• 1920 -- Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad del Cobre born Dec. 21 in Havana.

• 1931 -- Precocious debut in The Sleeping Beauty at the Teatro Auditorium del Vedado.

• 1937 -- Marries Fernando Alonso, moves to New York.

• 1938 -- Broadway's Great Lady and Stars in Her Eyes, choreographed by Balanchine.

• 1939 -- American Ballet Caravan (later New York City Ballet). Leading female role in Eugene Loring's Billy the Kid.

• 1940 -- Ballet Theatre (later American Ballet Theatre), rises to prima ballerina, premiering Theme and Variations, Undertow and Fall River Legend.

• 1943 -- Giselle, with ABT.

• 1948 -- Ballet Alicia Alonso, later Ballet Nacional de Cuba.

• 1950 -- Founds Cuban ballet school.

• 1957 -- First Western ballerina to dance inside the Iron Curtain, with Kirov Ballet and Bolshoi Ballet. Alonso staging of Coppélia in Los Angeles.

• 1966 -- Her Giselle wins the Grand Prix de la Ville in Paris, .

• 1972 -- Paris Opera adopts her staging of Giselle.

• 1975 -- Return to the U.S. for the 35th anniversary of ABT.

• 1976 -- U.S. debut of Ballet Nacional de Cuba, at the Metropolitan Opera and the Kennedy Center.

• 1981 -- Dances in the 50th anniversary gala of her stage debut, in Havana.

• 2004 -- Remains ``completely, totally absorbed in dance -- and will stay that way until I am 200 years old.''

-- OCTAVIO ROCA