If there is one country in the world where classical ballet is still an art form for the people and by the people, it is Cuba A veritable artistic miracle, the Cuban National Ballet was born of the unshakeable will of a heroic woman.Alicia Alonso, founded this improbable ballet company in 1948, with the support of Fidel Castro, and 60 years later, the octogenarian former prima ballerina, whose sight started to fail aged 20, is still the director.
A star of the American Ballet Theatre, New York, in the ‘40s, first Westerner to dance at the Kirov and Bolshoi, she has produced such stars as Covent Garden's Carlos Acosta and created a culture where the ambition to star in such a very European choreographic tradition is akin to that of being a footballer in Brazil. Alicia Alonso is a tenacious warrior who has shared her passion with all the Cuban people, taking it to schools all over the country.
Bonus c30mins: Interviews and rehearsals with Alicia Alonso, filmed in the glass-roofed Grand Palais, Paris. Highlights from Giselle and Don Quixote, Alicia dancing & modern productions
