They Evoke the Eternal Giselle in Cuba, Alicia Alonso

October 20, 2021

Writers and artists from Cuba, along with cultural workers and the people, honored the eternal Giselle, Alicia Alonso, on the second anniversary of her death.

Several national radio and television programs remembered the prima ballerina assoluta, who died at age 98 in 2019 to become a perpetual memory in the world of international arts.

Also through social media, institutions such as the National Center for Schools of Art, the National Theater of Cuba, the National School of Music, Casa del Alba Cultural, among others, remembered her tireless work and legacy.

According to a statement issued by the National Ballet of Cuba, of which Alonso was founder and principal exponent, the company will resume activities that had been suspended for several months due to measures caused by Covid-19.

Under the direction of Viengsay Valdés, the company members returned to the studios, with an intensive program of classes and rehearsals in preparation for upcoming performances, the entity reported and advanced that the schedule will include the premiere of some pieces.

Regarding the great artist, the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba outlined in a text part of her illustrious trajectory and assured that it is impossible to refer to Cuban culture — at all times — without alluding to her legacy.

The celebrated dancer placed the company among those of greatest prestige worldwide, while she created the Cuban School of Ballet from which outstanding figures emerged and put her homeland's name on the highest pedestals in almost 70 countries across all continents.

Recipient of more than 200 international awards and interpreter of key works in the panorama of world dance, Alonso departed to eternity converted into a symbol of inspiration and guidance, also beyond the limits of the stage where she shone so many times.

Carmen, Giselle and many other iconic works of the genre could well be called Alicia, for in her flesh and with her mastery they were sculpted on the stage to record her name as a paramount figure of classical ballet in the Ibero-American sphere.

Of the great Diva, the well-known writer and journalist Alejo Carpentier wrote: 'Alicia Alonso belongs to the exceptional lineage of dancers who have left — sometimes no more than four or five times per centuries — an illustrious name in the history of dance'.