Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina

Product Description

Alicia Alonso’s artistic achievements are remarkable, especially considering that she became partially blind and lost her peripheral vision at age nineteen. From childhood, she exhibited a passion for dancing, studying first in Cuba and later in New York City, where she became an overnight sensation in Giselle and was promoted to principal dancer of the Ballet Theater. Returning to Cuba in 1948, she founded her own company, which would eventually become the Ballet Nacional de Cuba.
In elegant free verse and stunning artwork rendered in watercolor, colored pencils, and lithograph pencils on watercolor paper, Carmen T. Bernier-Grand and Raúl Colón capture the seminal events in Alonso’s life. The back matter includes a biography, Alonso’s ballets, choreography, and awards, a glossary, sources, notes, and websites.

Review

“Similar in form and concept to many of Bernier-Grand’s previous books, this beautiful volume offers a biographical account of ballerina Alicia Alonso through a sequence of free-verse poems, extensive background notes, and large-scale illustrations…Colón contributes a series of handsome illustrations created with watercolor, colored pencils, and lithograph pencils. The verse skillfully distills a lifetime of events and emotions into images of significant moments…Well-researched and beautifully designed, this is a suitable celebration of a significant figure in the world of ballet.”
―Booklist (starred review)

“Bernier-Grand’s free-verse picture-book biography follows one of 20th-century ballet’s most gifted―and steeliest―ballerinas, tracing her climb to the rank of prima ballerina assoluta and her battle to continue dancing as she loses her sight. Spiced with the Spanish of her native Cuba and full of poignant detail (her husband-to-be, seeing her dance, decides on the spot to study ballet so he can be her partner), Bernier-Grand’s account does not flinch from Alonso’s complex relationship with the Cuban government (“Why do you find killings by Castro/ more acceptable than killings by Batista?” picket signs read), nor from the physical punishment that is the reality of dance (“Dry blood has glued her toe shoes to her feet”). Colón’s (
Play Ball!) portraits have the dramatic scale of Depression-era murals; they capture Alonso’s grace and celebrate her strength, too. There’s little frilliness; Alonso’s will to live and to dance seems like a force of nature, and the story, which follows her from childhood through her professional career and into retirement, has the scope of an adult work.”
―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Alicia’s story is told in free verse and Raúl Colón’s illustrations capture Alicia’s gracefulness and strength. This book is inspiring not only for anyone interested in dance but also for anyone facing physical challenges that could prevent them from achieving their goals.”
―Library Media Connection

About the Author

Author Carmen T. Bernier-Grand grew up in Puerto Rico. She is the author of several children’s books, including Shake It, Morena and Juan Bobo: Four Folktales from Puerto Rico. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
Illustrator Raul Colon lives in New City, New York. He has illustrated more than 30 award-winning picture books, including Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt.