Alicia always hoped that, when the inexorable end of her days arrived, she would be remembered the same way she was in her earthly life. And so it was. The spirit of her fertile existence was palpable in Havana’s Gran Teatro Alicia Alonso, during the funeral tribute that the Party, government, and the people of Cuba offered the most universal of our artists October 19. Participating in an honor guard were Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba; Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, President of the Republic of Cuba; Party second secretary José Ramón Machado Ventura; Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the Council of State and the National Assembly of People's Power; and leaders of Cuban cultural institutions, along with artists, intellectuals, and ballet students.
Floral arrangements from Raúl and Díaz-Canel, and many other figures and institutions, honored the prima ballerina assoluta, revered by her people for almost eight hours, before the casket was taken to its final resting place in Colón Cemetery, where crowds received the cortege with sustained applause. Loyalty and great respect for one of the founders of the Cuban School of Ballet was expressed throughout.
With anecdotes at the center, remarks honored her name; heartfelt words flowed as eloquent testimony to the attitude and greatness of Alicia, all as an uninterrupted line of people approached her coffin to offer a final farewell.
To continue offering expressions of love to the eternal Giselle, awarded the highest distinction granted by the Cuban State, the José Martí Order, the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists, UNEAC, issued a press release announcing the availability, through October 22, of condolences books, for the population to personally pay their respects to the star in writing.
