{"id":4234,"date":"2025-07-27T07:52:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T11:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/?p=4234"},"modified":"2025-07-22T11:57:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T15:57:54","slug":"fernando-alonso-a-lasting-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/fernando-alonso-a-lasting-legacy-27072025\/","title":{"rendered":"Fernando Alonso: A Lasting Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Fernando Alonso passed away on July 27, 2013, Cuban ballet lost one of its most iconic figures. His lifelong devotion to the art of dance made him one of its most prolific and influential proponents\u2014not only as a scholar and teacher but also as a key architect in the creation of the Cuban ballet school. Alonso embraced influences from foreign traditions while helping to shape the distinctive identity of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, alongside Alicia and Alberto Alonso.<\/p>\n

According to journalist and art critic Yuris N\u00f3rido, \u201cFernando\u2019s most important contribution was the development of a groundbreaking pedagogical method that gave birth to the Cuban ballet school. His approach combined universal technical elements with the anatomical, cultural, and rhythmic characteristics of the Cuban dancer, allowing for the training of performers with extraordinary virtuosity. This school became a benchmark for dance education, admired and replicated in many countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Art critic and journalist Pedro de la Hoz shares a similar perspective: \u201cBy sacrificing his career as a dancer and postponing choreographic creation, Alonso focused instead on laying the foundations of a style that would evolve into a school. He achieved this by dialectically assimilating dominant dance forms and forging a unique identity\u2014one that continues to manifest in both Cuban companies and in the teaching practices of those who have drawn from this experience, both in Cuba and abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n

For de la Hoz, Alonso succeeded through a synergy of observation, theory, and practice\u2014an approach that balanced science and art in meaningful and complementary ways. \u201cIn that synthesis,\u201d de la Hoz explains, \u201chis understanding of technique advanced into an aesthetic conception of movement. He studied human morphology, psychology, and cultural heritage, all of which fused to forge a Cuban identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: Cubarte<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFernando Alonso was not only a leading figure in dance,\u201d adds playwright, poet, and theater critic Norge Espinosa. \u201cHe belonged to another form of aristocracy\u2014the aristocracy of spirit\u2014that represents the best of the Cuban soul. His was a foundational kind of Cuban-ness: generous, unpretentious, devoid of vanity or spectacle. He should serve as a model for Cuban artists of every type, regardless of their field, especially in an age where generosity, humility, and sincere dedication are increasingly rare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Espinosa continues: \u201cI will always hold on to that image of Fernando Alonso. A true gentleman of dance, he taught simply by his presence\u2014by the dignified way he lived a life that, in truth, does not end with his passing. In a year that has been particularly cruel to the memory of Cuban culture, his loss is not merely a physical absence.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with researcher Patricia Leyva, principal dancer Grettel Morej\u00f3n shared: \u201cThere are people in life who are like lights. You can try to emulate them, talk about them, and preserve their legacy\u2014but some people simply\u00a0are\u00a0light. Fernando had something special, a completely genuine love for dance. He breathed art. What made his classes and rehearsals so unique was his use of various artistic forms to enrich ballet. He trained our muscle and emotional memory through images, videos, and paintings to better explain movement. The reason I love teaching so much is because of his legacy. I\u2019ve grown to love the creative process and the rehearsal space. Fernando trained teachers so that ballet education would meet the artistic and social expectations placed upon it. I\u2019m proud to be part of that achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond his role as a teacher, Alonso was also deeply committed to national culture. \u201cHis vision went beyond art for art\u2019s sake,\u201d explains Yuris N\u00f3rido. \u201cHe saw ballet as a vehicle for social transformation. Under his leadership, the Ballet Nacional de Cuba democratized access to dance, bringing performances to rural towns and cities across the island and breaking the notion that ballet was reserved for elite circles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deeply rooted in the Cuban soil that shaped him, Fernando Alonso transcended local boundaries to reach the universal. Without airs or arrogance, he did everything in his power to raise the standard of ballet and to prepare, with integrity and generosity, those who would inherit his art.<\/p>\n

Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez<\/p>\n

Photo: Granma<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deeply rooted in the Cuban soil that shaped him, Fernando Alonso transcended local boundaries to reach the universal. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[970],"ppma_author":[14],"class_list":["post-4234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-cuba","tag-fernando-alonso"],"authors":[{"term_id":14,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"lazaro-hernandez-rey","display_name":"L\u00e1zaro Hern\u00e1ndez Rey","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4234"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4238,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234\/revisions\/4238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4234"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=4234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}