Her name is Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad Gutiérrez del Hoyo. She was born in Havana. She has been a supreme dancer of pieces of the romantic and classical repertoires. She started dance studies in 1931 and debuted as a professional in 1938. Ten years after that, she founded the Alicia Alonso Ballet and she still is the Prima Ballerina Assoluta. She has been given Honoris Causa Doctorates in several universities of the world, she is a national hero of work in her country, and she has been decorated with the José Martí Order, the highest decoration given by the Cuban State.