The Cuban names we know best are Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and the exquisite ballet star, Alicia Alonso. Yet there is another Cuban whose fascinating story has until now been circulated exclusively by Cubans and ballet insiders: that of Fernando Alonso, Alicia’s first husband, and the architect of a teaching method that has produced a bevy of classical ballet box office favorites the world over. Alicia and Fernando danced in Broadway musicals and were founding members of New York’s groundbreaking Ballet Theatre. Returning to Cuba, they joined Fernando’s brother Alberto to build a national ball ... More The Cuban names we know best are Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and the exquisite ballet star, Alicia Alonso. Yet there is another Cuban whose fascinating story has until now been circulated exclusively by Cubans and ballet insiders: that of Fernando Alonso, Alicia’s first husband, and the architect of a teaching method that has produced a bevy of classical ballet box office favorites the world over. Alicia and Fernando danced in Broadway musicals and were founding members of New York’s groundbreaking Ballet Theatre. Returning to Cuba, they joined Fernando’s brother Alberto to build a national ballet company on the eve of Batista’s fall. The triumph of the 1959 revolution brought with it long-awaited support for ballet and the encouragement Alonso welcomed to share the method he created on Cubans with the world. Readers will welcome Fernando Alonso’s rich reminiscences and those of such ballet luminaries as Alicia Alonso, Carlos Acosta, Menia Martínez, Jorge Esquivel, Lorena and Lorna Feijoo, and Yoel and Lázaro Carreño. Singer’s interviews transport us to the Cuban ballet studio and stage, just as the Buena Vista Social Club brought us the bountiful legacy of Cuban music.