Alicia Alonso, Cuba's ballet legend, dies at age 98

Legendary Cuban ballerina Alicia Alonso, who achieved global acclaim in the 1940s and went on to run the internationally renowned National Ballet of Cuba for decades, died on Thursday at age 98, state-run media said. "Alicia Alonso has gone and left an enormous void, but also an unbeatable legacy," President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a post on Twitter. "She positioned Cuba at the altar of the best of dance worldwide. Thank you Alicia for your immortal work."

Best known for her interpretation of "Giselle," Alonso danced with the American Ballet Theater in the 1940s and 1950s. She returned to Cuba after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution and founded the Cuban ballet company. She danced into her 70s despite failing vision.

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