The National Ballet of Cuba is celebrating its 75th anniversary with performances culminating in a tribute to its late founder, Alicia Alonso, who used her global star power to implant an art form with aristocratic roots into the Communist-run Caribbean island. “Giselle,” the Romantic ballet whose title role Alonso is best known for and performed through her 70s, will cap a special gala on Oct. 28, the anniversary date, at the National Theater of Cuba.

Alonso, a native of Oriente province who debuted with the American Ballet Theatre in the 1950s, helped establish dance as a cultural heritage of the nation amid Fidel Castro’s drive to make the country self-sufficient. She was a global icon – revered as much as Castro in the eyes of some – who used her prodigious talent and unstoppable spirit to put Cuban ballet on the world map.

She created a company that was unique in the world, mixing the bravura style of the Russians and French with the expressive power of Africans and Latin Americans. She pushed for diversity in her casts, even when it meant she was criticized by some in the West. She was also a relentless traveler, crisscrossing the globe to bring ballet to various audiences.

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The company she founded has become one of the top dance institutions in the world, renowned for its outsized share of ballet stars such as Carlos Acosta and Jose Manuel Carreno. It has forged a reputation for the technical purity of its dancers, informed by an almost spiritual modesty. Grettel Morejon, the company’s Giselle, in a performance of Alonso’s classic on Friday, is a case in point. Her pirouettes are seemingly effortless, her leg and arm extensions a wonder of the air and the earth. Yet, she also fully expresses the range of emotions the role requires.

The BNC, under its general director and prima ballerina assoluta Viengsay Valdes, is continuing to mark the celebration of Alonso’s legacy with a series of performances from Oct. 20 to 24 at the Avellaneda Hall of the National Theater, including famous stagings of Coppelia, Swan Lake, and Don Quixote. The program will include a mapping montage of Giselle and a special gala on Oct. 28 to honor Alonso.

During the festival, BNC will host the premiere of a new piece, created by Acosta himself for his company, which is a musical based on the saga of the Giselle, starring ten dancers from the ballet, each representing a different aspect of the character. It is the first time in BNC history that an original work has been created for a gala, a milestone for the company. The celebration will continue next month with a series of classical performances at the theater. Throughout the festival, BNC will hold photographic exhibitions and film screenings of its history. UNESCO has designated the company a “World Heritage Site” for its contribution to world culture.