Fernando Alonso: The Father of Cuban Ballet

1. Always Ask Why

3 1 Always Ask Why What was your family’s history in Cuba? I was born Fernando Juan Evangelista Eugenio de Jesús Alonso Rayneri at 5:20 in the afternoon of December 27, 1914, at our family home in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana. Beyond Cuba, my family’s roots extend to Italy, Austria, and the Canary Islands. My paternal grandfather, Matías, was an exporter of tropical fruit. He died when I was one year old. My grandmother Clementina, who was his wife, died before I was born. My maternal grandmother, Mercedes Piedra, was born in Havana. She married Eugenio Rayneri Sorrentino, who came from an Italian family. Even though he was Italian, he had some Austrian forebears who were artists. One of my great-grandfathers of Austrian descent immigrated to Italy, where he became an orchestra director. Eugenio was a professor of architecture at the University of Havana. He was very interested in astronomy, and was also a volunteer fireman. My grandmother Mercedes worked very hard to encourage the development of culture and cultural institutions in Havana, and I think that by marrying her, Eugenio was expressing a preference for a life immersed in art and science. In fact, he was the designer of the national capitol building , the entrance to the Colón Cemetery, and several other architectural works of note throughout the city. Both of his sons, Eugenio (director of capitol enclave of the city of Havana) and Virgilio, studied architecture and engineering at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. His only daughter, Laura Rayneri Piedra, my mother, was a gifted pianist who had studied with the renowned teacher Hubert de Blanck, receiving a gold medal and diploma for her interpretations of Chopin’s Concerto no. 1 in E Minor, opus 11. She was invited to give concerts at Notre Dame and the Chicago World’s Fair, and she received other invitations to audition for professional concert engagements, but her father didn’t like the idea Part I. Antes (Before) 4 of a young lady of society going off into the world, so she was obliged to remain in Havana. Before having married our father, Matías Alonso Reverón (a certified public accountant and highly regarded employee of the U.S. Cuban Trading Company), my mother had divorced a man who was a member of the Arechabala family. The Arechabalas had made a fortune in sugar refining in the city of Cárdenas in the nineteenth century. My mother did not tell us about her past until we were much older, so it took us awhile to put together the details of the life she led before we came along. By the time we arrived, she was already a central figure in the advancement of culture and cultural institutions in Havana. She was treasurer and, later on, president of the city’s Sociedad Pro-Arte Musical. Did her father’s curtailing of her career fuel her determination to play an active role in Havana’s cultural life? I think so. She may have compensated for the loss of a career by introducing as much art as possible into her surroundings. She contributed generously to the performing arts. The atmosphere in our home was centered on music . My brother and I heard her practicing the piano in our house at no. 70 Calzada, where she had her own conservatory. We would raise hell if she didn’t play for us before we went to bed! From the time we were babies, she played the works of both Cuban and European composers, mostly Chopin, and we developed a preference for him that remained with us all of our lives. What are your earliest recollections? I remember when I was two years old knocking on my mother’s bedroom door and her calling out “Fernandito, come in! Meet your new brother!” This was how I was introduced to my only sibling, Alberto Julio César Matías Pititi Alonso. It was the beginning of a very close and affectionate relationship. My most vivid memories are of my grandfather Eugenio Rayneri. He was a rationalist who taught me that a scientific explanation existed for everything that happened. He rejected religious explanations. He used to tell me, “Always ask ‘Why,’” and look for the scientific answer. I also remember how much in love I was with one of the servants when I was only four years old. Her name was Carmen, and I called her “Carmen...