ChildrenLaura Alonso

Alicia Alonso (born Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad del Cobre Martínez del Hoyo; 21 December 1920 – 17 October 2019)[1] was a Cuban prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer whose company became the Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1955.[2] She is best known for her portrayals of Giselle and the ballet version of Carmen.[3]

From the age of nineteen, Alonso was afflicted with an eye condition and became 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 herself.[4]

  1. ^ "Alicia Alonso, la "prima ballerina" latinoamericana, cumple 90 años". elimparcial.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  2. ^ Mary Clarke and David Vaughan (eds) 1977. The encyclopedia of dance & ballet. Pitmans, London. p. 16.
  3. ^ Alicia Alonso (Cuban dancer), Britannica Online Encyclopedia Archived 29 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Slotnik, Daniel E. (2 August 2013). "Fernando Alonso, a Founder of Cuban Ballet, Dies at 98". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 December 2018.