{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Cuba\u0026#39;s world-renowned Prima Ballerina Assoluta, Alicia Alonso, on Monday celebrated 70 years since she first danced her way to fame in the lead role of \u0026quot;Giselle.\u0026quot;' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c3f0d8eafeecae1650ae' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c3f0d8eafeecae1650ae' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nCuba\u0026#39;s world-renowned Prima Ballerina Assoluta, Alicia Alonso, on Monday celebrated 70 years since she first danced her way to fame in the lead role of \u0026quot;Giselle.\u0026quot;\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eCuba's world-renowned Prima Ballerina Assoluta, Alicia Alonso, on Monday celebrated 70 years since she first danced her way to fame in the lead role of \"Giselle.\"Alonso, who turns 93 next month, attended the opening of an exhibition...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eCuba's world-renowned Prima Ballerina Assoluta, Alicia Alonso, on Monday celebrated 70 years since she first danced her way to fame in the lead role of \"Giselle.\"\u003cbr/\u003eAlonso, who turns 93 next month, attended the opening of an exhibition dedicated to Giselle at Havana's Museum of Dance, to mark the occasion.\u003cbr/\u003eThe exhibit contains original documents, programmes and pictures of the ballet that became her signature role.\u003cbr/\u003eAlonso took part in the inaugural ceremony for the exhibit, where she cancelled several first-date-of-issue postal stamps commemorating the anniversary.\u003cbr/\u003e\"For me it hasn't been 70 years because the sensation I feel when people say 'Giselle' or when I hear the music or when I have others practice 'Giselle', it's as though I were living that same moment again,\" Alonso told The Associated Press.\u003cbr/\u003eOne of the items on display at the show is the original dress Alonso's mother handmade for her to wear during Act 1 of Giselle in 1943.\u003cbr/\u003e\"I feel her all the time. I live it in my heart and my legs feel like dancing,\" said the ballerina.\u003cbr/\u003eBorn on December 21, 1920, Alonso began studying ballet alongside her sister in the 1930s.\u003cbr/\u003eHer professional life began in 1937 in the United States with the Ballet Caravan, which is now the New York City Ballet.\u003cbr/\u003eIn 1940, she joined the Ballet Theatre of New York, later known as the American Ballet Theatre.\u003cbr/\u003eThe road to becoming Prima Ballerina Assoluta opened wider in 1943, when she substituted for Alicia Markova, one of the 20th century's greatest dancers, in a production of Giselle directed by Anton Dolin at the New York's Metropolitan Opera House.\u003cbr/\u003eWhen Dolin asked his dancers who wanted to replace Markova, Alonso was the only one to step up.\u003cbr/\u003eThe role brought her fame as a dancer willing to break with convention.\u003cbr/\u003eAlonso worked with great choreographers including Michel Fokine and Anthony Tudor, and danced with Russian icon Rudolf Nureyev, among others.\u003cbr/\u003eShe later choreographed some of her own works.\u003cbr/\u003eHer eyesight failed early in her career, and she danced many of her famous roles while partially blind, guided on stage by her partner's placement and by the stage lights.\u003cbr/\u003eAlthough she had offers from the US and elsewhere, she eventually returned home to Cuba.\u003cbr/\u003e\"I decided not become a millionaire,\" she once said.\u003cbr/\u003eThere was then no professional ballet company on the island.\u003cbr/\u003eShe and her first husband, Fernando Alonso, whom she married when she was 15, co-founded their own ballet company in 1948, along with the Cuban School of Ballet.\u003cbr/\u003eShe kept her last name after their divorce.\u003cbr/\u003eFernando Alonso died last July at the age of 98.\u003cbr/\u003eDue to money problems, the ballet company the Alonsos founded was forced to close in 1956 during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.\u003cbr/\u003eBut shortly after the Cuban revolution, she got a visit from Fidel Castro, a man she described as \"a great personality.\"\u003cbr/\u003eWith Castro's support, the company was reopened, Cuban ballet was reborn, and continues to receive support from the communist-run government.\u003cbr/\u003eNow totally blind, Alonso depends on her hearing to conduct daily rehearsals with her dance company, imagining the dancers in her mind as she instructs them.\u003cbr/\u003eThe National Ballet of Cuba over the decades has made 144 international tours to 59 countries and has gained worldwide recognition.\u003cbr/\u003eHavana - 25 November 2013\u003cbr/\u003e1. Various of Cuba's Prima Ballerina Assoluta, Alicia Alonso, entering Havana's Museum of Dance, people clapping\u003cbr/\u003e2. Tilt down from photograph to Alonso seated at table\u003cbr/\u003e3. Cutaway of audience and \"Giselle\" poster featuring Alonso in background\u003cbr/\u003e4. Tilt up from Alonso's hand stamping letter to her face\u003cbr/\u003e5. Close-up Alonso signing cancellation\u003cbr/\u003e6. Mid of Alonso signing\u003cbr/\u003e7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Alicia Alonso, Prima Ballerina Assoluta:\u003cbr/\u003e\"For me it hasn't been 70 years, because the sensation I feel when people say 'Giselle', or when I hear the music, or when I have others practice 'Giselle', it's as though I were living that same moment again.\"\u003cbr/\u003e8. Wide of people looking at museum exhibits\u003cbr/\u003e9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Alicia Alonso, Prima Ballerina Assoluta:\u003cbr/\u003e\"I always live that moment when I danced 'Giselle' for the first time and then when I danced it again for the second time here in Cuba. I feel her all the time. I live it in my heart and my legs feel like dancing.\"\u003cbr/\u003e10. Close up poster for \"Giselle\" and photograph of Alonso performing\u003cbr/\u003e11. Tilt up from photo of Alonso as \"Giselle\" to original framed programme from London's Royal Opera House in Covent Garden\u003cbr/\u003e12. Close-up of ballet slipper used by Alonso in \"Giselle\"\u003cbr/\u003e13. Tilt down of original dress from Act 1 of \"Giselle\" made by Alonso's mother\u003cbr/\u003eFILE: Exact date unknown, Havana - 1964\u003cbr/\u003e14. Alonso dancing in a production of \"Giselle\"\u003cbr/\u003eFILE: Exact date unknown, Havana - November 2007\u003cbr/\u003e15. Alonso teaching ballet students at the Cuban National Ballet academy, which was co-founded by her\u003cbr/\u003eFILE: Exact date unknown, Havana - late 1990s\u003cbr/\u003e16. 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