On August 2nd the Bolshoi audience again saw the legendary ballerina and the founder of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba (Cuban National Ballet) Alicia Alonso. The gala concert at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow on Tuesday was dedicated to her 90th birthday.

The day before the gala Alonso said that she was very happy to visit Russia again and that she felt a little nervous before the performance:

I’ve visited Moscow many times, but it always seemed to me that it was not enough. Each time I came to Russia I received a hearty welcome here. The Russian audience showed great respect for me, and my colleagues – Russian ballet dancers – gave me all their tenderness. I’m very happy that I’ve returned to Moscow again but at the same time, I’m in a melancholy mood now  because, for different reasons, I  won’t be able to see many of my friends here.

“My teachers were the former prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg Alexandra Fyodorova and Leona Fokina. At that time my dream was to start dancing in the classical ballets.”

Her dream came true. Alicia Alonso became the leading figure of the American Ballet Theatre. She worked with Mikhail Fokin, George Balanchine, Leonid Myasin, and Bronislava Nizhinskaya. She danced in the Russian Ballet in Monte Carlo, and also in the major theatres of Europe, Asia and America, and then she returned to Cuba, where she founded the Cuban National Ballet in 1948, and she has been its head ever since.

Alonso is visiting Russia for the 17th time. The first time was in 1957 when she danced Giselle.

Leading dancers of the Cuban National Ballet, with Bolshoi stars Svetlana Zakharova and Andrei Uvarov, danced in the Gala.

via Voice of Russia

Photo: RIA Novosti