Salut final de la dernière représentation de Giselle au Grand Palais par le ballet national de Cuba, dirigé par Alicia Alonso.
A gauche : Viengsay Valdès dans le rôle de Giselle ; à droite : Romel Frometa dans le rôle d’Albrecht, le prince ; au milieu : Alicia Alonso Salut final de la dernière représentation de Giselle au Grand Palais par le ballet national de Cuba, dirigé par Alicia Alonso.
A gauche : Viengsay Valdès dans le rôle de Giselle ; à droite : Romel Frometa dans le rôle d’Albrecht, le prince ; au milieu : Alicia Alonso https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alicia_Alonso_avec_le_ballet_national_de_Cuba_(Grand_Palais,_Paris)_(955235920).jpg
Alicia Alonzo was a Cuban ballerina, a choreographer, and a ballet director who began dancing at the age of 19 with an eye condition that almost left her blind. When she turned 20, she was able to move to New York with her husband at the time and joined the Ballet Theatre. However, she had to test her eyesight to come and find out she had a severe retinal detachment and would have to live with that for the rest of her life.
With her eye condition, she required three surgeries and would not gain peripheral vision ever again which would have people doubt her ability to dance ever again. Nevertheless, that did not stop her and she was able to land major roles such as Giselle and Horizons. Her recovery period lasted about a year where she was required to stay on bed rest, however, she still managed to land those roles and make her mark on the stage.
“This new form of dialogue that is bringing us to the art to which I have dedicated my life is rooted in the deepest and most beautiful part of being human.”
(Alonso,1)
The Ballet Theatre was not doing very well financially and there she had to move back to her hometown in Havana, Cuba. There she managed to found her own company with her husband at the time called Ballet Alicia Alonso in 1946. Fidel Castro supported her financially with the motive that the Ballet company would help dancers in Cuba; Alonso quickly accepted and was able to branch out as a National Ballet of Cuba. Her company was so big, the dancers toured to many areas around the world.
Alonso was a passionate ballerina who devoted her life to show that no matter what was going on, she was never going to stop dancing because of a disease. She did not let it define her and overachieved giving millions of ballet dancers and people hope to be amazing and extraordinary.
“I looked for perfection every day, and I never gave up.”
(Alonso, 1)
Works Cited:
Mackrell, Judith. “Alicia Alonso Obituary.” The Guardian, Guardian News, and Media, 17 Oct. 2019, www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/oct/17/alicia-alonso-obituary.
Prepared by Yesmil Cepeda
