# Alberto Alonso
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{{Short description|Cuban dancer and choreographer (1917–2007)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Alberto Alonso
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| native_name =
| birth_name = Alberto Julio Alonso Rayneri
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1917|5|22}}
| birth_place = [Havana](/source/Havana), [Cuba](/source/Cuba)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2007|12|31|1917|5|22}}
| death_place = [Gainesville, Florida](/source/Gainesville%2C_Florida), U.S
| occupation = Ballet dancer, choreographer
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[Alexandra Denisova](/source/Alexandra_Denisova)|1939|1944}}
* {{marriage|Elena del Cueto|1946|1962}}
* {{marriage|Sonia Calero|1964}}
}}
| children = Maria Victoria Alonso, Maria Elena Alonso and Alberto Jr
| parents =
}}
'''Alberto Julio Rayneri Alonso''' (22 May 1917 – 31 December 2007) was a Cuban dancer and choreographer, the brother of [Fernando Alonso](/source/Fernando_Alonso_(dancer)) and brother-in-law of [Alicia Alonso](/source/Alicia_Alonso) (née Martinez). He was influential in the development of the [Cuban style of ballet](/source/Cuban_National_Ballet_School), a combination of Russian and Western techniques with a Latin style.
== Biography ==
Alonso was born in [Havana](/source/Havana), and attended [Spring Hill College](/source/Spring_Hill_College) in Mobile, Alabama. On returning to [Cuba](/source/Cuba), he began ballet training in 1932 at the ''Sociedad Pro-Arte Musical'' arts school in [Havana](/source/Havana) with [Nikolai Yavorsky](/source/Nikolai_Yavorsky). He studied in [Paris](/source/Paris) with several teachers including [Preobrazhenska](/source/Olga_Preobrajenska) and [Idzikowski](/source/Stanislas_Idzikowski), and danced with the [Ballets Russes de Colonel W. de Basil](/source/Original_Ballet_Russe) from 1936 to 1940, performing principal roles in several ballets created by [Michel Fokine](/source/Michel_Fokine). He subsequently danced with the [Ballet Theatre](/source/American_Ballet_Theatre) from 1943 to 1945, in works created by [Fokine](/source/Michel_Fokine), [George Balanchine](/source/George_Balanchine) and [Leonid Massine](/source/Leonid_Massine). Back in Cuba in 1948, he co-founded with Alicia and Fernando Alonso the [Ballet Alicia Alonso](/source/Ballet_Alicia_Alonso), which would eventually become the [Ballet Nacional de Cuba](/source/Cuban_National_Ballet), being its artistic director and choreographer.
From 1942 he also worked as ballet master and choreographer, creating several works including ''Antes del Alba'' (1948, music by Hilario Gonzalez, libretto by [Francisco Martínez Allende](/source/Francisco_Mart%C3%ADnez_Allende)), ''Rapsodia Negra'' (1953, music by [Ernesto Lecuona](/source/Ernesto_Lecuona)), ''El Solar'' (1965, music by [Tony Taño](/source/Tony_Ta%C3%B1o), filmed as ''Un día en el solar'' by [Eduardo Manet](/source/Eduardo_Manet)), ''Espacio y movimiento'' (1966, music by [Stravinsky](/source/Stravinsky), prize for best choreography at Varna in 1968), ''Un retablo para Romeo y Julieta'' (1969, to the music of [Roméo et Juliette](/source/Rom%C3%A9o_et_Juliette_(Berlioz)) by [Berlioz](/source/Hector_Berlioz)), etc. His most well-known ballet is ''[Carmen Suite](/source/Carmen_Suite_(ballet))'' (1967), to music by [Rodion Shchedrin](/source/Rodion_Shchedrin); it was created for [Maya Plisetskaya](/source/Maya_Plisetskaya) in the [Bolshoi Ballet](/source/Bolshoi_Ballet), and simultaneously for [Alicia Alonso](/source/Alicia_Alonso) in the [Ballet Nacional de Cuba](/source/Cuban_National_Ballet), and later it has been re-created by several other companies.
He was married from 1939 to 1944 to the [Ballets Russes](/source/Ballets_Russes) Canadian dancer [Alexandra Denisova](/source/Alexandra_Denisova). Later he married Elena del Cueto, a Cuban dancer, until 1962, when she left for the United States with their two daughters. In 1964 he married the [Cuban Rumba](/source/Cuban_Rumba) dancer and actress [Sonia Calero](/source/Sonia_Calero). They were married until his death and had a son, Alberto Jr.
He left Cuba in 1993 with his third wife, and settled in [Gainesville, Florida](/source/Gainesville%2C_Florida), where he became master artist in residence at the [Santa Fe Community College](/source/Santa_Fe_College) and resident choreographer for the Dance Theater of Santa Fe. He continued choreographing for several companies including New York's Ballet Hispanico in 1994, and re-creating Carmen for [Svetlana Zakharova](/source/Svetlana_Zakharova_(dancer)) in the Bolshoi Ballet in 2005.
Alonso died from [heart failure](/source/heart_failure) in his adopted hometown of Gainesville, Florida, at age 90.[[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jan-11-me-alonso11-story.html "Dancer co-founded the National Ballet of Cuba,"] ''Los Angeles Times'' (January 11, 2008 ).]
The minor planet [58373 Albertoalonso](/source/58373_Albertoalonso) was named after Alonso in 1995.[{{cite book |last1=Schmadel |first1=Lutz D |title=Dictionary of Minor Planet Names |date=10 June 2012 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9783642297175 |page=1207 |edition=Sixth |volume=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aeAg1X7afOoC&pg=PA1207 |accessdate=2 June 2019}}]
==References==
=== Notes ===
{{Reflist}}
===Sources consulted===
*[http://www.danzaballet.com/?p=1844 Danza Ballet Blog Revista Video]{{Dead link|date=October 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} "Farewell to a Master", by Célida P. Villalón, January 8, 2008.
*''"Dance of my heart",'' Dir. Ricardo Acosta. With Alberto Alonso, Sonia Calero, Fernando Alonso, Maya Plisetskaya. Santa Fe Community College, 2009.
*[http://belcanto.ru/alonso_alberto.html Alberto Alonso] {{in lang|ru}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alonso, Alberto}}
Category:1917 births
Category:2007 deaths
Category:Ballet choreographers
Category:Dancers from Havana
Category:Cuban male ballet dancers
Category:20th-century Cuban ballet dancers
Category:Cuban emigrants to the United States
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alberto Alonso](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Alonso) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Alonso?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.