Fernando Alonso (dancer)

Fernando Alonso (17 December 1914^[1] – 27 July 2013) was a Cuban ballet dancer. He is a co-founder of the Cuban National Ballet and was part of the American Ballet Theatre company between 1940 until 1948.

Biography[]

Born as Fernando Juan Evangelista Eugenio de Jesús Alonso Rayneri in Havana, Cuba in 1914 to Matías Alonso Reverón and Laura Rayneri Piedra.^[2][3] His father worked as an accountant and his mother worked at a local cultural institution, , within their household the arts were valued.^[3] By 1929, at age 15 both Fernando and his younger brother Alberto were sent to Mobile, Alabama in the United States, due to the country's political instability.^[3][4]

He returned to Cuba in 1935 at the age of 21, and began his dancing career that year by enrolling in dance classes.^[5][3] In 1937 he married Alicia Martínez del Hoyo, a teenage ballet dancer.^[6] The new couple and Alonso's brother moved to New York City, hoping to begin their professional careers in the United States.^[5][6] In 1938, their child Laura was born.^[3]

He and Alicia joined the American Ballet Theatre in 1940, where they remained until 1948.^{[citation needed]} They returned to Havana and were part of a group called the Alicia Alonso Ballet Company, where his wife co-founded her own company with him. It later became the Ballet Nacional de Cuba.^[5] He separated from Alicia in 1974.^[3] In 1975, after he and Alicia divorced.^{[citation needed]} He took control of the in the city of Camagüey, where he remained until 1992.^[3]

In 2000, he was awarded Cuba's National Dance Prize for lifetime achievement.^[5] On 27 July 2013, Cuba's state television announced his death at the age of 98.^[3] No cause was specified, however his daughter Laura reported it was due to kidney failure.^[3][5]

See also[]

• Cuban National Ballet

References[]

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