Alicia Alonso, from the Limelight to the Dark Side of Her Greatness by Ernesto Santana

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Alicia Alonso, from the limelight to the dark side of her greatness by Ernesto Santana

#THE HAVANE Saturday, October 19, it is not only the great dancer Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad Martínez del Hoyo, known worldwide as Alicia Alonso, who was buried in Colón cemetery in Havana. It was also a page in the Cuban revolution that was definitely turning with her death. Born on December 21, 1920, Alicia Alonso began her dancing career at a very young age and made her last interchanges in November 1995. She was almost 75 years old. In 1948, she founded her own company, which became the Ballet Nacional de Cuba (BNC), one of the most prestigious institutions in the world. She has also attended American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre and was the guest star of the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carl. By playing Giselle on November 2, 1943, she became part of the history of the art of dance. But it was with Carmena that she engraved his name in gold letters.

The end of a page of the Cuban revolution

Alicia Alonso was the partner of the greatest dancers of her time. She always said she would rather lose her sight than stop dancing. She and Maya Plisetskaia were the last great divas of ballet, but unlike the Russian, the Cuban star did not suffer the rigors of socialist totalitarianism. And then there is the dark side of his greatness, which many remember when they tell about her life. Because the Prima ballerina of the BNC was a close ally of Fidel Castro until she became her cultural ambassador in exchange for managing the dance company as his private fiefdom. Of course, this made it possible to save his dancers from forced labour camps for homosexuals, religious or misguided ideologues. It was thus able to maintain a certain efficiency within the BNC despite the ongoing crisis that was destroying the country. But above all, it allowed him to implement a cult of his personality that prevented the other dancers from rising and enjoying a privileged life as well. During the 2003 Black Spring, three young blacks were shot dead in Cuba for trying to hijack a boat and escape the country, 75 political opponents were sentenced to long prison terms. To appease international criticism, the Castro government asked for the support of prestigious artists and intellectuals. Alicia Alonso will be among the signatories who justify this brutal repressive campaign. More recently, the autobiography of the famous dancer Carlos Acosta was published in Havana, "Without looking back" which inspired Iciar Bollaín for the film Yuli. The sale will be immediately prohibited. Alicia Alonso did not like Carlos Acosta's insinuation that he had been subjected to racially motivated bullying while he was part of the ballet company. The honours he received this weekend from all the highest officials of the state, from Raúl Castro, Miguel Díaz-Canel, José Ramón Machado Ventura to Esteban Lazo, underline, if there was any need, his influence, both cultural and political, as well as the weight of his support for the Cuban regime. Beyond the praise of his creative greatness and the inconvenience of his proximity to Castro, only the future will be able to judge the right dimension of the artist and the person who formed such a contradictory unity in the person of Alicia Alonso, as in so many great names in the history of world art.

20 Oct 2019 #Danse #Danse Classique

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