Alicia Alonso
Alicia Alonso was a Cuban ballerina and choreographer who founded the Ballet Nacional de Cuba and became internationally renowned for dancing Giselle.
Fernando Alonso: Fernando Alonso was a Cuban ballet dancer, teacher, and director who helped establish professional ballet in Cuba. Her husband and artistic collaborator, he helped build the company and training system around her.
Giselle: Giselle is a Romantic ballet about a village girl whose love and death lead her into a supernatural world. Alonso’s interpretation of its title role became the performance most closely associated with her.
Ballet Nacional de Cuba: Ballet Nacional de Cuba is Cuba’s state ballet company, founded in 1948 as the Alicia Alonso Ballet. Alonso co-founded and led the institution that became the principal home for her artistic work.
Cuban National Ballet School: Cuban National Ballet School is a Havana institution that trains dancers in the Cuban ballet tradition. Alonso’s company and pedagogical vision helped shape the system that trained generations of Cuban dancers.
George Balanchine: George Balanchine was a Georgian-American choreographer who developed a highly influential neoclassical ballet style. His emphasis on abstract movement contrasts with Alonso’s celebrated dramatic characterization in Giselle.
Alberto Alonso: Alberto Alonso was a Cuban choreographer and ballet director who helped develop modern Cuban ballet. Her brother-in-law and collaborator, he choreographed works for her and the Cuban company.
Carmen Suite: Carmen Suite is a ballet choreographed by Alberto Alonso, adapting Bizet’s opera through a modern, stylized movement vocabulary. She created the title role in this major Cuban ballet, first performed in 1967.
School of American Ballet: The School of American Ballet is a New York City dance school founded by George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Alonso studied in New York, where training and professional work shaped her classical technique.
Cuban ballet method: The Cuban ballet method is a training approach combining classical technique with emphases on athleticism, musicality, and expressive performance. The school and company associated with Alonso helped develop and disseminate this distinctive approach.
Margot Fonteyn: Margot Fonteyn was an English ballerina celebrated for her classical roles and partnership with Rudolf Nureyev. Fonteyn’s career in Britain offers a prominent parallel to Alonso’s leadership of Cuban ballet.