[custom_adv] Alonso is considered one of the greatest 20th Century ballerinas. She began to lose her sight at 19, relying on only the stage lights to guide her. [custom_adv] After the 1959 revolution, she helped found the National Ballet of Cuba with then leader Fidel Castro."Alicia Alonso has gone and left an enormous void but unbeatable legacy," President Miguel Diaz-Canel said. [custom_adv] "She positioned Cuba at the altar of the best of dance worldwide. Thank you Alicia for your immortal work," he added.Born Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad Martínez del Hoyo on 21 December 1921, she first appeared on stage in 1931. She fell in love with ballet. [custom_adv] "When you look out and you see the theatre full of people you feel that you are alive, that you have been born. It's wonderful, it's unique," she told the BBC in 2015. [custom_adv] At the age of 16, she married fellow student Fernando Alonso and the pair moved to New York, joining Ballet Caravan.Three years later, her eyesight began to deteriorate. She was diagnosed with a detached retina. [custom_adv] She told the BBC: "I suffered terribly with my sight and had to have various operations on my eyes. Detachment of the retina. It was terrible. They told me not to quickly lower my head or move it side to side. I was like that for two years. [custom_adv] "They told me I'd never dance again. Well I did dance again."During her recovery, teachers came to her bedside to teach her the steps to Giselle, moving her fingers to practice the steps.
