Alonso, Alicia (1921- )

Cuban ballerina, choreographer, and director. A leading proponent of ballet in Cuba, she founded the Alicia Alonso Ballet Company in 1948. The company received official state sponsorship and was re-named the National Ballet of Cuba in 1959, and she was its prima ballerina and director. Purely classical in style, her most famous role was Giselle 1959.

She was born in Havana, where she began studying dance in 1931. She trained at the School of American Ballet and made her professional debut in 1938 in the USA. She danced with both the New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theater.