San Jose, Costa Rica.-Prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso appreciated today here, also on behalf of members of the National Ballet of Cuba, the welcome given by Costa Rican audience and authorities.

‘I am very pleased by the love and welcome given by the Costa Rican people’, Alicia Alonso told the Prensa Latina news agency at the international airport Juan Santamaria, in the Alajuela province, some 10 kilometers northern the capital city, soon before departing to El Salvador.

Alicia Alonso arrived in San Jose on Monday last week and was given two awards, from the Parliament and the University of Costa Rica, which granted her the Doctor Honoris Causa degree in a moving ceremony held at the auditorium of the Faculty of Education.

President of Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Solis, his wife Mercedes Peñas and foreign minister Manuel Gonzalez attended the first performance of the Cuban ballet company at the Teatro Popular Melico Salazar, while the three performances scheduled were sold out.

At the end of the performance, Solis along with Costa Rican important figures and Cuban Ambassador to that country Danilo Sanchez greeted Alicia Alonso and members of the Cuban ballet company, one of the most prestigious in the world.