Cuban President Raul Castro paid a visit to prima ballerina absoluta Alicia Alonso in her residence to congratulate her on her 90 birthday, reported Granma newspaper.

Secretary of the State Council Homero Acosta and Havana City Historian Eusebio Leal accompanied the Cuban president.
Raul Castro and Alicia Alonso, surrounded by friends, relatives and collaborators, shared in an intimate and friendly atmosphere. He brought along a flower bouquet and delicate perfumes handmade especially for the dancer in Old Havana.

The prima ballerina, visible moved, thanked Raul for the gesture on that special occasion.

Cuban artists Honor Alicia Alonso on her 90 birthday

A homage concert to mark the 90 birthday on Cuban prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso was given in Havana last night by several renown artists like Maestro Frank Fernandez, the soprano Johanna Simon and pianist Hernán López-Nussa.

The audience enjoyed a beautiful gala in the García Lorca Hall of the Havana’s Grand Theater, with the presence along with the honoree of Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto.

Other artists that paid homage to the dancer were Polito Ibáñez and Ivette Cepeda and the Reflection Group, while Viengsay Valdés and Yadil Súarez
premiered the work “For Alicia”, choreographed by Tania Vergara and music by pianist Frank Fernández.

The program combined music and dance for the sake of life and work of the director general of the National Ballet of Cuba, who once Cuban leader Fidel Castro said: “Alicia is a glory, an inspiration to the Cuban culture”.

The concert was organized by the Ministry of Culture and was the preamble of another activity to wait for midnight at the Military Historical Park Morro-Cabaña, attended as well by other personalities of Cuban culture.


Alicia will be honored on Tuesday by several generations of dancers and students and mass organizations in the headquarters of the National Ballet of Cuba, while the TV program “Roundtable” will be dedicated to the iconic performer of Giselle, among many others roles.

Alicia Alonso, the pride of the nation and symbol of Cuban identity, is Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO, holds, among hundreds of awards and national and international awards, the Order of Jose Marti, the highest award that the State Council of the Republic of Cuba gives.


She is also Doctor Honoris Causa from the Cuban Higher Institute of Arts (ISA) and received the Galina Ulanova Distinction.

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