Alicia Alonso, "limitless dedication from the heart"

October 14, 2020

"Alicia's name is inscribed with honors in the universal history books of dance. Those of us who knew her and exchanged with her in life feel fortunate, as does the public that was able to enjoy her art one day," expressed Viengsay Valdés, director of the National Ballet of Cuba, on the occasion of commemorating this coming October 17, the first anniversary of the death of the prima ballerina assoluta.

The physical disappearance of "the most extraordinary classical dancer born in Cuba" was a painful loss for art, culture, and the Cuban people, because, in Valdés' words, "Alonso's perseverance, demands, interpretive and technical quality, passion for dance and determination are qualities that few artists possess. In her these values came together to show a dancer capable of leaving her mark on any stage" and, certainly, she is an eminent figure of our ballet, and was a symbol of Cubanness in every theater in the world where she performed.

"Alicia was unique in her way of dancing and is the paradigm of the Cuban school of ballet. Her aesthetic taste and temperament today identify us anywhere in the world.

"In such a difficult period as this that we are going through, marked by a pandemic, artists will need to hold on more and more to her ideal as a dancer, to that boundless dedication from the heart, to the iron will to polish even the smallest technical details, to self-demand and commitment to dance.

"In the year of her centennial we have not been able to honor her as she deserves and as we wish. Starting from her birthday, the coming December 21, we will extend the tribute through the following 2021, in order to be able to fulfill the glory that corresponds to her," said Viengsay Valdés.