Alicia Alonso RIP

Oh, my goodness. Such thanks we owe her. Hopefully tonight's Theme and Variations as danced by Sarah Lane and Joseph Gorak will be a stunning and beautiful homage to the great Alicia Alonso.

Alonso and Youskevitch in T&V.

 

 

Comments

[Haglund Fan]

A very sad day for the dance world :( She was our prima ballerina and will be missed. We are all fortunate that we can keep her alive with any videos and films we can still watch.

[Solor]

I saw her dance “Giselle” with her company (partnered by Jorge Esquival) at the Met in the summer of 1979. Of course I remember the audience’s response and appreciated that so many were in attendance who had undoubtedly seen her 35 years prior when she was with Ballet Theatre.

Forgive me if you’ve heard this:

Reagan, Gorbachev and Castro are attending a summit in Egypt. As a break in their serious discussions, they are taken to one of the pyramids where (due to their importance) they are taken to see a mummy up close. They are gazing in amazement when suddenly the mummy’s arm slowly rises and its hand motions “come here.” The three look at each other trying to decide who is being addressed. Reagan says that it must be motioning for him – after all, he is the president of the United States. He walks toward to mummy, which then slowly waves him away. Then it motions again – “come here” – and this time, Gorbachev says it must be addressing him – after all, he is the leader of the Soviet Union. So he walks toward the mummy, which again motions him away. Again, the mummy’s hand motions “come here” – Reagan and Gorbachev look at Castro, who then walks toward the mummy. As he gets closer, the mummy continues to motion him even closer. Finally, when he is as close to the head as he can get, the head rises and the mummy whispers, “Is Alonso still dancing?”

[Haglund]

Wonderful story, Solor! I don't recall ever having heard it before.

[Marta]

Great story, Solor, thanks for the smile.
I also saw Alonso and Esquivel in Giselle, 1979, in Boston. It was the only time I saw her and it was a memorable experience.

[Haglund]

Her coffin was draped in Giselle-like white gauze with white flowers. How fitting; how moving.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-10/20/c_138487969.htm

There are four pictures attached to the above link, each one extraordinary.

[BryanP]

Hello Haglund, Saturday night's (Oct 19) PA Ballet Don Q performance was dedicated to Alonso's memory. It was headlined by two dancers who trained under her - Mayara Pineiro as Kitri and Arian Molina Soca as Basilio. They were also the opening night cast. Perhaps it was her memory that pushed them to new heights - to my eye, their performance was even better on Saturday than on opening night.

[Haglund]

I imagine that her memory certainly pushed them to new heights, as you said. Alonso created dancers who made and continue to make our troubled and sometimes ugly world more beautiful.