Alicia Alonso's Birth

Born Alicia Ernestina De La Caridad Martínez on  December 21 1921 in Havana,Cuba. She was the daughter of an army office and his wife. She is 94.

Alicia Alonso had a good childhood. Her family was financially comfortable and lived in a good area. Her dance education started when she took flamenco lessons in Spain. Later she studied ballet at Havana's Escuela de Sociedad Pro. She made her ballet debut when she was just nine years old in a production of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty.

She went to School of American Ballet and studied year round.

Alicia Alonso's Childhood

Alicia Alonso's Marriage and Moving

While she was in Havana, she met Fernando Alonso.When he moved to New York City she went with him.They got married.At age 17 she enrolled in the School of American Ballet, though she took a brief break to have a baby in 1938.

Roles she has played

1) Carmen in Giselle

2) Giselle in Swan Lake

3) Anthony Tudor's Undertow

4) Balanchine's Theme and Variations

5) Fall River Legend

She danced at New York City Ballet (NYCB) and American Ballet Theater (ABT).

Before she was a ballerina, she danced in musicals like.

1) Great Lady (1938)

2) Stars in Your Eyes (1939)

Accomplishments

She created  Ballet Nacional de Cuba. It was first called the Alicia Alonso Ballet Company.  Another accomplishment was that she was the first Western dancer invited to perform in the Soviet Union. She also overcame discrimination and near blindness. She is a prima ballerina assoluta which is a very prestigious award.

Conclusion

Alicia Alonso has accomplished many things. She has overcome near blindness and has created a successful ballet Company. She had a wonderful child named Laura Alonso and received a prestigious award. She has changed many lives and is an amazing inspiration. But sadly, she is not doing well lately. Her blindness is getting worse and has vanished from the dance world. But she is still a huge inspiration to me.

BUT WAIT!!!

Some fun facts are that she created her own works, including LaTinaja (1943), Lidia, and Ensayos Sinfonicos. In 1941 she was diagnosed with a detached retina, which means that the tissue in the back of the eye pulls away from blood vessels.This is very rare. It was was caused her to reach near blindness. She taught herself to dance Giselle while she recovered. She was also injured by glass in a hurricane.